Zimbabwe isn't new in field but that's no improvement in their performance for long. And yeah, they were too weak to fight against SL team but Zimbabwe lost, i doesn't mean SL is very strong. Actually Zimbabwe is very weak in my view. Cause team like Uganda beaten them and eliminated Zimbabwe from T20 world cup. What else do you think? Craig Ervine was the one , who scored in 2nd ODI, otherwise Zimbabwe wouldn't Crossed 200 run in 2nd ODi. Even in 1st ODI, they already lost 2 wickets within 12 runs when the target was 273 which is huge run by SL. They need proper guidelines to follow for get out of such poor performance and strong themselves for upcoming games.
Zimbabwe recently failed to qualify for the 2024 T20I World Cup, after finishing at the 3rd place behind Namibia and Uganda in the African qualifiers. They also failed to qualify for the 2023 ODI World Cup, despite the fact that the tournament was hosted by Zimbabwe. Given this, I am not sure about the path ahead for them. Zimbabwe Cricket is supposed to receive $17.64 million this year from the ICC. Other promising member nations such as Nepal and Indonesia will be receiving less than 1/50th of the amount that ZC receives. This is not fair for the smaller teams. |
|
|
|
@doomloop on the face of it I can understand why everyone’s so negative about Brazil but let’s not forget that this is a team that has many talented stars hence I won’t underestimate them even on their worst day. Furthermore with Carlo not taking over they’ll have to figure who can lead them in his absence but I strongly feel that they can yet do well if the new coach can motivate them and fix their pending issue’s.
Well.. we are talking about a team that underwent three consecutive defeats in the CONMEBOL qualifiers. They are at the 6th position in the points table (out of a total of 10 teams). Teams like Venezuela are ahead of them in points table, at this point. So if someone says negative about Brazil, then it is understandable. One argument in their support is that they are impacted by Neymar's injury. But then, they have some of the best players in the world such as Vinícius Júnior, Richarlison and Matheus Cunha. So the performance at qualifiers was a big shock to everyone. |
|
|
|
Another game of Pakistan and the same outcome. What I didn't understand is that Pakistan choose to bowl first after winning the toss. Why were they so confident in their ability to chase runs. The first match their batting collapsed in the similar way as today. Today the bowlers did a good job to restrict the Kiwis from not getting 200 runs but that didn't help them as 195 runs is still considered a good target in T20. Three more matches left for the series to end, New Zealand needs another win to win the series. Pakistan need to will all its matches to win the series to which I am doubtful.
For Pakistan, the weaknesses remain as such. They don't have a quality spinner. They have Usama Mir, but then he is not exactly world class. The pacers managed to pick wickets, but they were expensive. But for a change, Haris Rauf and Abbas Afridi bowled well in this match. However, they lost the match as a result of poor performance from the batsmen. Fakhar Zaman and Babar Azam put up a third wicket stand of 87 runs, but after Fakhar got out, Pakistani batting collapsed. Shaheen Shah Afridi was the only other batsman to score double digits. |
|
|
|
I think Australia after winning the World Cup has become a formidable team they win against any team in the wolrd. Their outstanding performance in the Test matches against Pakistan demonstrates their batting power and helps them secure victories. Australian team balanced strength in both batting and bowling, the upcoming series against the West Indies appears promising and beat him if consistency played like against recently test series. Australia is set to qualify for the World Test Championship as long as they maintain their dominance and win against west Indies.
It is only natural that the team with the best 4-day domestic cricket setup in the world (Sheffield Shield) is dominating test cricket. County cricket of England and Plunkett Shield of New Zealand comes next, but they rank lower. Quality of Ranji Trophy cricket in India has seen some improvement in recent times, but the problem is that there are too many teams taking part (38 in total) and the national players almost never participate in these matches. For example, Bhuvneshwar Kumar recently played a match for Uttar Pradesh, after a long gap of 6 years. |
|
|
|
Team India will be playing with 2 pace attack bowling side in my opinion so they went with the back up options they already have and this is happening in India the player will be there to replace if someone got injured. I am worried about Bhuvi, he is doing extraordinary in the Ranji since his comeback and he is one of the few bowlers who can swing both sides with high accuracy still haven't been provided an opportunity is a bit disappointing.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar made a comeback to first-class cricket very recently, when he helped Uttar Pradesh to bowl out Bengal for 188. He was playing in Ranji after a long gap of 6 years. Bhuvneshwar returned figures of 22-5-41-8, with Yash Dayal picking up the remaining 2 wickets. He looks to be in prime form, but the selectors have mostly ignored him for national team selection. They are after their favorites such as Avesh Khan. BTW, in the same math Uttar Pradesh got bundled out for just 60. Mohammed Kaif (Mohammed Shami's brother) picked up 4 wickets. |
|
|
|
|
Yesterday, almost all the warmup matches in the U19 World Cup got washed out. Both India and Pakistan performed poorly in these matches. India Under-19s got bowled out for just 171 against Australia, with just Uday Saharan making any significant contribution with the bat. Australian pacers Charlie Anderson and Callum Vidler made life difficult for the Indian batsmen. However when rain interruption came, Australia was also in a spot of bother. They were 53/4, after Saumy Pandey and Dhanush Gowda picked up crucial wickets.
