So its finally happening, they did announced about 50% spectators awhile back but i was not sure about it. Good to see that they are sticking with their promise and i really hope everything goes okay. Games without spectators are never the same and it looks really bad on telly, no matter if tech team adding fake crowd voice over. Adding fake news was the worst, even in the IPL it was really irritating because the background crowd noise was too much even when they score a single, for me it is better to watch as it is rather than having these fake noises and i am not sure whether we will see spectators soon as some countries are planning for yet another lock down because of the sharp increase in the number of positive patients and we have one more month and it is hard to predict what will happen by that time. Fake crowd noise was bad idea on every ball due to sudden cuts, noise on boundaries, wickets was okay tho. There is news that Aus vs Ind series would allow 50% strength of spectators at stands so that's a start. |
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After Australia India has 5 test match WTC series against England at home not australia, we could expect India winning the home series by good margin may be 4-1 as they are strong on home turf. If by any chance English team surprises them, which is possible then i am expecting 3-2 series in favor of India.
I am feeling there is no chance for England team to surpise India in India because they have not good batting right now and they can struggle very badly against them even if India is going in England then still they are much better team and have abilitiy to beat them. In India yeah they are strong but i feel you are putting so much faith on Indian batsmen when touring England, they always struggle in England. English team almost white washed India on last tour, India was very competitive tho at least for 3 games (lost), 1 won with complete dominance and lost 1 very convincingly. |
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From WTC perspective, if India manage to win 1 test and 1 draw (with 2 lose) then 2-1 series in favor of Australia doesn't look so bad. Ishant Sharma is not fit so they need to find 3rd bowler who can bowl along with Bumrah-Shami. In batting department i have faith in Pujara,Vihari and Mayank or in some extent Pant too. He bats well in the test, let's see if he gets to play or not.
IMO, India and Australia are the two teams having the highest probability to finish as the top 2 sides during the WTC. Which one of them will outperform the other will depend upon the series between them. If India loses the Australia series (abroad) by 1-2, then they need to win the series against Australia at home by a better margin. Any other team (including England) finishing within the top two position looks quite remote now. After Australia India has 5 test match WTC series against England at home not australia, we could expect India winning the home series by good margin may be 4-1 as they are strong on home turf. If by any chance English team surprises them, which is possible then i am expecting 3-2 series in favor of India. |
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So its finally happening, they did announced about 50% spectators awhile back but i was not sure about it. Good to see that they are sticking with their promise and i really hope everything goes okay. Games without spectators are never the same and it looks really bad on telly, no matter if tech team adding fake crowd voice over. |
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However, any terrorist threats before the tour would most likely put the series in jeopardy though I hope nothing happens.
Hopefully we will not see any mishap as Imran Khan might do anything in his power to provide the security for the players. Punjab region is pretty safe for cricket. All they need is, convince one of the SENA country to visit there for Test Series. Limited overs cricket (for example next year T-20 series against England) is not going to change situation much but yeah this would help SENA countries to think about changing their status quo. |
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@UmerIdrees yes he’s referring to the Big Bash League as it’s an popular T20 tournament, and he’s surprised that Pakistan player’s are opting to play in LPL and not BBL.
