Sithara is a cranky individual so careful sometimes she can be dangerous lol

Speaking of Bangladesh cricket, i am not going to sugarcoat at all. They are biggest disappointment on-off the field, virtually no performance but plenty of unnecessary drama and a big letdown for the cricketing community.

Likes of Sakhib, Das and Mustafizur still have some juice with some dignity but if i am being honest then everyone else seems a prime candidate for tablagi jamat similar to Rizwan or an extremely selfish player and due to recent events, You can also add Shakib to that selfish list.

No need to jinx it tho lol, pata chale ki b***n chod sab phush ho jaye Sunday ko. Bada wala KLPD ho jayega.  

One generation already lived through 2003 heartbreak so don't want to see another generation to witness the same experience or maybe some might call it a mental trauma.

Oh well, it's not like he's the first captain to resign without any drama and considering how PCB works, he won't be the last. 

Wahab Riaz and Hafeez getting a big role in PCB looks strange to me. Last year these guys were playing PSL and guess one of em already had his name drafted for the next season, i could be wrong but it's a hilarious situation if they feature in the PSL.

Useless bilateral but surely good for young players as they hardly get a chance to represent India in internationals.

IDK where but I do remember reading that they are looking at Rutu Gaikward and another guy (Forget his name) as potential captain for this series, not Sanju. Starting to think that there must be something going on in between management and Sanju. 

Well, Indian fans are biased for their cricketing heroes but they are not braindead for sure, i understand you used this as an example but still no matter how big a player is if he's playing with 50 or 70 SR in ODI then he'll face criticism, and for the right reasons. One example is see fans react to Kohli in the T-20 format, he faces criticism over his SR regularly but in the ODI virtually never.

Also, in the cricket field context matters, like in low scoring matches where every batter is shitting bricks. One batter scoring 80 odds runs with 50 SR is pure gold. On the other hand, if it's an absolute road then even 117 runs with 103 SR looks okayish (Kohli), not bad enough to attract any criticism but not as great as 105 runs with 150 SR (Iyer). 

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For a few moments it looked like we'd have some tight finish but now we are back to normalcy.

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Ah 1 more down, can we expect some twist?

Proteas had one strength in this WC, batting first and outbat their opponent and putting them out of the game convincingly but here comes the knockout and they are back to their usual stuff of choking.

Dream run and tons of potential but looks like their journey ends tonight and seems to be a one sided victory for Australia, only a miracle or some ridiculous bowling spell could save the SA.

Babar stepping down from captaincy is good for him. Having said that, it's kind of hilarious and surprising to see that within an hour of his resignation, PCB appointed new captains for all formats. It's like everything was pre planned and they were ready with everything.

No discussion or pretending to set up a committee whatsoever, just another normal day at PCB's office.

It's not like I don't agree with you but sometimes it's necessary to play the anchor inning and it's not like it's the first time for Kohli. He played such innings many times when the team is batting first, one potential reason is when the team bats first, you are never sure about what's the good target to set and it's true for every team. At the same time when Kohli chases the target, it's a completely different ball game. He still plays an anchor inning but he goes into beast mode after scoring 50 and almost every time ends his inning with a high SR. His career SR is 93

One must also look at the anchor inning build-up and how one finishes his inning. In the case of Kohli, his first 50 runs came in 59 balls and the next 67 runs came in 54 balls and he ended his inning with 103 SR which isn't juicy or provides enough adrenaline rush in the context of the high scoring match but its hardly considered as bad inning.     

Also, i don't think discussions about personal achievements are completely fair. The dude has scored more than half of his tons in chasing targets successfully and no other player comes close. The kind of consistency he provides in the ODI format is unmatchable so i believe fans should cut him some slack.

Did Shami just drop the World Cup?

Still a mountain to climb for the Kiwis but this drop catch of Williamson might cost dearly and hurt badly if this partnership keeps going like this. India needs a breakthrough badly and the sooner the better.

Mitchell is looking dangerous but Kane Mama looks lucky af tonight, already survived a close run out, was saved by the umpire's call, a couple of close inside edges and 1 sitter.

