As we head to the head to the business end of the tournament, that involves three former champions, a look at the players who flattered to deceive, faltering under the weight of expectations, hurting their respective teams.
As India take on Sri Lanka in a three Test series, Rajneesh Gupta presents all the numbers.
Sri Lanka all-rounder and former skipper Angelo Mathews has been ruled out of the first Test against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi next week with a calf injury, but the uncapped Sadeera Samarawickrama, Roshen Silva and Lahiru Gamage are in the squad.
Kumar Sangakkara became only the second cricketer to hit a triple century and a hundred in the same Test as Sri Lanka set Bangladesh a huge target of 467 to win the second and final match in Chittagong on Friday. Sangakkara, who struck his maiden triple century in the first innings, hit a six off Sohag Gazi to reach three figures in the second and emulate former England opener Graham Gooch's 1990 feat against India at Lord's.
Sri Lanka batsman Dinesh Chandimal has been ruled out of the rest of the World Cup due to a hamstring injury and replaced in the squad by Kusal Perera.
Glenn Maxwell equalled the fastest fifty by an Australian in Twenty20 internationals as the tourists clinched a four-wicket win against Sri Lanka on Friday that secured a 2-0 series victory.
A disappointed Sri Lanka captain Dinesh Chandimal said not playing well in the Power Play overs cost his inexperienced side the Twenty20 series against India.
The already depleted Sri Lanka team on Monday suffered another blow with left arm fast bowler Binura Fernando being ruled out of the T20 series against India after sustaining a hamstring injury.
Anti-pollution masks hog limelight, again
Images from Day 4 in the third and final Test between Sri Lanka and India, in Colombo, on Monday
Ben Foakes marked his Test debut with a century and impressed with his glovework, too, as England bowled out Sri Lanka for 203 before stretching their lead to 177 runs on the second day of the opening Test in Galle.
Joe Root's England will have to step up their game against the turning ball to escape that fate in the test series beginning at Galle on Tuesday.
Images from Day 1 in the first Test between India and Sri Lanka at Galle.
Captain Virat Kohli and opener Murali Vijay made a mockery of sub-par Sri Lankan attack with effortless centuries as India cruised to 371 for four on the first day of the third and final cricket Test.
Dinesh Chandimal completed a fine century as Sri Lanka continued to hold up England's bid to clinch the series by moving on to 403 for six at lunch on the fourth day of the second test in Durham on Monday. The touring side, crushed in the opening test and bowled out for 101 in the first innings, are six runs ahead in the match after losing only one wicket in the morning session.
Sri Lanka left-arm spinner Lakshan Sandakan took four wickets on his debut in a three-wicket victory over new-look South Africa that levelled the three-match Twenty20 series on Sunday.
India captain Virat Kohli does not mind if anger or aggression is channelised in the right direction which is what happened with a fiery Ishant Sharma after his altercation with Dhammika Prasad.
Sri Lankans Thirimanne, Chandimal and Prasad also charged
Tom Latham produced another masterful innings of patience and concentration as New Zealand turned the screw on Sri Lanka on the third day of the second Test at Hagley Oval, in Christchurch, on Friday.
Sri Lanka captain Dinesh Chandimal also acknowledged Mendis and Mathews had saved the game for his side, who were dominated by New Zealand over the first three days.
Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin weaved his magic with a career-best four-wicket haul as India thrashed Sri Lanka by nine wickets in the deciding third and final Twenty20 International, to clinch the three-match series 2-1, in Visakhapatnam, on Sunday.
Jonny Bairstow, restored to the England side but shorn of his keeping gloves, celebrated his return with a sparkling 110 to help them to 312 for seven on the opening day of the third and final Test against Sri Lanka on Friday.
Boosted by their 3-0 clean sweep of Australia Down Under, a confident India would seek to continue their winning momentum when they take on a depleted and new-look Sri Lanka in the first of three T20 Internationals, in Pune, on Tuesday.
Sri Lanka beat West Indies by 30 runs in the first Twenty20 International on Monday to go 1-0 up in the two-match series and extend the visitors' losing streak.
Dinesh Chandimal and Dimuth Karunaratne obstinately defied New Zealand's bowlers for much of the second day of the first Test at University Oval in Dunedin on Friday though the hosts still have the upper hand.
The swashbuckling middle-order batsman scored 153, adding a record 78 for the final wicket with number 11 Vishwa Fernando, to guide his team to an epic one-wicket victory in the first Test against South Africa.
Mathews dismissed suggestions that the episode has created bad blood between the sides.
Sri Lankan cricket and the island's once-powerful side arrive at the World Cup struggling for form under a newly appointed captain who has played a single One-day international since 2015.
Kohli promoting Pandya ahead of Dhoni is an indication that the skipper is looking to use his former captain more as an accumulator -- in Javed Miandad mould who would rotate strike, frustrate bowlers and launch a furious counter-attack after getting his eye in.
Fast bowler Mitchell Starc picked up his second five-wicket haul in the match to lead Australia to a comprehensive 366-run victory in the second Test against Sri Lanka and a 2-0 series win.
Images from Day 1 of the first Test between India and Sri Lanka in Kolkata on Thursday.
Seamer Nuwan Kulasekara picked up four wickets to help Sri Lanka register a comfortable 70-run win in the third and final one-day international against Bangladesh on Saturday and level the series at 1-1.
An England record opening partnership of 256 between Alex Hales and Jason Roy led their side to a crushing 10-wicket win over Sri Lanka in the second one-day international.
India are in sight of their first series triumph on Sri Lankan soil in 22 years, having reduced the hosts to 67 for 3 after setting them a daunting target of 386 in the third and final Test in Colombo on Friday.
The Virat Kohli-led team must take inspiration from the last trip to Sri Lanka, in 2010, when India beat Sri Lanka by five wickets, thanks to hundreds from Virender Sehwag and VVS Laxman.
Babar Azam scored an impressive hundred while Shoaib Malik smashed a quickfire half century to help Pakistan thump Sri Lanka by 83 runs in the first one-day international in Dubai on Friday.
South Africa have slipped to number six in the world, behind fifth-placed Sri Lanka, and have a host of questions to answer, not least around a brittle top six and the balance of the side.
Sri Lanka opener Kaushal Silva has recovered from a blow to the head he suffered while fielding last weekend to be named in the test squad for next month's tour of England.
Opener Rohit Sharma smashed an unbeaten 124 to help India overcome a top-order wobble and register a series-clinching six-wicket victory in the third one-day international against Sri Lanka in Pallekele on Sunday.
Teenager Trent Alexander-Arnold curled in a magnificent free kick on his European debut to set Liverpool on the way to a 2-1 win at Hoffenheim which put them on the brink of UEFA Champions League group stage place.
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