But then again, not sure if a lot of people would actually go to the US, as many governments are warning against it In fact, despite all the problems, I believe that in terms of security, Qatar is much better than the United States, Canada and Mexico. But even so, I believe that this is the least of the problems that could prevent tourists from going to watch the 2026 World Cup games in person. The main factors that could make this difficult, I still believe are: - The money: Even believing that it will be cheaper than the Qatar Cup, this is still a privilege for few people in the world;
- The visa: Unlike Qatar, it is much more complicated to get a visa to enter the USA, which will host most of the games, not to mention that citizens of certain countries are prohibited from entering there... they cannot even apply of the process.
- The culture of the country: The United States has a bad reputation in many countries or religions, something that will certainly prevent much of the world from visiting them.
Qatar 2022 was very expensive for most of the fans. The Qataris were exploiting the fans, by overpricing the hotel rooms and services. The only positive point was that all the world cup venues were located in close proximity, and therefore it was possible to easily move from one venue to the other. And the biggest advantage with Qatar is obviously the visa process. It is very easy to get a Qatari tourist visa, which will enable you to reside in Qatar for a period of up to 90 days. I don't know whether the Americans are going to relax the visa requirements, but it is extremely tedious to get a US tourist visa. BTW, the third point is illogical. US is much better than Qatar, in terms of respecting different cultures and customs. |
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There was a zero chance of Ireland defeating Bangladesh. Bangladesh is a good team in ODI cricket. They were excellent in the second match and okay in the last match, as per my understanding. While Ireland were playing at home and had a little advantage, I felt they were somewhat overconfident in the second match due to their performance in the Test series. When they realized Bangladesh is too good in ODI, they gave a good fight in the last match.
It was clear to me that Ireland wouldn't be able to defeat Bangladesh. That is why I did not view it as I, and almost everyone, is busy watching IPL.
Ireland was still dreaming that they will be able to win the series 3-0 and thereby gain direct qualification to the ODI world cup. And in reality, they lost the series 0-2. They asked Josh Little to participate in this series (he was playing in the IPL for Gujarat Titans), and this resulted in huge monetary losses for him. They need to introspect the reason for poor performance ever since they got the test status in 2019. Now they are receiving good funding from the ICC, when compared to other associate nations such as Scotland and Namibia ($5 million per year for 2019-23, and $18 million per year for 2024-27). |
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We have good fight in both ODI from the Ireland which is good sign for team which is new and trying to have good impact on their performance, but this is not easy because it needs more practice and good number of matches which will bring good quality and spirit of fight for them as well.
In these both ODI we have good fight, and they lost narrowly which is also good because Bangladesh is also now having good experience and can fight hard until last ball which is surely going to have good results for them in near future as well now it's all on ICC how they manage to create more opportunities for these teams to have more international matches and improve their quality level which create good entertainment for cricket fans in future.
I don't know whether this is a good excuse for the pathetic performance from Ireland in recent times. Before they received their test status in 2019, they used to perform much better. They were able to defeat teams like England and West Indies on a regular basis. But that was when they had awesome players such as Kevin O'Brien, William Porterfield, Tim Murtagh, Boyd Rankin, Ed Joyce and Niall O'Brien. Once these players retired, their performance deteriorated. Among the younger players, only Curtis Campher, Lorcan Tucker and Harry Tector have shown some promise. All the others are there just to make up the numbers. |
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I'd prefer if Virat and Rohit take official retirement from T-20 and ODI (After WC) and focused on Test cricket and IPL.
Virat may retire from the test format, but he is not going to give up T20Is and IPL. Rohit is already 36 years old, and I don't know for how long he will continue to play in multiple formats. His performance was not satisfactory during this year's Indian Premier League. If Mumbai Indians fail to qualify for the playoffs, then there is a very good chance that he will be removed from captaincy. BTW, his recent test performance is not that extra-ordinary. During the last two years, he has only one test hundred to his name (and no half centuries) in 9 innings. |
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^^^ Not sure about the 70% figure. That was true two months back, but now the share seems to have reduced. China, Pakistan and Turkey are also purchasing large amounts of crude oil (especially Urals) from Russia. And now coming to earning profits - Yes. Indian government is earning profits by refining Russian crude to diesel and gasoline, and then selling them at market prices to Indian citizens. Product exports to Europe are from OPEC crude. And finally, we no longer use rupees to trade with Russia. Most of the trade now is being conducted using AED (United Arab Emirates Dirham).