|
|
|
|
Team India really needs Virat, no matter how much we talk about emerging stars, at the end of the day it is Virat Kohli who has to take the lead in the match. If Team India is to do well in the T20I world cup, Virat Kohli must be in the team and BCCI is aware of this, so they are doing team combinations from now on. Virat Kohli's performances in the last T20I world cup were very commendable, I hope Virat Kohli will do well in this world cup too, for which he will prepare from now. I don't agree with your viewpoint. Virat Kohli is 35 years old, and he may be able to play prime cricket only for another 2-3 years. So this is the optimal time for the selectors to look for alternatives. And T20I should be the format they should start with. Replacing Virat in the ODI and test squad is going to be much more difficult. And also, at this age I don't think that it will be right for Virat to play in all the three formats. He should focus on the test format in my opinion, irrespective of whether he wants to do that or not. |
|
|
|
Afghanistan vs India
The second match of the t20 series between India and Afghanistan will be played tomorrow. We saw earlier that India beat Afghanistan by 6 wickets in the first T20I. However one of their best batsmen Virat Kohli has been included in India's squad for the second T20 match. India's batting line-up will again be stronger in the second T20I compared to the first T20I. On the other hand, there is no change in the Afghanistan XI maybe they are going to face India in the second match of the first match squad in the second T20 match. As Virat Kohli has been added to the Indian squad, their batting lineup has become stronger and they may be able to win against Afghanistan in the second T20 match as well.
What is the point in calling up Virat Kohli to these low priority matches? Do India need Virat to win matches against teams like Afghanistan? The selectors should ideally give opportunities to the younger players. Also, the Ranji Trophy competition (domestic Indian 4-day tournament) is going on and senior players such as Kohli can take part in that one. Afghanistan is not exactly one of the strongest teams in T20I cricket. The BCCI should use this series for warmup ahead of the upcoming T20I World Cup (starting from June 2024). |
|
|
|
I agree that Zimbabwe bowling was better than their batting in the Sri Lanka vs Zimbabwe ODI match. Sri Lanka had a hard time chasing a target of 209 runs, which shows that Zimbabwe bowling was good. But if took a look on Sri Lankan team. So we will see that Wanindu Hasaranga was also good in bowling he is only the one man Army who collected 7 wickets for 19 runs. He is the player of the match. Excellent bowling by him. I really appreciate his performance.
Don't want to take anything away from Wanindu Hasaranga. He bowled really well. But at the same time, the question is whether Sri Lankan spinners can repeat this performance while playing under SENA conditions, against top teams. Playing against Zimbabwe at home under helpful conditions is one thing, and facing someone like Australia in seam-friendly conditions is another. And now coming to Zimbabwe, apart from Muzarabani they don't have any quality bowlers. If the Lankan batsmen struggled against them, then the future outlook for Sri Lanka looks quite bad. |
|
|
|
Everyone else is OK. But Avesh Khan? He seems to be a selector's favorite. He and Arshdeep somehow manages to get selected to the Indian national team most of the time. One thing that I don't understand is why we have this Ranji Trophy competition. The top wicket takers are almost never considered for national team selection. Jalaj Saxena was the topper in 2023. Anyway, let's leave him as he is 37 years old. But what about Shams Mulani, Kishan Singha and Dharmendrasinh Jadeja? What do they need to do, in order to get selected?
