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1541  Economy / Gambling discussion / Re: Test Cricket Prediction and Discussion Thread [self - mod] on: November 02, 2023, 10:59:29 AM
^^ Maybe these guys should first focus on PCB's leadership and stop playing dandiya every 6 months.

Also, I won't read much into domestic performances atm. Pitches are becoming a joke there and every random batter is just feasting on these pitches. There are reports of PCB didn't even pay salary to the national team so it's no surprise to anyone that they are not giving priority to domestic setup

Well... this is surprising. PCB is one of those teams who benefitted from the ICC's new fund distribution structure. Their allocation went up by almost 3x. So what is the excuse for not paying the national and domestic players? Rameez Raja was doing a pretty good job as the head of PCB, before he was kicked out by the new government. They got him replaced with the incompetent Najam Sethi. Then he was also replaced a few months ago by Zaka Ashraf. I really don't know for how long Ashraf is going to stay as the chairman.
1542  Economy / Gambling discussion / Re: ODI cricket and general cricketing discussion [self - mod] on: November 02, 2023, 10:49:12 AM
Nothing surprising in the India vs Sri Lanka match so far. India have already reached 164/1 after 27 overs and looks like they may end up with a massive total in the vicinity of 350 to 380. Virat Kohli looks quite confident out there, and he may get his 49th ODI hundred today. Shubman Gill also looks comfortable, but his strike rate is a bit low till now. Sri Lanka actually got a good start to this game, when they got Rohit Sharma out in the very first over. But ever since, the match has been under complete domination of the Indian batsmen.
1543  Economy / Gambling discussion / Re: T20 and T20I cricket prediction and discussion on: November 02, 2023, 10:39:14 AM
We have entertaining end of this match with in last over Nepal needs 26 runs last man standing, but they lost this match by 5 wins 3 sixes from the Bibek Yadav were not enough for their win now with this lost they are having second spot into their group and now have to meet again UAE in semi-final of this qualifier event which is now having four matches winning streak after beating Nepal in TRI nation cup.

Oman going to have relatively easy match which will help them to have spot into last two but who is coming in final from the other side it could be another interesting encounter match between the UAE vs Nepal.

As usual, Nepal lost crucial match after performing well initially. Now they will be facing one of the toughest teams in the tournament (United Arab Emirates) during the knockout phase. And in case they lose that match as well, they are out of contention for qualifying for the 2024 T20 World Cup. Congratulations to Oman. They have performed consistently so far, and won all of their group phase matches. The United Arab Emirates also won all 3 of their group phase matches and emerged as top of Group B.
1544  Economy / Gambling discussion / Re: Saudi Professional League 2023/2024 on: November 02, 2023, 06:52:54 AM
IMO, there is nothing wrong in this case, but I am just saying that before recruiting Neymar, Al Hilal should have thought about the risks of bringing in this player because he has a serious injury that has not yet healed, while Neymar is forced to appear to defend his country in national matches and the party should Al Hilal will not be disappointed with this incident because as I can see Al Hilal without Neymar is still fine and we can see how Al Hilal performed without Neymar in their last match without this player and this is proof that Al Hilal will understand Neymar situation because recruiting Neymar is not just about investment but only to encourage big names in the SPL to become part of the biggest league.

Al Hilal knew that Neymar is injury prone. His injury as such is not the issue here. Al Hilal paid such a premium amount for this player, not just to have him play in the Saudi Professional League, but also for global popularity of the league. Therefore a genuine expectation would be to have Neymar stay with the team, even in case he is injured. But what happened now is that he is insisting that he want to go back to Brazil and do his recovery there. This is not what Al Hillal was expecting. Ideally they should cancel his contract and kick him out of the Saudi Professional League.
1545  Economy / Gambling discussion / Re: FIFA World Cup 2026 :Canada/Mexico/United States: Discussion Thread on: November 02, 2023, 06:17:21 AM
Sadly the World Cup hosting rights are now for sale. The highest financial bidder would get the hosting right. FIFA has suddenly forgotten the stress and deprivation fans had to go through because of the culture of Qatar society. Fans were forced to adopt some practices that were alien to their lives. Many football lovers didn't enjoy staying in Qatar. Except these nations are willing to be flexible within the period of the World Cup, FIFA will have to reconsider its monetization of the World Cup.