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The tournament is about to start in four days from now, and I am surprised at the inactivity of this thread. And this is despite so much controversy related to the selection of hosts. Argentina was selected as the hosts, after Indonesia was disqualified. The tournament will be held in 4 Argentine cities - La Plata, Santiago del Estero, Mendoza and San Juan. Obviously Argentina will be the favorites to win the trophy this time, as they have the home advantage. But I will be curious to see how some of the emerging teams perform this time, mainly Uzbekistan, Fiji and Honduras.
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Being an Indian, I need to say this to the Indian government: "you can't have your cake and eat it too". They are already receiving crude oil from Russia, at a discount of $5 to $10 per barrel. Now they want to settle trade in Indian Rupee. The problem is that the trade deficit between India and Russia is too huge and billions of USD worth of Rupees have been accumulated in Russian reserves. Now they can't use this money. Russia wanted to settle the trade using CNY, but the Indian government opposed it. Now most of the trade is being done using AED (United Arab Emirates Dirham) and some are settled using CHF (Swiss Franc).
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If you see batting performance of GT yesterday then only two players were able to reach double figures i.e. Shubman Gill and Sai Sudharsan. No other batsmen was able to reach double figures but these two batsmen together made 148 out of total score of 188 runs. SRH are out from this year IPL after this loss.
Not only that, four batsmen of Gujarat Titans were dismissed in the zero run. From this side, everyone can guess that if Shubman Gill's 101 runs were dropped, the team score of Gujarat Titans would not have been very high. Barring two Gujarat Titans batsmen, all batsmen performed poorly as did Sunrise Hyderabad's Klassen and V. Kumar. Had the rest of Sunrise Hyderabad's batsmen performed a bit better, they might have won the match tomorrow and retained any chance of securing the knockout stage. Out of the total of 188/9 made by Gujarat Titans, 101 was made by Shubman Gill and Sai Sudharsan made 47. So these two made 148 out of 188 runs. Extras contributed to 13 runs. So the remaining 9 Gujarat batsmen (including Hardik Pandya and David Miller) made just 27 runs, at an average of 3 runs per player. Five Gujarat batsmen made 0 runs. It was a match of many extremes and in the end GT prevailed and earned a playoff spot. The collapse of middle order batsmen should worry them, though. BTW, can someone explain why Dasun Shanaka was in the playing XI? He didn't bowled a single over yesterday. |
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Why do you have to visit 3 countries?, I think if you intend to watch the world cup matches live because your country's national team will play, just look at the group phase where your country will be based camp, after that if they can advance to the next round then the United States is the choice because this country has a larger portion of organizing matches than the other two countries, but if you don't have the funds for that then it's actually not a problem because matches will always be broadcast live and that's enough in my opinion because I will like that too.
That is not a fair argument. There are millions of football fans around the world, who want to watch the world cup matches in person rather than on television. And conducting the tournament in three countries instead of one complicates things for them. The last time world cup was co-hosted was in 2002, when the matches were staged in Japan and South Korea. Even then, the distance between venues were manageable. But that is not the case with USA and Canada. Boston to San Francisco is close to 5,000 km and even by air it will take 6-7 hours. And then there are visa requirements to travel in the US. Getting a US visa can be very difficult. |
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What a dominating performance we witnessed from Hardik Pandya and his talented team so far! Their bowling unit is really impressive, proved difficult for their opponents to survive. Yes, credit where it's due both Mohammed Shami and Mohit Sharma played a key role in the team's success, taking four wickets each. But I must say, Shami's seam presentation was as clean as a whistle, leaving the opposition completely stunned. It's no wonder he's considered the best, as he expertly dismantled Sunrisers Hyderabad's top order.
Gujarat Titans are one of the most balanced teams in this season of the Indian Premier League. They have Wriddhiman Saha and Shubman Gill as the openers, and then Hardik Pandya, David Miller and in the middle order. Rashid Khan and Noor Ahmad have been impressive with their bowling so far, and the former is also known for sizable contributions with the bat. And finally, Mohammed Shami, Mohit Sharma and Josh Little have handled the pace bowling department quite nicely. Sunrisers Hyderabad on the other hand failed as a team yesterday. In batting no one could support Heinrich Klaasen, and Bhuvneshwar Kumar was the lone performer among the bowlers. |
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@Sithara007 not surprised to see another country trying to cash out on the success of the T20 format but I doubt that any big star player especially from the big 3 will participate. Furthermore this league will probably be home to the reserve squad of national team’s and player’s who can’t play in league like IPL hence I don’t expect much viewership for them apart from their local fan’s.
