I think the analysis forgets the fact that the names he replaced are much better than the players that they have now. Sure they have some good players, but to say Livakovic as one of the best goalkeepers in the world now? That seems like overrating him a bit, maybe barely top 10, but that's it.
To say the least, they have a roster value that is matching teams that are not even in the world cup, surely they played better than their roster value but that is exactly the reason why they are doing good. They do not have great players, they never did, they had a few here and there, but none of their players were stars aside from Modric, who is the sole ballon d'or winner during Ronaldo/Messi domination period, but this game is played with 11, so they had 10 other players who were not really finalist level good. The thing that makes Croatio good is not the players, it's the team spirit they play with.
I would consider Dominik Livaković as one of the best goal-keepers in the world right now. And you are admitting that you would include him in the top-10 list. In case he is in top-10, then automatically he becomes one of the best, right? What separates Livaković from others such as Emi Martinez, Yassine Bounou and Wojciech Szczesny? I can't find anything. IMO, he is at the same level as them. Do you remember the match between Croatia and Brazil during Qatar 2022? Croatia won the match mainly because of Livaković. Unfortunate that he didn't got the Golden Glove. |
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The fact that Punjab Kings lost even after making such a good target and I really loved the inning from Liam Livingstone. He should have been the Man of the Match only if the ballers from PBKS did well. Rohit Sharma again getting out early is a terrible thing for the Indian team overall if we look at the WTC coming ahead after this IPL season.
Punjab bowlers were pathetic yesterday. Arshdeep conceded 66 runs from his 4 overs. It can't get any worse than this. And with Arshdeep consistency is a big issue. If the batsmen starts attacking, he rapidly loses his confidence. And Sam Curran also conceded tons of runs yesterday. Nathan Ellis was the only Punjab bowler who got it right. But Shikhar used him well before the crucial overs. He bowled the 16th over, and got the crucial wicket of Suryakumar Yadav. If he had one more over remaining, then Punjab would have won the match. |
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There are rumors that the 2023 edition of the Asia Cup will be cancelled. It is going to be a big blow for Nepal. They qualified for Asia Cup, after playing so well during the ACC Premier Cup. And even back in 2006, Nepal had qualified for Asia Cup. Then also the tournament was cancelled due to tensions between India and Pakistan. And now after 17 years of wait, they got a chance to participate in the Asia Cup, and it looks as if the tournament will get cancelled once more. This is not the way to treat one of the most promising teams in associate cricket.
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surprisingly Pakistan won its 3 match against NZ by 26 runs..
NZ team was a bit disappointed for not being able to win the match - Pakistan has won the series already. Congrats to team Pakistan.
New Zealand worked really hard to tie the T20I series 2-2. Now they have lost the 5-match ODI series, but the margins were close and they were unlucky at times. During the second match, they got to a total of 336/5, but still lost the match after Fakhar Zaman managed to hit 180. But they should look at the positives. They were playing under hostile conditions, against some of the best international players. And they were missing some of their top players including Jamieson, Boult, Ferguson and Williamson. Given all this, they did a decent job so far. |
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Of course, ICC is not going to invest in these countries or teams which are actually showing potential. They will invest in those teams which are not made out of native players. Which will eventually hurt the game in the long run. I am sure that ICC is thinking about money but they at least could help these teams out a little.
The officials which are running the show in the ICC are probably thinking about them not being in the authority for a long period of time. That's why they are more worried about earning a good amount of money instead of thinking about how the game can be better.
So far Indonesia has shown good improvement. I wonder how long it will take for the ICC to actually recognize these cricket teams and actually help them with some money.
I am still waiting for the news on ICC revenue distribution model for the next cycle (2024-2027). This time the revenue from media rights increased by almost 4 times and we can expect an increase in allocation for everyone. Already it is rumored that BCCI's share will be increased from 22% as of now, to around 37% (they want it to be increased even further). As of now, only around 5% of the ICC revenue ends up with the associate nations. And even in this share, teams like UAE and USA get preference due to the new performance-based system. |
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If we are looking at the history then yeah, i'd agree with this statement but in the last decade, Ashes become an almost one-sided affair when compared to BGT. Aussie always spanks Poms in their backyard and the latter provide some entertainment when hosting the series.
