I don't agree that they are being placed in a weak group. It is as tough as it can get. They have two very strong teams (Spain and Scotland) in addition to two teams that can spring some surprises every now and then (Cyprus and Georgia). After heavy defeats to Spain and Scotland, now the chances of Norway qualifying for the final tournament is very low. In the next phase they have one match against Georgia. But even if they win that match, Spain can easily overtake them to become no.2 in the group. For Spain there are two matches in the next phase - against Georgia and Cyprus.

The usage of Rupee in international trade between India and Russia was discontinued sometime back. Now the majority of the trade is being conducted using the US Dollar, and a part of the trade is being done using the AED (United Arab Emirates Dirham). And this month, some of the Indian refineries have purchased a few Russian crude oil cargoes using CNY (Chinese Yuan). Details can be found here:

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-07-03/india-state-refiners-consider-paying-in-yuan-for-russian-crude

BPCL and HPCL want to continue with their payments in USD/AED, but the emergence of new sanctions have made this much harder now. Obviously CNY is an attractive option, but the government is not that excited.

^^^ You are saying that Russian gas industry has "collapsed". But the numbers doesn't add up. I will agree that the volumes have got reduced. Compared to 2021, there is a reduction of 24%. But the increase in prices have nullified any negative impact that comes as a result of this. Back in 2020, natural gas used to cost around $150 per thousand cubic meters. Now the Dutch TTF prices are around $400 per thousand cubic meters. Even if Russia exports half as much as gas as they did previously, they will earn the same revenues from their gas.

I was looking at the points table and came up with a list of teams that can be considered as the biggest disappointments:

Group A: Norway (so far won just 1 out of their total 4 matches)
Group F: Sweden (one win out of three matches)
Group G: Bulgaria (no wins from four matches)
Group J: Bosnia (one win out of four matches)
Group J: Iceland (one win out of four matches)

I am not adding Italy, Netherlands and Spain to this list, because they haven't played a large number of matches till now.

It is nice to see Tamil Nadu Premier League getting bigger and bigger with each passing season. It was first played in 2016, and this season is the 7th. In terms of revenues they are quite strong (as a result of the media rights deal with Star India and due to support from local sponsors). Other local leagues in India such as the Karnataka Premier League and the Maharashtra Premier League have struggled to stay afloat. If they allow 1-2 foreign players per team, then the revenues can be increased and there will be much more interest from the global audiences.

Remember one thing. Trump would have won the 2020 elections hands down, if not for the COVID pandemic. It was the poor handling of the pandemic that cost him the elections. His approval ratings were much higher than what Biden is having now, and economy was growing at a brisk pace until the beginning of 2020. And this is when the pandemic struck. And Trump also made a few follies, by refusing to support the lockdown measures. Biden handled the pandemic much worse than Trump, but by then the elections were over.

There is an ODI series ongoing between the Netherlands women and the Thailand women. In the first match, the Dutch women won by 55 runs. Thailand got bowled out for 149 runs, in reply to 204 made by the Netherlands. This series consists of 3 ODI matches and the second match will be played tomorrow. Babette de Leede represented Netherlands Women and opened the batting for them in yesterday's match, while her cousin Bas de Leede represented Netherlands during the ODI World Cup qualifier against Oman.

LOL... Michelle Obama is there because the sportsbooks need at least 4-5 options for the Democrat nominee. At this point, apart from Biden and Kennedy, they don't have any other options. Same with the GOP as well. Apart from Trump and DeSantis, there are no other viable alternatives. The primary elections for both the parties are going to be quite boring this time. Everything is predictable and if there are no surprises then it is going to be Trump vs Biden in 2024. And given this, the turnout for the 2024 presidential elections would be very low.

Steven Gerrard is a good addition to the SPL non-playing staff. If they are ready to splurge billions to bring top players to the Saudi Professional League, then I think there is nothing wrong in spending a fraction of that to bring the top managers as well. They can consider hiring people like Arsène Wenger or Frank Lampard. Well.. Wenger retired a few years back, but a big fat paycheck would be enough to bring him to the SPL. Overall, I like the direction in which the Saudi Professional League is moving. By 2030, we can confidently say that this will be among the top-5 leagues in the world.

Messi's contract with Inter Miami is a bit complicated. Fixed salary is around $50-60 million per year. Apart from this, he is also given an opportunity to own a part of the MLS franchise (similar to the deal that was offered to Beckham by LA Galaxy). But even after factoring everything, it comes noway near the deal from Al Hilal. The Saudis were ready to pay $1.2 billion per year to Messi, and that too for just two years. In the end, it is all about personal preferences, but 99.99% of us would have selected Al Hilal, if such an opportunity gets presented to us.

