And in the end, the real numbers will be much lower than this 3.2%. The prospect of job loss will force many of these truckers to get vaccinated. I really don't understand the hesitation from some circles. The vaccines are in use for more than a year, and till now there have been no reports of serious side effects on healthy people. On the other hand, in the US alone close to 800,000 deaths have resulted from COVID. I fully support the government's decision to make vaccination mandatory. We had enough deaths.

LOL.. Brent Crude crashed by 12% in a day, to end up at $72.72.

https://oilprice.com/oil-price-charts/#prices

Covid destroyed the combined efforts of Biden, OPEC and Putin. And at last, some good news for the oil consuming nations. But I need to see the long term impact. If the prices dip further, then the shale oil producers (especially in regions like Eagle Ford, Permian, Sugarkane and Bakken) are going to cut down on their future production plans. And this in turn will result in a scarcity in near future.

Bangladesh is without experienced bowlers like Taskin Ahmed, Shakib al Hasan and Mustafizur and their younger players have failed to perform. On top of that, the Pakistan players are in excellent form. Apart from the century by Liton Das, Bangladesh so far doesn't have much to take away from this match. And remember that this is a home series for them, and the match is being played at Chattogram. If things go on like this, Bangladesh will remain as one of the lowest ranking test teams similar to Zimbabwe.

Popularity has nothing to do with it. Look at sports like Baseball and American football. Leagues like MLB and NFL are among the richest in the world. Let's have a 4-month window for the IPL, so that it generates the maximum revenues. The remaining 8 months can be provided to other franchise leagues, ICC tournaments and bilateral tours. At this point, the IPL is much more profitable than any of the other options. So ideally the ICC should allow it to expand. I would suggest a 20-team tournament spanning over 4 months.

I am a woman, but I do follow cricket. But the catch here is that 99% of the time I watch the men's game. Women's game lack quality, especially if it involves teams from the subcontinent. Only England and Australia are having quality players in women's cricket, thanks to the investment made by their cricket boards. In India, the BCCI earns billions every year and still they have refused to organize a franchise league for women. And in other Asian nations, they don't even have a proper domestic setup for the women players.

Axar Patel played all of his matches in the minefields of sub-continent, which supports spin bowling. His 4 test matches were played in - Chennai, Ahmedabad (x2) and Kanpur. I am not denying the fact that Jamieson also played most of his matches in SENA region, but he has played against tough opposition all the time. He is yet to play any test matches against weaker teams like Sri Lanka or Bangladesh. Don't know.. but I would be rather cautious before claiming that Axar is a better bowler. Let's see how he performs outside India.

Why do they need 500? Underestimating the Bangladesh bowlers? Shakib is not playing, but they do have some very good spinners. And don't forget the fact that Pakistan is batting second, and in all probability they will be batting during the 4th and 5th days of this match. BTW, Liton Das has got out. Hasan Ali got his man, finally. Right now Bangladesh is at 255/5. They may end up somewhere between 300-350. If they could take the total to 350-400, then there is a chance. Else Pakistan will be having the advantage.

This is real crazy. Look at Path A. All the teams are weak ones. The same can be said in Path B, perhaps with the exception of Sweden (even Sweden is not in very good form). And in Path C, we have two teams who are among the top-10 in the world, and then two other teams which are capable of upsets. Now there is a very good chance that Cristiano Ronaldo may miss Qatar 2022. That will be tragic. I don't think that given the current form, one-man army of Portugal will be able to defeat the Euro champions (Italy).

Under the current ruling alliance (NDA), it is never going to happen. But it looks like in 2024 Mamata Banerjee's TMC will come to power and she is regarded by many as friendly towards Pakistan. In that case, there is a good chance that sporting (at least cricketing) relations between India and Pakistan may resume. There will be changes in the BCCI management as well. Sourav Ganguly and Jay Shah are considered to be NDA appointees and they may be replaced with nominees from the Pawar-Srinivasan camp.

He's 37 years. A break at this point means an end to his international career. But no sympathy for him. He should have been aware of the consequences. The allegation was filed by 47-year old Renee Ferguson. I am not sure whether this was some sort of a honey trap. But in either case, Paine should have been more careful. This is not expected from someone who is married with kids.

https://www.news.com.au/sport/cricket/tim-paine-woman-at-centre-of-sexting-scandal-files-sexual-harassment-suit-against-cricket-tasmania/news-story/da4e78950434205bdbe7ab0400747152

This was inevitable. Cricket also needs to move from country-based tournaments to franchise leagues with teams comprising players from multiple countries. Look at football. Leagues such as UEFA Champions League, English Premier League, La Liga and Serie A are much more popular when compared to the international tournaments. FIFA tournaments still have a place, but they don't engage in useless bilateral tours very often. I would like cricket to move in the same direction, and this will result in more revenues, more T20 matches and will avoid lop sided matches.