At first i understood it wrong  Yes, that's strange as they could have got more money if they would have participated in BBL. Perhaps the BBL did not allowed the players from this region because of the covid-19. I think its related to NOC. PCB do have some kind of policy related on it, 4 leagues at most i suppose. I believe Amir getting ignored because of his early retirement decision from the test cricket. Should be fine with in one week. |
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~snip~
Although IPL and PSL is over but are we forgetting LPL which is going to start in the next week in Srilanka. I think the interest in this league will be high too as we have witness in the other two leagues completed recently. Highly doubt if anyone excited about it even some Lankans shrug their shoulders off . 6 major teams already playing T-20/ODI etc, even Pakistan is all set up for NZ tour, Btw did any Paki players featuring in this league? Initially 8 Pakistani players were picked for LPL but now few of them were withdrawn. Below mentioned Pakistani players will play the LPL. Shoaib Malik Mohammad Amir Shahid Afridi Shoaib Malik Sohail Tanvir Afridi and Tanvir play everywhere(Canada, Ban etc) as they are out of the international arena anyway but how come Malik and Amir playing LPL instead of BBL? its related to SL-Pak Bromance of something else? |
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~snip~
Although IPL and PSL is over but are we forgetting LPL which is going to start in the next week in Srilanka. I think the interest in this league will be high too as we have witness in the other two leagues completed recently. Highly doubt it if anyone excited about it even some Lankans shrug their shoulders off . 6 major teams already playing T-20/ODI etc, even Pakistan is all set up for NZ tour, Btw did any Paki players featuring in this league? |
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^^ No doubt that limited over cricket would be competitive but everyone's eyes on Test series. Pitches in limited overs are flat nowadays anyway so not worry much about it. Earlier CA was hinting on 50% crowd for Boxing day test but don't know if its going to happen or not. ~snip~
South Africa vs England is going in doubt as 4 South African players already positive with Covid-19 and isolated hopefully we will have some better update in coming days. Any major player got infected? English team cleared all the tests tho.. |
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^^This time it was Indian pace battery who won the series against the SA I have a bad feeling that India might slip onto 3rd position after Australia series haha but India would have 1 home series left against England (It would be interesting to see how England face Indians in sub-continent) so they could make comeback. Even i am not having big hopes for this series for India to dominate but i hope it will be a competitive series because i expect the Indian bowlers to create some problems and my biggest issues is their batting line up and how they will be able to perform and with Virat Kohli not participating in the later part of the series things will be difficult as Australia will be fielding the best team possible. From WTC perspective, if India manage to win 1 test and 1 draw (with 2 lose) then 2-1 series in favor of Australia doesn't look so bad. Ishant Sharma is not fit so they need to find 3rd bowler who can bowl along with Bumrah-Shami. In batting department i have faith in Pujara,Vihari and Mayank or in some extent Pant too. He bats well in the test, let's see if he gets to play or not. |
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~snip~ The rules applies to every country and right now India has a much better team and their only competition is England, Australia and New Zealand, i am not sure how team South Africa looks like as i do not remember India beating them and winning a series in the past or may be i was not following them for the longest time, my all time favorite series were always Australia and South Africa in the past and then when England was able to raise their level of cricket so that they could challenge the Aussies and those were my memorable series. I have a bad feeling that India might slip onto 3rd position after Australia series haha but India would have 1 home series left against England (It would be interesting to see how England face Indians in sub-continent) so they could make comeback. Last time SA visited India they got beat up really bad, it was one sided series in favor of India (if not wrong then inning victories) and more or less same thing happened when India went to face them in their backyard, although India did gave them tough fight and won 1 test. |
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Okay folks, International and Bilateral cricket is about to start from the next week, hope you guys didn't exhaust all your appetite in IPL. If not then 3 different series are up..
NZ vs WI (in NZ)
Aus vs Ind (in Aus)
SA vs Eng (in SA)
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ICC following new point system in World Test Championship, from now on contested points/ winning percentage would determine the ranking on the table instead of points. Australia ahead of India so they are standing at no 1. That is a good metric to evaluate the ranking to understand the current form rather than the accumulation of points which usually does not make much sense but i would like to see some weightage for the teams winning when they are touring a country as most of the teams are strong in their home soil and hence if visitors are able to win a match or series that should have more points. If it happens then India could almost make up to 1st or 2nd spot. given that they face alteast 2 SENA countries in home condition, other countries don't oppose them in anyway doesn't matter if they face in Away or Home for ex ; BAN, SL, WI, India is more than capable to whitewash them in any series if they are playing at home or away against them. Historically that's not the case with SENA. they might win the series at home but can't repeat the same when playing there. |
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ICC following new point system in World Test Championship, from now on contested points/ winning percentage would determine the ranking on the table instead of points. Australia ahead of India so they are standing at no 1.  |
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~snip~
England was supposed to visit in Pakistan early 2021 for few ODI and T-20 (playing with SL now) which postponed to Oct 2021 and playing only 2 back to back T-20 games ( 14-15th oct), that's how you plan historical visit for any bilateral series? Highly doubt that.. Do you mean that England will visit Pakistan for a bilateral series and play only two t-20 ? Will there be no test matches and one day matches ? This is really a joke that a team visit to a country after 15 years to play only two T20 matches. Sir, Yes sir!! That's a reality and the argument they gave or cancelled the early visit by saying that it costing them too much and they don't want to send their B,C, D type of team for this historical visit because Players might be busy with SL + Ind and BBL so Oct 2021 window suits them better.  |
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It's official England will take of Pakistan for T20 match in October 2021 after 16 years! No doubt, Pakistan fans anxiously waiting for the upcoming series since Pakistan cricket board were desperately waiting to host international match, it's great achievement.