That's not the case with the BGT anymore. The last 5 BGT series have been very competitive.
England's performance in test cricket has gone down over the years, while Australia was able to maintain their quality. I don't know the exact reason, as the quality of county cricket hasn't deteriorated. In fact county championship remains as one of the top 4-day domestic competitions around the world in terms of quality. One reason maybe England players prioritizing T20 over test format. England players prioritize money over national duty, while for the Australians it is the other way around (there will be some exceptions though). |
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Pakistan cricket team won by 26 runs against New Zealand cricket team in the third match of ODI series. Pakistan cricket team confirmed the series by winning three consecutive matches in ODI series. This is a big success for Pakistan cricket team. In today's match, Fakhar Zaman, Rezwan failed to bat but Babar Azam and Imam Ul Haq performed well. Today's match was a spectacular one. Intoxicated by the victory, both the teams fought a breath-taking battle. I am very happy to enjoy this match
Two more matches remain, and Pakistan has won the series 3-0. After the debacle during the T20 series, the ODI series turned out to be a morale booster for Pakistan. Their top players seems to be in great form. Fakhar Zaman managed 180 in the second ODI, which took him to the record books. As far as bowling is concerned, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Naseem Shah are doing well, with adequate support from Haris Rauf. Once again, concern regarding the spin department remains. Pakistan is still dependent on part-time spinners. They need to find a world class spinner capable of troubling batsmen. |
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But Saudi Arabia won against the current champions, Argentina. That might give them a boost in the selection process.
It was perhaps the most unexpected result during Qatar 2022. No one expected Argentina to go down against Saudi Arabia, and that too in their first match. But to their credit, Argentina recovered well, and never lost another match in the tournament. Saudi Arabia on the other hand failed to qualify for the round of 16. But then, the edition of 2022 was full of surprises. Brazil lost to Cameroon, France lost to Tunisia, Germany lost to Japan and so on. I just hope that in 2026 also we will be able to witness similar upsets. |
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I am tracking the polls on Democratic Presidential Nomination, and it looks as if Joe Biden is comfortably ahead at this point. He is polling somewhere between 60% and 70%, while Kennedy at second place is polling approx. 20%. Marianne Williamson is also included in the poll, but can't get past single digits in any of them. But still I am hopeful about Robert Kennedy Jr. He very recently announced his candidature and so far he has achieved a lot of publicity. Also, he has got a lot of traction in social media platforms.
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It was an expected match for Punjab Kings after the performance from Livingston, Jitesh and Shikhar Dhawan after the big target. Mumbai Indians chased the target in. Comfortable manner. Punjab Kings needs improvement from the bowling, because this will complete down the performance of batters. Arshdeep Singh is very expensive with an economy of 17.22 and Sam Curran who used to break partnership wasn't able to perform good. He's also expensive with 13.67 economy. Mumbai Indians slowly progressing on the points table.
Mumbai batting is just too strong. Even if the top 2-3 batsmen get out quickly, they have another 3-4 T20 specialists in the middle order who can easily chase 200+ totals. And yesterday apart from Nathan Ellis (who was included as an impact sub), none of the Punjab bowlers could perform well. Sam Curran had figures of 3-0-41-0. Arshdeep Singh was even worse, as he went for 3.5-0-66-1. The captain chose not to bowl Rahul Chahar and Harpreet Brar in the depth overs, else they could have got the stick as well. It was a sub-par performance from the Punjab bowlers. |
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Yeah, Donald Trump is 76 at the moment, turning 77 in June.
He does not look that old to be honest, I genuinely thought he was in his sixties at most.
Biden on the other hand does look old and even the way he walks seems very fragile. Not a surprise he is 80.
And Trump has made use of this fact in a big way. Seriously, I don't think that Joe Biden should run for POTUS elections in 2024. American voters gave him 4 years at the top most post, and now he needs to admit that he is unfit for that job on health grounds. But one issue for Democratic Party is that they don't have a suitable candidate to replace him. At this point, Robert Kennedy Jr is the second most probable candidate, but he is strongly anti-establishment (much like Donald Trump). If Kennedy is the candidate, then he will win by a landslide. But the establishment Democrats will not allow that to happen at any cost (similar to what they did to Sanders back in 2016). |
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I would call this an unexpected performance by the Mumbai Indians. When Punjab Kings made 214 runs in thier first innings i thought it was game over for Mumbai Indians as they would not be able to chase this high score. But some good knock by Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav
made it possible.