Avesh Khan is the worst choice that is correct and he always manages to get selected. He is not that kind of a bowler to give confidence to the captain. I doubt he will be part of the playing squad. I think Rohit will go with three seamers like he did in South Africa. India has three wc in this team and druv jurel if plays would be debuting. Dhrv Jurel is a good player, and he performed well in the U19 tournaments and later in the Indian first class matches. On the other hand, Avesh Khan got a ton of chances given to him on a platter by the selectors, and still failed to perform as per expectations. But I agree that India may go with three seamers, because that's what they have done in the recent times. in a decade or so, the Indian bowling setup has changed from 1 seamer/3 spinners to 3 seamers/1 spinner. And with the retirement of Ravichandran Ashwin due sometime soon, there will be close to zero chances of witnessing two full time spinners in the Indian squad. |
|
|
|
I think they'll squad is pretty good. India should not have any other problems with the squad. Could be better. And if the players also could keep themselves out of drama, the squad might have been different. But it is what it is now. They still have quite some time before the test starts. They will have to play against Afghanistan before that.
Anyway, I still think India could be able to play pretty well against England in the test. Comanche is going to be played in India so they are going to have an advantage anyway.
Everyone else is OK. But Avesh Khan? He seems to be a selector's favorite. He and Arshdeep somehow manages to get selected to the Indian national team most of the time. One thing that I don't understand is why we have this Ranji Trophy competition. The top wicket takers are almost never considered for national team selection. Jalaj Saxena was the topper in 2023. Anyway, let's leave him as he is 37 years old. But what about Shams Mulani, Kishan Singha and Dharmendrasinh Jadeja? What do they need to do, in order to get selected? |
|
|
|
Well, I will at least say that Pakistan didn't play badly. The bowling was average. Some will also say below average. But the batting was ok. Now could Pakistan have done better knowing that the target is huge? Of course. Maybe they could have avoided the run-out. If Ayub didn't get run out, the outcome might have been very different. Because he was striking it really well. And Pakistan also had a few single-digit scores. That has definitely been a problem for them. And remember they got all out in 18 overs. If they had wickets in hand, things could be very different. Not saying that they could actually get 47 from 12 balls but if they had 4/5 wickets in the last 2 overs and they needed 35/36 could have been a very different gave altogether.
Regards
Duke
New Zealand made a total of 226/8, in a pitch that provided almost equal opportunity for both the batsmen and the bowlers. And Pakistan's fate was decided then itself. Chasing this huge target was next to impossible, given the presence of experienced bowlers such as Tim Southee, Matt Henry and Adam Milne in the Kiwi squad. And I agree with you on Saim Ayub. His run out was quite crucial. Until he got out, Pakistan still had some chance to win the match. But the miscommunication between him and Mohammad Rizwan made sure that Pakistan lose this match. |
|
|
|
Internal politics and corruptions completely kills the cricket in Zimbabwe and now most chances we will have no good future for them like we have for the West Indies but here one advantage is going with West Indies they are producing good individuals which are performing in leagues and have good income but in case of Zimbabwe this luxury is not available they need to work on domestic if they want to have something positive.
Zimbabwe were lucky rain allow them to end this ODI series with the result of 2–0 and now if rain will help them again then have chance for avoiding clean sweep otherwise Sri Lanka will be given them tough lesson even they are also going down in performance and quality.
Yeah.. one positive thing about West Indies is that they produce T20 specialists who are in high demand in various T20 leagues across the world. But nowadays even that is on the decline. Previously West Indian players such as Andre Russell, Kieron Pollard, Darren Bravo, Chris Gayle and Sunil Narine used to dominate the IPL. But now it is the Australians who dominate the IPL teams. There are a few promising younger players, like Nicholas Pooran, Sherfane Rutherford, Jason Holder and Carlos Brathwaite. But if you compare with the previous generation, the difference is quite obvious. |
|
|
|
West Indies unless they win I won't say they are playing well. Again it is not the proper Australian team that they are playing with as it is the B team.
It is not even the B team. It is the 4th string or 5th string side, because most of the reserve players are participating in the Big Bash League. I checked the Cricket Australia XI squad and the only familiar names were Peter Handscomb and Jake Doran. None of the other players have much of first-class experience. The Australians just put together a team somehow to offer the West Indians some match practice. And even then batsmen such as Tagenarine Chanderpaul and Kirk McKenzie could score a lot of runs. |
|
|
|
|
A few positives for Pakistan, but in the end they lost the match. Abbas Afridi in his debut match was exceptional and returned figures of 4-0-34-3. However Aamer Jamal and Usama Mir failed this time. And while batting, Babar Azam scored a fifty after long gap, but got not much support from the others. They were 130/3 after 12.3 overs. And this is when Iftikhar Ahmed got out. And the middle and lower order collapsed after this. One good thing for Pakistan is that the opening combination of Saim Ayub and Mohammad Rizwan worked well, and added 33 runs in just 2.2 overs.