Priorities have changed for governments around the world. One or two decades back, the citizens would support their government in hosting mega events such as the Olympics and World Cup. But nowadays, there is a lot of scrutiny on government spending and questions are being raised why the money is being spent on sporting events rather than on social benefits. Also, many of the western nations are suffering from a very high debt to GDP ratio. Going by this trend, only super-rich countries such as Qatar and Saudi Arabia will be able to host such events from now on.
1546  Economy / Gambling discussion / Re: ICC WORLD CUP 2023 DISCUSSION THREAD! on: November 02, 2023, 06:01:18 AM
There are now only two spots open for the semi-finals. Seven teams are still fighting for those two spots. India and South Africa have already secured their place in the semi-finals so now the competition could be between Australia, New Zealand, Pakistan and Afghanistan. Every match is important for India as India will definitely not want to lose any match in the first round. India still have three matches left and I think these three matches are very important for them. If India can win against Sri Lanka today, then they may rest Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Md Siraj, Bhomra and rest these four players with bench players in the next two matches.

India has 3 matches remaining. They can experiment from now on, but there are still permutations that would see them out of the semi-finals. So I would be rather cautious about today's match. Maybe they can experiment with 1-2 players, but resting most of the senior players need to wait till the 8th match. To their credit, Sri Lanka is in very poor form and even if India fields a second string side they are not going to put up any resistance. But then, India can't take any chances. The position on points table also matters, as first placed team need to face the 4th ranked team in semis.
1547  Economy / Gambling discussion / Re: ODI cricket and general cricketing discussion [self - mod] on: November 02, 2023, 05:51:31 AM
After the match between South Africa and New Zealand, the World Cup is alive again. Now, other teams like Sri Lanka, Pakistan, and Afghanistan have the chance to be in the semi-finals if they play good cricket from here and win all of their matches. This defeat impacted NZ's net run rate big time, and now they have to win all of their matches to qualify, and their next match is against unpredictable Pakistan.
If SL wins today's match against India -although the chances of this happening are negligible- they will be in the race for the 4th spot in the semi-finals. Finger crosses to an amazing end to this World Cup group stage.

Well.. one of the disadvantages with having 10-team group is that after a few matches we will get to know who is going to qualify for the semi-finals. Now it is certain that India and South Africa will be in the semi-finals. There is some doubt regarding Australia, but they should be able to qualify as well. And then it is going to be a direct fight between New Zealand and Pakistan for the remaining slot. All the other teams are out of reckoning, with the exception of Afghanistan. That means that 4 out of 10 teams have no chance of qualifying for the semis.
1548  Economy / Gambling discussion / Re: FIFA World Cup 2026 :Canada/Mexico/United States: Discussion Thread on: November 02, 2023, 04:14:08 AM
It is really incredible to see the amount of money being poured from Saudi Arabia to sports like Football.

The world is clearly changing and Football will not look the same in the next decade.

Money talks.

Well.. Qatar set the example and obviously Saudi Arabia can't be left behind. The Qataris are swimming in wads of cash, thanks to sky high prices for their LNG and they took around $300 billion out of it to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup. We can expect Saudi Arabia to spend a similar amount in 2034. The crown prince (Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud) has grand plans for Saudi Arabia and he wants to cut dependence on crude oil exports. He believes that whatever amount that is being spent on events such as the World Cup will pay back itself in the next few years. And I agree with him.
1549  Economy / Gambling discussion / Re: Saudi Professional League 2023/2024 on: November 02, 2023, 03:18:48 AM
Now it seems there is not a good relationship between Neymar and Al Hilal, the Saudis invested lots of money in this Brazilian player and now he is going to be absent for the whole season and this will definitely damage the team but he wants to go to Brazil and do the surgery in his own country also he wants to stay there while he is getting recovered while Al Hilal is not agreed and they want him to stay in Saud Arabia.