These days it's pretty hard to predict the winners of the IPL matches and also I see teams chasing down the total successfully which may seem quite difficult to chase.
Depends on the track where the matches are being played. Yesterday's match was played in Mohali, at the Punjab Cricket Association IS Bindra Stadium. The pitch offered no assistance to the bowlers. On the other hand, the previous two matches saw teams defending totals of 130 and 126 successfully. And these matches were being played at Ahmedabad and Lucknow. And then we need to agree with the fact that Mumbai Indians do have the capability to chase 200+ totals. They have some of the most destructive batsmen in T20 cricket, including Ishan Kishan, Cameron Green, Suryakumar Yadav, Tim David and Tilak Varma. |
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Almost 60% of my net wealth is in the form of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies (that is mostly because I made my investments back in 2014, when the Bitcoin prices were very low). However, at this point around 4% of my wealth is in gold (mostly gold ETF, a small fraction in the form of physical gold coins). I have a few bars of silver with me, but I have never invested in that metal seriously. At this point, my silver holdings are around 0.01% of my net wealth. I am thinking about increasing my gold stocks. But now the prices have gone up by quite a lot.
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The point when Rahul Tewatia hit 3 back to back sixes I thought GT might be able to chase such a small target but Ishant Sharma destroyed all my hopes. Except Hardik Pandya non of the GT batters were able score yesterday. DC bowled very well and their fielding was also spot on.
Today we might again see MSD bat in the end. I am expecting a good scoring game today after all it is IPL. I cannot take any more low scoring games as I have seen back to back two.
The equation was 33 runs needed from 2 overs. At this point, I had zero hopes for a win from Gujarat Titans. And it was Anrich Nortje who was bowling. How the hell can anyone hit him for 3 sixes in an over? Somehow Rahul Tewatia was able to achieve this super-human target (not the first time that he has done something like this). But surprisingly, in the next over which was bowled by Ishant, Tewatia failed to score even a single boundary. And Hardik Pandya was helpless and remained as a silent spectator from the other end. |
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@Sithara007 Test cricket becomes interesting only when the big 4 play and thus it’s not a surprise that ICC doesn’t even bother to make changes in the current system. Also I too love watching the Ashes because of the history of this tournament and the epic rivalry that England and Australia share, however currently I feel that Australia will crush England if England player’s quit international cricket for Franchise cricket.
We still don't know which players are currently involved in discussions with the IPL franchises. My guess is that it will be Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler, Sam Curran, Mark Wood, Moeen Ali and Jason Roy. Ben Stokes is currently captaining the England test side and his absence will be a big blow. For now, bowling won't be much impacted, since most of the workload will be handled by Stuart Broad and Jimmy Anderson. There is no such threat for Australia. Their players always prefer playing for the country, over IPL contracts. |
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Delhi batsmen's performance was not very good. Although the pitch is bowling-friendly, 130 runs is not a good enough collection to win. They should have collected 140-160. However, Warner's experienced captaincy and responsible bowling by every bowler in the squad helped Delhi Capitals win the match. Except for Nortje, every Delhi bowler conceded less than 6 runs per over. Delhi won due to an outstanding performance by the bowlers. Also, I will say that Delhi's fielding was very good in this match. They managed to save several runs due to good fielding.
Delhi's next match is against Bengaluru. It will be very difficult for Delhi to beat Virat Kohli's team. But I think this match will be very competitive
Remember that they got to 130 from a position of 23/5 (that was when Priyam Garg got out). Axar Patel and Aman Hakim Khan added 50 runs for the 6th wicket and then Aman and Ripal Patel added another 53 runs for the 7th wicket. Given the stage they were in, Delhi Capitals did exceptionally well to reach the total of 130. David Warner's captaincy played a crucial role in the win. His decision to bring in Khaleel Ahmed as an impact sub worked wonders, and along with Ishant he got rid of the Gujarat top-order. Looking forward to RCB vs DC match, as the momentum is with DC. |
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As a relatively new team I think Indonesia is doing quite well. Now the thing is they will need some time to improve. At least to reach a higher level of competitive cricket. I am interested to see how they perform overall in this tournament. I believe that they will be able to make a name for themselves in this tournament.
