Man of Steel

GRANT ELLIOTT

Grant Elliott was a big gamble for the New Zealand selectors. The 36-year-old Johannesburg born all-rounder have had a stop-start career ever since he made his international debut for the New Zealand in 2008. Dropped quite a few times and being out in the wilderness for lengthy periods, Elliott was written off by many people only two years ago. But a good season lulled the selectors to call him back at the start of this year, and this time Elliott seems bent on repaying the faith showed towards him. The right-hander scored an unbeaten century, his first since 2009, earlier in January against Sri Lanka and followed that up with a few more decent scores leading up to the World Cup. In the mega event, though, Elliott played a few cameos before playing arguably the most important knock in New Zealand's ODI history as his unbeaten 73-ball 84 took the Kiwis to their first ever World Cup final.