Well... this is getting really ugly. Al Hilal management will be pissed at this moment. They spent a fortune to bring this guy to Saudi Arabia. He got injured after a couple of matches. And now instead of staying in Saudi Arabia (as per his contract) he wants to go to Brazil. This is the reason why Neymar doesn't get huge offers that goes to players such as Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappé. Al Hilal entered into a contract with him despite his known injury issues. The least he could do is to honor his contract and undergo the surgery in Saudi Arabia.
1550  Economy / Gambling discussion / Re: who Want To Bet On 2024 USA elections? on: November 02, 2023, 03:08:10 AM
The bad side of all this games and it effect on Trump and Kennedy votes is that it will be two against one since Trump and Kennedy will be sharing the votes and the rulling bagging out the remaining votes, ant we going to see a more Biden time if this current speculations plays out as thoughts, this mechanism of vite dividing have been one of fhs strong political tools in current democratic process.


And those politicians that have the clear understanding of that have managed to stay ahead of the counterparts and most time, the ruling party is the one at advantage, hust like in this case, Biden already have a 50% while the remaining 50% will ve divided by both Trump and Kennedy, according to the poll.

No... that's not what the polls say. I agree that Kennedy is more likely to hurt Trump. But it is not all black and white. The Messenger/HarrisX released an opinion poll a few hours back. It has Trump ahead by a massive 6 points. The voting pattern is as follows:

https://themessenger.com/politics/poll-trump-continues-to-lead-biden-exclusive

Trump: 44%
Biden: 38%
Kennedy: 14%
West: 4%

Many of the other opinion polls released recently also show the same pattern. Biden's votes are declining to high 30s from mid 40s that he enjoyed before Kennedy announced his candidature. A significant number of Democrats seems to be shifting to Kennedy and it's not just the GOP voters. There are centrist Democrat voters who are not comfortable with voting for Trump. Such voters are preferring Kennedy now.

BTW, another poll from Harvard-Harris last week also showed Trump with a huge lead (Despite Kennedy polling 21%).

https://harvardharrispoll.com/key-results-october-4/

Trump: 41%
Biden: 34%
Kennedy: 21%
West: 3%
1551  Economy / Gambling discussion / Re: T20 and T20I cricket prediction and discussion on: November 02, 2023, 02:58:11 AM
A very crucial match in ICC Men's T20 World Cup Asia Qualifier will start in around 5 minutes from now. Nepal is taking on Oman. The winner of the match will take on the second placed team from Group B in the semi-finals. It is important for both the teams to win this match, because doing so they can avoid facing the United Arab Emirates (one of the strongest teams playing in this tournament). Also, remember that qualifying for the semi-finals won't be good enough. In order to get an entry to the 2024 T20 World Cup, teams need to enter the finals.
1552  Economy / Gambling discussion / Re: ICC WORLD CUP 2023 DISCUSSION THREAD! on: November 02, 2023, 02:48:25 AM
India needs to win today against Srilanka to confirm their spot in the semifinals. Hardik Pandya won't be able to play due to his injury. I don't think the team management would make any changes to the existing team. Shreyas Iyer need to score big today otherwise he won't be given a chance in the next. Already there are two more players eyeing for the fourth position. After Hardi joins the team after today's game there would be some changes in the team.

Looking at the current form of Indian team I don't think it will be easy for the Srilankan team. They are in the 7th place on the points table. If they lose today then would be the second team be out of the World Cup.