He was but I think one batter is allowed to run a ball inning when other batters around him going over 120-140 SR for example Gill and Iyer. Both of them especially the latter built his inning around Kohli. One played an anchor inning and the other opted for an aggressor so it worked out perfectly.

Also, you have to look at how Kohli went to his inning after scoring 50, his last 67 runs came much quicker with better SR and that's his template throughout his career. The batters did their job now time for the bowlers to finish the job, hope good run for the bowlers.

I don't believe there is a conspiracy against Ashwin in this setup. Team is playing as a unit and the dressing room environment looks chill because no one seems to be unsecured and they are enjoying each other success. Having said that if the format was Test then there might be some truth to it but again in white ball cricket i don't see any discrimination against him and i am Ashwin's fan.

Yeah, one could argue that he could have played against the Dutch but again there is a counterargument, why do you want to change the winning combination in the first place?

Not meddling with the pitch but they opted for a used pitch that was prepared for SA vs ENG. In the 2023 T-20 WC too (Aus), The organizers also used old pitches so you're correct, it's quite normal and there is no such thing as fresh pitches for the knockouts. One can go with a used or completely fresh pitch.

Folks are saying that it's a spin pitch but if the deck was rank turner then India would have gone with the 3 spinner and last i checked Ashwin is warming the bench.

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Another good knock from Brohit and he's only looking out for the Team's interest but I would not mind if he goes carefully with his business, especially after such a start and maybe try to stay on the crease for at least 20 overs.

^^ I think they have a pretty good and competitive team in the T-20 and plenty of young talent in the mix so it's more than enough for a short burst. Not sure if the inclusion of Shoaib Malik would be a wise decision if they green light him.

Meanwhile, BCCI and CA are playing another T-20 bilateral series just after the ODI WC, looks like an audition for IPL and 2024 WC so expecting 2nd string squads for both teams.

I don't think any team should be compared with KXIP because this franchise has one of the worst cricketing ecosystems because of the owner, no one gets the freedom to run the squad for long at least in support staff or Skipper for that matter.

But if want to compare then maybe BCB or PCB board might be suitable candidates.

In 2019 WC too, Trent Boult had similar numbers and the semifinal equation was also the same ( 1-India vs 4-New Zealand). Boulty boy bagged 2 wickets and one of em was a prize wicket of Kohli.

At that time our scorecard was 5/3 in just 3 overs and it became a kind of meme on the interweb so be careful if you are an Indian fan. Hum toh sala nervasa rahe hain ki kahin bhokal na macha de ei budbak Boult.

The world is not ready for another Pen Chor vs Cunts. 2003 final was more than enough for one lifetime lol

Just for Luls, You know what would be funny?

South Africa and New Zealand beating their respective opponent in the Semis, it would be a big *uck you moment for PIG-3 as one is already crippled and kicked out.

We'll also have a new World Champion as both teams failed to win the ODI WC, like a million times.

Not only that, All Big Cricket boards have different priorities nowadays. They are following a rotation policy way too seriously, considering their packed schedule.

If we look at a yearly basis then after 2019 ODI WC, the Likes of Cummins, Starc, Bumrah, Shami, Sharma, Kohli, Root, Kane, Wood, Stokes etc played a handful of ODI cricket, some due to injuries and some schedules.

After the first 2 defeat, Australia bounce back well tho and everyone chipped in, including top order, middle order and bowlers as well so they are on the right track despite their recent meltdown against Afghanistan.

So far, SA is dominating when batting first but at the same time they look completely different outfit when chasing the target so it'll be an interesting contest if they win the toss.

ICC rankings (White ball) are a joke and context matters most. The red ball ranking still has some juice in it.

Any Player and team can achieve a high ranking easily if they keep playing against 2nd string team, similar to Pakistan. They played a fair amount of ODI but top teams like NZ, AUS, ENG fielded their 2nd string team because at that time everyone's focus was on the Test series and IPL, also it was pandemic bubble time.

Another example is that you hardly see Big teams fielding their full strength team in bilateral. ENG, AUS, IND are prime examples and in recent times NZ also started doing this. On the other hand, Pakistan always goes with the full strength team even against ZIM.