|
|
|
|
|
The first T20I match between New Zealand and Pakistan is underway. New Zealand is batting first and Finn Allen made a quickfire 34 before becoming Abbas Afridi's first international wicket. After that scoring rate dipped and now the Kiwis are 65/2 after 7.2 overs. Kane Williamson and Daryl Mitchell are at the crease and the former looks like he is in very poor form. Williamson has so far made 23 runs from 26 balls. Seems as if T20 cricket is not his cup of tea. Should have included some of the younger players in his place.
|
|
|
|
In the game of 20 th Women Super smash series, Wellington-W team first won toss and took a opportunity to select bat or field on pitch and Wellington-W team elected bat first. This game of Women Super smash was played on Hagley Oval Christchurch stadium and today this stadium was lucky for Wellington-W team. Wellington-W team set 154 runs in 20 overs by losing 6 wickets. Wellington-W team, Amelia Kerr played very well and Amelia Kerr scored 77 runs in 55 balls with ten 4s, in bowling side Amelia Kerr also took down 5 wickets in 4 overs with 10 runs. Rebecca Burns scored 45 in 34 balls with seven 4s and one 6s and performed good effort. Canterbury-W team lost this game by 47 runs and they scored 107 runs in 20 overs.
It is amazing how New Zealand Cricket manages to maintain the quality of both Super Smash and Women's Super Smash despite their very small population. WSS was first launched in 2007-08 and now it has established itself as one of the top franchise T20 leagues for women. And despite the fact that they have very little overseas players taking part in this tournament, it has achieved a decent global audience and fanbase. And this is something that more populous countries such as Bangladesh and Sri Lanka have failed to achieve till now. |
|
|
|
Pakistan vs New Zealand T20I Series
Finally today Pakistan vs New Zealand series is starting. They have 5 matches series. Today they will play the fisrt T20I match in Auckland. At this time we can't say which team will play better. Or which will win todays match. Bith team are strong and have ability to defeat to the other one. Pakistan recently lost the test matches from Australia. But these were test matches and today is the T20I match so I hope Pakistan will play better in today match.
Pakistan had quite a few positives to take away from the Australia tour. First and foremost, their younger batch of pace bowlers (Khurram Shahzad, Mir Hamza and Aamer Jamal) performed really well against the Aussie batsmen. Batting was disappointing, but then there were decent performances from Mohammad Rizwan and Agha Salman. Compared to Australia, New Zealand is a much weaker opponent. This series should be evenly contested, and will present an opportunity for the younger Pakistani players to cement their place in the squad. |
|
|
|
Indian cricket is now tightly coupled with there film industry and that's why there is too much showoff in Indian cricket. They are too good at there home ground but average performer when playing outside.
West Indies playing good against Cricket Australia XI, on day West Indians lead by 356 runs and they have bowled out Cricket Australia XI in there first innings on just 175 runs. West Indies dont have the capability to beat Aussies but they must give there best here to make sure they don't lose by big margins. When was the last time the West Indies performed well against Australia while playing in Oz? I remember a tour two decades back when Ramnaresh Sarwan had his career almost destroyed as a result of poor performance there. And then he got into some ugly spat with McGrath as well. Australian bowlers are deadly while bowling at home. Only a very few opposition batsmen have been successful against them. On top of that, this time West Indies doesn't have a lot of experienced players in their squad. |
|
|
|
In second ODI Zimbabwe team gave a target of 209 runs and was well defended by there bowlers but Janith Liyanage 95 runs steal the victory from Zimbabwe. The main problem is with Zimbabwe batting, they are too much dependent on players like Sikander Raza. 3rd ODI was a total disaster for Zimbabwe batting lineup as they were restricted to 2 figure target by SL. Anyway, the ODI series is over and the T20I series will start from Sunday onwards. I don't have much expectation from Zimbabwe. Once their ageing stars retire in 2-3 years from now, this team is going to disintegrate. Among the younger players, only Ryan Burl, Blessing Muzarabani and Richard Ngarava seems to be capable of playing international cricket. The quality of domestic cricket also seems to have gone down. Back in 1990s, Zimbabwe had a high quality domestic cricket structure, although they had only two first class sides. |
|
|
|
|
Show Posts