Does India need to win today? I don't think so. As far as I know, their slot in the semi-finals is already confirmed. So far they have 12 points from 6 matches. South Africa also have 12 points, but that is from 7 matches. Australia and New Zealand are far behind with 8 points each. Pakistan, if they win all of their remaining matches will only have 10 points. Afghanistan can reach 12 points if they win all of their remaining matches, but it is a very remote possibility. They have matches remaining against South Africa and Australia.
1553  Economy / Gambling discussion / Re: ODI cricket and general cricketing discussion [self - mod] on: November 02, 2023, 02:38:29 AM
Quite disgraceful performance from the Kiwis yesterday. The moment South Africa reached more than 350, I knew that there was no chance for a New Zealand win. But then, the Kiwi batsmen didn't even put up a fight. They surrendered without any resistance. Only Glenn Phillips was able to score runs freely and take on the South African bowlers. Keshav Maharaj, the only Protean bowler who looked out of form till now picked up 4 wickets yesterday. Marco Jansen and Gerald Coetzee were also exceptional. Now New Zealand faces a real danger of not qualifying for the semi-finals.
1554  Economy / Gambling discussion / Re: ODI cricket and general cricketing discussion [self - mod] on: November 01, 2023, 11:12:40 AM
South Africa at 194/1 after 35 overs. Quinton de Kock has got to 94. Both him and Rassie van der Dussen have been a bit slow till now, which I hope will change in the next few overs. If they want to get to a target in the vicinity of 350, then they need to start attacking now. BTW there is bad news for New Zealand. Looks like James Neesham has suffered an injury to his finger. Mitchell Santner and Trent Boult have kept things tight from the other hand, as they have bowled in a very tight line and length till now. South Africa need to work hard, in order to get to 350.
1555  Economy / Gambling discussion / Re: ICC WORLD CUP 2023 DISCUSSION THREAD! on: November 01, 2023, 11:00:10 AM
South Africa are following its well tested strategy. Bat carefully for 35 overs and save wickets then try to unleash the brutal attack in the last phase of the inning, so far in this World Cup they have seen ridiculous success with this template and it looks like today they are all set to repeat the same. Spectators won't mind some fireworks.

If SA manage to put another 350 total then I am not sure if Kiwis could chased it down successfully despite their brave effort against Australia. Saying this because Proteas bowlers are performing quite well when defending big totals, almost dominating the opponent batters.

Something above 350 is very much possible. South Africa are at 170/1 after 32 overs. If they can score 10 runs per over, then they can get to 350. The important thing to remember here is that South Africa has lost only one wicket till now. De Kock and vd Dussen are at crease, while power-hitters such as Markram, Klaassen and Miller are yet to come. The lowest possible total as of now is around 350, but it can go up to 380. Even at 350, the possibility of a New Zealand win decreases to around 20%. And at 380, it is 0%.
1556  Economy / Gambling discussion / Re: ODI cricket and general cricketing discussion [self - mod] on: November 01, 2023, 10:49:21 AM
You are forgetting one thing that South African team often choke under chase pressure. By winning the toss and choosing to field first might not be a good decision, only the time will tell. At the moment, South Africa is going good, they are over 150 at the lose of 1 wicket after 29 overs and they have power hitters still to come, the pitch is doing nothing after first power play. South Africa will be looking to a target of over 350 after this partnership.
The target of over 350 will be difficult to chase keeping in mind the South African bowling attack. South Africa win will keep the tournament alive for some time.

I was quite surprised with the fact that after winning the toss New Zealand chose to bat. With South African batsmen being in such splendid form, what is the point in allowing them to bat first? It was a big blunder and now South Africa looks set for a target of 350 or well above that. Temba Bavuma is the only Protean batsmen who is not in form and he got out for a small score today as well. But after that the game was completely dominated by Rassie van der Dussen and Quinton de Kock. And they still have Aiden Markram, Heinrich Klaasen and David Miller down the order.
1557  Economy / Economics / Re: If USA Will Be In The War - Government Can Confiscate All Bitcoins + Blockchain on: November 01, 2023, 08:13:33 AM
I don't think that the USA can confiscate all bitcoin assets because bitcoin runs on a decentralized network which does not allow for intervention. As long as the USA does not have access to users' wallets, whatever they try to confiscate Bitcoin assets will not be possible. And what's more, now is the modern era where the government cannot arbitrarily treat people, so if the USA does things arbitrarily it will cause problems for themselves.