The seamers are unable to perform, because the pitch offers hardly any support for them. Ishant Sharma and Umesh Yadav bowled a total of 16 overs out of 57. The remaining 41 overs were bowled by spinners (Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel and Ravindra Jadeja). And the most surprising fact is that they went wicketless after conceding a total of 92 runs. Have to say that New Zealand is at an advantage here, although the situation can change as the match progresses. Tactics from Rahane were also not very exciting.

It looks like the outcome of the match has been decided already. If India makes a total in excess of 400, then there is no chance for New Zealand. They have to bat on 4th innings and by that time the pitch will behave like a minefield. As I mentioned in my previous post, the New Zealand spinners have disappointed and their hopes rest on the two pacers (Tim Southee and Kyle Jamieson). Ravindra Jadeja just fell to Tim Southee (which means that all the 5 wickets to fall so far has gone to the pace bowlers). India should not be much concerned, since their lower order is pretty strong (Wriddhiman Saha, Ravichandran Ashwin & Axar Patel).

Only three out of these teams will qualify and that means that there is a very high chance of someone missing the boat. What if Portugal fails to qualify? That will be tragic, because Qatar 2022 is supposed to be the farewell tournament for Cristiano Ronaldo. And it will be ironic if Italy fails to qualify, after they won the Euro 2021. I am concerned about Russia and Sweden as well, as these two are good teams. Don't have much hope for teams like Turkey and Ukraine, given their recent form.

One suggestion would be to increase the threshold for the number of overseas players in the playing XI from 4 to 5. I have a suggestion that we don't have 70-80 quality players in India who can be evenly distributed to all the 10 franchises. And we saw this during the last IPL, when the Sunrisers Hyderabad struggled with their local contingent. Last year there were only 8 franchises. From 2022 onward, there will be 10. So I guess the shortage of local players will be felt more. The increase in overseas players can neutralize this.

I am surprised about one aspect. It was supposed to be a pitch that is supportive to the spinners. But all the 4 wickets which fell on the first day went to the pace bowlers. Kyle Jamieson picked up three (which is not surprising, since I have always considered him to be the best bowler in NZ), and Tim Southee picked up the sole remaining wicket. The spinners (Ajaz Patel, William Somerville and part-timer Rachin Ravindra) conceded a total of 166 runs and yet went wicketless. Did they erred by dropping Neil Wagner? Also I thought that Mitchell Santner would have been a better option instead of Somerville.

Still I am not sure whether the allegation is 100% true. If that is the case, he should be given the strictest punishment possible. But the cautious attitude from him in smuggling the luxury watches surprised me. Krunal Pandya (his brother) was booked for the same offense three days before Hardik was caught and yet he had the courage to repeat the offense. BTW, Hardik was not retained by the Mumbai Indians for the next IPL. I guess he may be playing for the Ahmedabad franchise in 2022. 

https://www.dnaindia.com/cricket/report-ipl-2022-mega-auction-latest-updates-list-of-players-retained-by-csk-mi-dc-rcb-kkr-dhoni-kohli-pant-rohit-2921113

As expected, India is off to a very strong start. The partnership between Shubman Gill and Cheteshwar Pujara is now worth 61 runs. Pujara is taking a bit of time, so things are getting boring out there. BTW, surprised to see William Somerville in the bowling attack. Who is this guy? This is the first time I am hearing about him. I have seen Rachin Ravindra before, in a few matches. For pace bowling, they have just two options - Kyle Jamieson and Tim Southee. Quite surprised to see the playing XI from New Zealand. 

So that essentially rules out the inclusion of cricket in Olympics, right? The ICC actually issued a statement sometime back, claiming that they are looking forward to include cricket in the 2028 Los Angeles Games (July-August 2028). But if the international calendar remains so jam packed, how are they going to find a one-month window, for the main tournament? I don't see any chance that cricket will be included in 2028. The earliest opportunity will be Brisbane 2032, where the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) has the right to add a limited number of sports disciplines from their quota.

I guess this time it is going to be an one sided match. New Zealand has the upper hand when they plays at home, but they always struggle under subcontinental conditions. On top of that, some of their key bowlers like Lockie Ferguson are not available. Kyle Jamieson should be leading the attack, as he depends more on pace and bounce compared to the medium pacers. Feeling excited for Shreyas Iyer, as I have always believed that he is the right person to succeed Kohli as the captain of the Indian team in the long run.