In case of Netherlands, they have got a few players of foreign origin, such as Aryan Dutt, Vikram Singh and Shariz Ahmed. But everyone has Dutch citizenship. The KNCB has a policy of including only citizens in their national squad. Players like Teja Nidamannaru were asked to get a Dutch passport before being considered for national team selection. Oman is not like that. Out of the 11 players in their XI for yesterday's match not a single one had Omani citizenship and none of the players were born in Oman. Even when the Omani national anthem was being sung, the players looked confused and none of them were signing it.

Today we have the match between Scotland and Zimbabwe. If Zimbabwe wins this match, they are through to the ODI world cup. On the other hand, in case Scotland wins, then they can qualify to the world cup if they defeat Netherlands in their next match.

LOL.. you will never get this sort of drama in limited overs cricket (the Ashwin mankading incident in IPL comes close though). And this is one of the reasons why Ashes is still watched all around the world (in absolute numbers, viewership from South Asia will be more than that in both Australia and England combined). Everyone enjoyed the first two matches, and if all the test matches are like this, then test format will retain its glory. But then, for every one or two series like the Ashes, we get 10 lop-sided ones.

If the spectators don't have self-respect then how can they demand respect from the BCCI guys and politicians? Despite being treated like shit, hardly anyone ever complains about it. In India, corruption and nepotism has become a part of the life. It is prevalent in all the sectors, including the Supreme Court and the IAS/IPS establishment. Ordinary people doesn't care about it anymore. All they care is whether they can get some freebies or not. In India, all the recent state elections were won by parties who promised freebies to the people. One celebrity even claimed that for free tickets in public transport Indian males would be ready to wear burqa:

https://twitter.com/MeghUpdates/status/1668507433751420928

Unless there is some mass boycott campaign (something similar to the one ongoing against Bollywood), no one is going to listen.

In general there is a "chalta hai" attitude all across India. Tickets are in short supply and demand is huge. Administrators (both from the BCCI and state/municipal governments) think that they are doing some sort of charity by allowing fans inside the stadiums. And level of corruption is just huge. At each and every level, commissions are involved. Food vendors and washroom maintenance contractors are selected on the basis of who can pay the maximum amount of bribes, and not based on their quality of work. Given this, you should not be surprised about the lack of quality.

Zimbabwe's huge loss to Sri Lanka makes things really interesting in Super-6. It means that in case Scotland bets Zimbabwe in the next match, then they will qualify for the World Cup later this year. Zimbabwe has only one match remaining (against Scotland), while Scotland has two matches remaining (vs Zimbabwe and Oman). Already they have a higher run rate compared to Zimbabwe, and if they win both the matches then they will end up with 8 points to Zimbabwe's 6. That would also mean that at least one associate nation would be represented during the 2023 ODI World Cup.

It was one of those matches which should have been won by the associate nation. The target of 214 was very much achievable for Netherlands, but they have only themselves to blame. A win yesterday would have given them a very good chance to qualify for the ODI World Cup (which would have meant an additional funding of $1 million). After getting to winning position several times yesterday, they floundered their chances and ended up losing the match. Now they have two matches remaining in Super-6. But even if they win these two, I don't think that they will be able to qualify.

Bad light was an issue yesterday, but the weather looks fine for the next two days. So there is still a good chance that we will get a result from this match. At this point, Australia is leading by 221 runs. How long will it take for them to add another 220-230 runs and then declare the innings? Usman Khawaja and Steven Smith are not exactly known for scoring quick runs, but they need to step up the scoring rate if they want to make sure that Australia wins this match. But then, they also need to make sure that there is no middle order collapse. A lead of less than 400 would make them vulnerable under conditions that are helpful for batting.

England was cruising at 188/1. And then they lost wickets in a hurry and ended up at 325 all out. Harry Brook was the only lower order batsmen who made a significant contribution. Meanwhile, Usman Khawaja and Steven Smith are batting with a lot of patience and they are scoring at a rate of 2-3 runs per over. Australia may be planning to declare by second session tomorrow, but that looks a bit risky for me. The pitch is not offering a lot of support for the batsmen. Ideally they should score runs quickly and try to declare by lunch tomorrow.

The problem with Zimbabwe is that their performance is dependent on a few players such as Raza, Williams and Ervine. When these people are out of form, they fail to compete in a meaningful way against the top teams. Younger players such as Blessing Muzarabani are too volatile. I don't know how they will perform if they get in to the ODI World Cup. There is a good chance that they may win 1-2 matches out of the total of 9. But then, this maybe their last world cup. I don't think that Zimbabwe will remain competitive once their senior players retire.

The lead has now gone past 200. Usman Khawaja is now at the crease with Steven Smith and Australia looks set to impose a target of 400 plus. Looks like another win for the Australians this time. England bowlers looks toothless at this moment, especially the pacers. Even Josh Tongue seems to be struggling. I guess they need to bring on their best bower (Joe Root) and give him an extended spell. This is the third day, so we are almost assured of a result this time. Plenty of time remains for Australia to bowl out England when they come out to bat.