Well.. Malaysia is not the only associate nation trying to cash in on the T20 format. Canadian Cricket Association has already announced that they will be resuming the Global T20 Canada this year. The league was started in 2018 and the second edition was staged in 2019. But after that the organizers faced some difficulties as a result of COVID and the 2020-2022 editions were cancelled. Yuvraj Singh is one of the players who will feature in GLT20. He will be representing the Toronto Nationals franchise. There are rumors that Kieron Pollard will be participating, but there is no confirmation as of now. |
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Did you know that candidates will need to have a debate right in front of the public to see how sane they are?
Once Joe gets up there, I don't think his secretary or his nurse could ever rescue him from being bombarded by what Trump could say. Just what Biden's administration did from Hunter's laptop, the border crisis, and the Russia-Ukraine war down to the debt crisis this time.
None may ever come to rescue him from mumbling all over the place telling stories of his hairy legs. LOL.. the presidential debate would be quite entertaining. And Biden can't rely on the teleprompter. Trump is going to destroy him outright (given he wins the GOP presidential nomination). Biden is already trailing in most of the opinion polls. The latest polls from Rasmussen Reports measured his net disapproval at 14 points. Any blunder during the debates will sink him to a point beyond redemption. But that said, we still have one and half years to go for POTUS election of 2024. A lot of things can happen in these 18 months. BTW, American Greatness released an opinion poll for Republican nomination for the state of Florida. Trump is leading with 42 points, compared to 34 for DeSantis. If DeSantis can't even win his home state, then I don't think that he stands a chance elsewhere. |
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Today is the final day for cricket in Southeast Asian Games. In T10 format, the gold medal match will be played between Philippines and Thailand (with the latter being the strong favorites to win gold), while the bronze medal match will be played between Cambodia and Malaysia. All the four teams are almost entirely comprised of native players. In T20 format, Thailand won the gold yesterday (defeated Indonesia). Malaysia ended up with the bronze medal after they defeated Singapore. Finals for ODI format was held on 13th may, and Thailand won the gold, followed by silver for Indonesia and bronze for Malaysia.
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It seems to me that many people predict the success of national teams in major competitions based on the size of the country and past sporting success, rather than the current reality.
What have the Netherlands, Spain, Germany or Denmark achieved in the last 10 years in any competition? On what basis are they favorites compared to Croatia, which is the current participant in the final tournament of the League of Nations in June and the winner of two consecutive medals at the last 2 world cups in football?
When I read the sports predictions on this forum ahead of the World Cup in Qatar, some members even predicted that Croatia had no chance of qualifying for the knockout stage of the competition, and they considered Belgium and Canada to be favorites in the group. We know very well how it ended, from the group, Croatia and Morocco advanced to the knockout phase of the competition.
Such sports predictions, which are not based on concrete facts and reality but on the size and popularity of some country, should not be taken seriously.
As for the story of the age of the Croatian national team, just look at this list:
- Livakovic, 28 years old, according to many statistical indicators, the best goalkeeper at the world cup in Qatar
- Stanisic, defender in Bayern, 23 years old
- Guardiol, defender in Leipzig, 21 years old, will soon become the most expensive defender in the world
- Sosa, a defender in Stuttgart, 25 years old, the German Football Association wanted him to play for the German national team
- Lovro Majer, currently one of the best young midfielders in the world, 20 years old, Rennes
- Kovacic, 28 years old, Chelsea, one of the best midfielders in the world
I could continue the list with a few more very young and promising young Croatian players. Croatia, a team with old players? Think again, but let's talk based on facts, not opinions, please. I agree with Daniel91. A lot of people have a habit of overlooking Croatia, partly because it is a small country and partly due to it's location (in the Balkans). The future looks bright, with younger players such as Stanisic and Guardiol already making an impact at international level. On the other hand, Germany, Netherlands and Belgium are still dependent on a few players who are well in to their 30s. The logic of saying that Croatia is primarily comprised of older players is due to the fact that their most famous players such as Ivan Perišić and Luka Modrić are near retirement. The younger players are not as famous as these two. But this conception will change in due course of time. |