Bitcoin, being a digital asset can be moved from one country to other in a matter of few seconds (as long as the internet is there). So a ban that is applicable only in the United States will not work. There are a few other options, and none of them are 100% perfect. The US government can launch a 51% attack on the blockchain, but it will cost them a few tens of billions of USD. Another option is to go for a global ban. But then, not all of the 200+ countries and territories are going to agree with this stupid ban.
1558  Economy / Gambling discussion / Re: ODI cricket and general cricketing discussion [self - mod] on: November 01, 2023, 08:03:56 AM
Pakistan did perform well in the last match against Bangladesh. They were good in all three departments. As far as Paistan's bowling is concerned, Shaheen Afridi is the lone worrier; in the last two matches, he did get some assistance from the other end from Waseem Jr. Apart from these two bowlers, the bowling is ordinary. Haris is leaking runs because he still does not understand that on these pitches line and length are the key. I am of the opinion that Pakistan's spin bowling is the worst in this World Cup; even the associate teams have better-performing spinners in this World Cup. I think they should have selected Abrar as he is the only front-line spinner in the side.
On the other hand, the chances of Pakistan qualifying for the semi-final are negligible. There are still many matches left in this World Cup, and the only way Pakistan can reach a semi-final is by winning all their matches and New Zealand or Australia losing all their matches  Cheesy. If you think they can still reach the semi-final, then you are living in a fool's paradise.

Don't get too much excited with a win against Bangladesh. As of now, the biggest problem for Pakistan is that their pace bowlers (Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf and Hasan Ali) are horribly out of form. And then they don't have a quality spinner with them. It is true that their bowlers performed well during the match against Bangladesh. But then, Bangladeshi batsmen are not exactly world's best. Their next match is against New Zealand, and I will be quite interested to see whether the Pakistani bowlers can continue with their current form.
1559  Economy / Economics / Re: No petrol/diesel car sales by 2035/ Reality or dream? on: November 01, 2023, 07:52:09 AM
It is undeniablethat nickel, cobalt, and lithium extraction has a negative impact on the environment. Two striking instances of ecological destruction are the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Norilsk. But surely there's no harm in pushing the boundaries, giving the situation a closer look, and delving further into the long-term consequences?

Renewables are seeing a fast transformation in the field of energy production, signaling a change. It is important to weigh the potential for cleaner, sustainable energy against the short-term environmental costs associated with EV production. Although it is a transitory problem, EVs emit more pollution than gasoline-powered cars. The environmental equation will probably shift in favor of EVs as clean energy sources are gradually deployed.

How do you suggest making the EVs more environmentally friendly? For the last 2 decades or so, I haven't noticed any significant improvement in the battery technology. The same type of batteries (Lithium-Nickel-Cobalt) are being used even now. Unless someone come up with a better technology, which uses metals and minerals that are more readily available in the earth's crust, this issue will persist. But given the huge amount of investment currently being poured into Lithium and Cobalt mining, I am not sure whether any of the major EV manufacturers are even considering a need for a different type of EV battery. 
1560  Economy / Gambling discussion / Re: ICC WORLD CUP 2023 DISCUSSION THREAD! on: November 01, 2023, 07:42:06 AM
Going by the stats the New Zealand team has won more matches than the South African team in 50 overs matches while playing against each other. This time the South African team is very different they have played an outstanding game of cricket. Except for the one match against the Netherlands where they lost. I am expecting the South African side to win today against the Kiwis. The betting odds do favor the South African team by a small margin, then also I feel they would make a big impact on the points table today. If the Kiwis get defeated then Australia would go up the rank on the point table.

It is the ultimate irony. South Africa defeated all the stronger teams in this tournament, but their only defeat so far came against the weakest team (at least as far as the ICC rankings are concerned). And no one expected them to lose that match. They were able to restrict Netherlands to just 245 runs (and had them at 140/7 when Logan van Beek got out). For a team that made 428 against Sri Lanka, a target of 246 should have been cakewalk. But what happened next is history. Logan van Beek picked up 3 wickets and Paul van Meekeren, Roelof van der Merwe and Bas de Leede picked 2 each and in the end Proteas were blasted out for just 207 runs. 
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