This is not a good news at all because England team were supposed to come this year but they postponed it to the late next year. England's proposed tour of Pakistan postponed until late 2021Secondly i am sure they won't visit next year too and will have some sort of excuses. I don't expect much from big 3s. @UmerIdrees I believe at this stage Pakistan fans should just enjoy this news, because England’s decision will compel other countries to tour Pakistan too. Also I won’t blame you for being skeptical, but I do believe that team England will definitely tour Pakistan since they have confirmed it, but the big question is will it be their fringe player’s, or will it be their main squad that’ll come to play and only time will reveal the answer to this question. England was supposed to visit in Pakistan early 2021 for few ODI and T-20 (playing with SL now) which postponed to Oct 2021 and playing only 2 back to back T-20 games ( 14-15th oct), that's how you plan historical visit for any bilateral series? Highly doubt that.. |
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Condition apply ; If existing player didn't ball or bat then he's replaceable otherwise nope.
Oh, i was not aware of that condition, if so then what is the use other than replacing an injured player and then according to pitch situation they can make changes, i thought it was same like the substitute in football and if that was the case it would be great as the level of uncertainty increases. Well one hypothetical situation i can think of is; Team batting first went to score big in first 10 overs without loosing many wickets (1-2 Max), in that case batting captain could take a tactical decision by replacing middle order batsman/batting all rounder to a full time bowler. |
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I think fair amount of Test players are schedule to play 2-3 warm up games against Australia A and if i remember the roster clearly then warm-up game would start seamlessly along with intl T-20 series (Aus vs Ind). These warm up games might help some players such as Pujara, Rahane,Vihari, Pant, Saha etc I am glad that BCCI allowed a greater number of warmup matches this time. Normally they go for a very cramped schedule, with a maximum of just one warmup match. The players have remained in northern hemisphere for more than a year and they need time to adjust with the conditions in Australia. I am especially worried about Pujara, as the last match he played was more than 8 months back. We could say that covid crisis forced them to send full squad together and Test series coming after ODI and T-20 so they have ample time to adjust with the conditions. ~snip~
Australia's climate and environment are completely different from India's. And their field and pitch are completely different than the pitch in Asia. India should adapt to that field and environment by playing a few warm up matches. And warm up matches will be very beneficial for players who have no previous playing experience on the Australian field. Yeah, its different setup but nowadays Australian pitches also turning into batting paradise. Although still very different from the sub-continent pitches for obvious reasons such as there is no bounce what-so-ever in subcontinent ground. |
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I am yet to see the team for the Test matches for India but Pujara is a Test specialist and he has not played any competitive cricket for a long time due to pandemic and that will be a challenge for him and there is no way CA will be preparing pitches that are batting friendly as that will end up in a draw rather than providing in any result as India has some good players who are able to bat the entire day especially Pujara.
This is something that the BCCI should pay attention to. Players such as Pujara have been out of action for quite long, and they may find themselves rusty during the matches. It is very much necessary to have a good number of practise/warmup matches before the actual matches start. I am skeptical here, because the BCCI have been always against playing large number of practice matches. I think fair amount of Test players are schedule to play 2-3 warm up games against Australia A and if i remember the roster clearly then warm-up game would start seamlessly along with intl T-20 series (Aus vs Ind). These warm up games might help some players such as Pujara, Rahane,Vihari, Pant, Saha etc |
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It's official England will take of Pakistan for T20 match in October 2021 after 16 years! No doubt, Pakistan fans anxiously waiting for the upcoming series since Pakistan cricket board were desperately waiting to host international match, it's great achievement.
IMO, Pakistan should make use of the current opportunity. Because they were one of the first countries to contain the spread of COVID 19. After an initial spike during June, the number of new infections declined to 400-800 per day. On the other hand, the other cricket playing nations (apart from Sri Lanka and New Zealand) are witnessing steep spikes in COVID 19 infections. If i am not mistaken then we have T-20 WC around same time right? They are playing before the WC or after the tournament. Good warm up games for both teams if this tour coming before the wc. ~
Punters might adjust quickly if this rule become norm. It is not that easy, in football if you substitute a player you can understand how it can go but cricket sometimes rely on individual performance. Suppose a team is bowling first and they can fill a team with 5 bowlers and then can substitute with a batsman at a later time and it will make a major difference. Condition apply ; If existing player didn't ball or bat then he's replaceable otherwise nope. |
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