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I think the level of medical care, I mean, for someone like the POTUS, is of such a high level that a candidate being in his 80s shouldn't be a concern at all. Also, we were talking about it earlier, the team is what really matters, not the president, if he's not a dictator. And Biden is not going to be a dictator, evryone knows that. I don't agree with you. Medical care may keep Trump in good spirits till 2028 if he wins in 2024. But I don't have the same opinion about Biden. Already he is suffering from medical issues such as dementia (despite the best medical care being made available for him). Things are going to be much worse by 2028. But for the Democrats it should not matter much. It looks as if Nancy Pelosi and Kamala Harris are the decision makers in this administration and Biden is just a mask. If the American public want this to continue, then they can go for Biden during the 2024 POTUS elections. |
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Match have come to an end. Gujarat Titans have comfortably won the match by 34 runs and confirm its qualification into the playoff. It was Shubman Gill(103) and Sudharsan (47) through whom Gujarat Titans were able to score 188 runs. From the very beginning SRH wasn't able to perform. Already they're out of playoff, so there is no big pressure. The wickets started to fall from the beginning and it is klaasen who scored 64 runs. Shami and Mohit Sharma bowled well in defending SRH with their 4 wicket hauls. It was just unbelievable. The way that Sunrisers Hyderabad collapsed. When Marco Jansen got out, they were 59/7, before Heinrich Klaasen and Bhuvneshwar Kumar added 68 runs for the 8th wicket partnership. We saw a similar collapse from the Rajasthan Royals two days back. The two pacers (Mohammed Shami and Mohit Sharma) shared 8 wickets between them. And then, Gujarat Titans innings was also quite strange. At one point, they were 147/1 (14 over). And this is when Sai Sudharsan got out. And then they ended up at 188/9. |
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There is some exciting news from Malaysia. The Malaysian Cricket Association has announced that they will be launching a T20 league this year, comprised of 5 franchises. The league will be sponsored by IPG (who were the official promoters of the Lankan Premier League). According to Mohammed Iqbal Ali bin Kassim Ali (MCA president), local Malaysian players will get an opportunity to play with some of the top international cricket players. All the matches will be played at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. My only concern is regarding the availability of international players. The T20 league calendar already looks over-saturated.
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WTC final is a one-off match, but for sure the Indian selectors can do some experimentation with selection for the remaining 4 matches.
They will surely make some changes in the squad and we might witness new names in the rank, especially for the Windies tour as it's considered an easy tour. After this maybe new guys can make their cases for the SA tour, which is a tough tour for India and winning there still remains a pipe dream for the Indian team. South Africa is going to be a tough tour, at least for the batsmen. Facing bowlers such as Anrich Nortje, Kagiso Rabada, Marco Jansen and Lungi Ngidi is not going to be easy, especially in tracks that offer a lot of support for the batsmen. That is why I would like the selectors to make some experimentation during the West Indies tour. If someone performs well, then let them be included for the Protean tour. Anyway let's not forget the fact that players like Virat and Rohit are all in their mid 30s. Within the next 3-4 years, Indian selectors need to find replacements for them. |
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I don't know whether it was due to complaints from other sports that football will overshadow them. Primary reason, I guess was due to the concerns from European clubs, regarding the availability of their top players. But I like this setup. It still leaves the loophole of having 3 senior players in the team. So for example, it is possible to have Kylian Mbappé, Paul Pogba and Karim Benzema in the squad along with the younger players. My only issue is with different set of rules for both men's and women's competitions. Should have the same rules applicable for both the competitions. |
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It's actually going to be four countries, not just one. Uruguay, Argentina, Chile, and Paraguay are bidding for the 2030 World Cup.
If they actually get it, it would be an awkward South American qualification. There are 10 teams, and from the next world cup there will be 6 directly qualified teams with one going to playoffs.
With 4 South American countries qualified as hosts, and 6 directly qualifying, that would mean the whole continent would qualify for that world cup, without a single qualifying match needed.
What a load of BS? If the joint bid from Uruguay–Argentina–Chile–Paraguay wins the hosting rights for FIFA World Cup 2030, then a total of only 6 teams will participate in that tournament from the CONMEBOL region. Out of the 48 participants, 6 are supposed to come from this confederation. And if they win hosting rights, then 4 out of the 6 slots will be reserved for the hosts, while the non-hosting countries within CONMEBOL will participate in the qualifier tournament from which the remaining 2 slots will be decided. So let's be clear about it. A total of 6 teams will be from CONMEBOL, and not 10 as you are claiming. |
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