Of course, Malaysia is going to be better compared to Indonesia. Experience is a big factor in cricket. Indonesia does not have much of that. But it is true that with the help of ICC, they will be able to get better. At the same time cricket needs to be made a more popular sport in Indonesia so that kids are more and more interested in playing cricket professionally when they grow up. By making that happen natural talents will automatically come forward.
Well.. forget about any help from the ICC. They are simply not interested in spreading the game, ever since Jagmohan Dalmiya was ousted as the ICC president. That organization is currently being run by a bunch of greedy businessmen. But cricket in Indonesia has expanded rapidly (without any assistance from the ICC). There is an inter-provincial tournament, which is held as a part of the National Sports Week. Last edition saw the participation of provinces from every nook and corner of Indonesia, including the islands of Bali, Jawa, Sulawesi and Kalimantan. |
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Property has improved a lot in Nepalese cricket. The people of their country are playing the biggest role behind their progress. There are many cricket lovers in Nepal who are constantly supporting the Nepalese team. Nepalese cricket fans and Nepalese cricketers have a big dream to play the World Cup. The way they are performing, it won't be too difficult for them to qualify for the World Cup. The way they have improved their cricket even without being directly affiliated with the ICC is really admirable. If you have watched the fielding of Nepali players then you will surely appreciate their game. All in all, Nepal is having a great time of cricket.
They should be proud of their achievements. They have reached this level thanks to their hard work alone. Neither the ICC, nor the BCCI have helped them in anyway. The disadvantage with Nepal is that they are not a very rich country. Only a few kind-hearted businessmen are currently helping the Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) to improve the infrastructure and to make regular payments to the national team players. But the general public loves cricket and as everyone saw, tens of thousands of fans waited with their umbrellas to watch the game between Nepal and UAE, despite the thunderstorms at the Tribhuvan University International Cricket Ground. |
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Gujarat Titans, a formidable team, could not complete the 130-run chase. Meanwhile, Delhi Capitals, who are at the bottom of the points table, managed to secure the win despite seeing few runs as yesterday's venue was famous for its bowling pitch. Last Delhi Capitals fell by four wickets in four overs but how could a strong team like Gujarat lose.
All the games held at Narendra Modi Stadium in the past have produced such results. I am very sorry for the batting of Gujarat Titans team especially as they could not go for runs. Delhi Capitals remain at the bottom of the points table despite collecting two points. The advantage that Gujarat Titans has is that they are having a very balanced team, with plenty of allrounders. Hardik Pandya is one of the best T20 players available and his captaincy has worked like magic so far. Their mistake yesterday was that they became complacent after reducing Delhi Capitals to 23/5. They should have got them all out for a two digit total, but in the end thanks to the trio of Aman Hakim Khan - Axar Patel - Ripal Patel, DC managed to reach a total of 130. And then GT batsmen came down and tried to smash the ball, despite the fact that the track was not supportive for such style of play. |
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DC is last on points table while GT is at number 1. No one was expecting DC to win against number 1 team of IPL 2023. Thanks to Hakim Khan fifty DC was able to score 130 runs and win was expected for GT but DC bowlers never allowed GT batsmen to score runs. Hardik Pandya was not out and kept fighting by scoring 59 runs of 53 balls. It was very unusual result and those who have placed bet on DC have won huge money last night.
Delhi has now won 3 out of their last 4 matches. They could have won the 4th match as well, but in the end Axar Patel and Ripal Patel couldn't keep up with the asking rate. The momentum is with them, and David Warner is captaining the squad well. His bowling changes have worked well in the recent matches and he knows how to keep the morale high. Their main issue is with the batting. Apart from Warner and Axar, no one is scoring runs. And then Mitchell Marsh got an injury and that severely weakens their batting lineup. |
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