I won't say they were unlucky because the Lankans were bossing the match till 37 overs, even after Shanaka got out they were the favorite as they had a couple of batters left.

Pakistan only got a small window when Afridi took back to back wickets and that time they had a wonderful chance. Also, Babar is a dreadful captain. He looked clueless throughout the 2nd inning and at death overs his field placements were incredibly horrible.

Again no need to be cocky or overestimate anything, this might jinx it lol.  

Just before the Asia Cup, top-middle order and bowling setup looked in Shambles. It's good that the team is in form now but they need to recheck all these combinations again in the next 5 matches so that we can think about good performance in the WC.

We are $ucked if Bumrah faces another injury lol. His presence in the team gives a big boost to bowling.

Yeah, the combination looks okay for now because they ticked all the boxes in the last 2 matches, it can also change overnight (I hope not). We still have 5 (3 with Aus) matches before the WC so let's see and hope for the best. 

He will do the same in the World Cup too. Treat for the spectators but a big headache for the opposition.

Noticing a pattern, almost all big names start scoring runs and making a statement before the WC. Aussies are also doing alright but some names are missing due to injuries.

I am not sure about statehood for J&K atm, looks way too early to me. Right now J&K (Valley) looking calm and things are heading to normalcy but it's a long game, surely need a carrot and stick policy.

Hurriyat is losing ground drastically but the government can't be complacent and needs a minimum of another decade to clean all dirt. They need to destroy soft separatism sentiments from the ecosystem, It already started but it will take some time. 

Chahal is not in the WC squad anyway. All this monkey balancing (in a good way) is going on because of batting depth and also 3 front-line seamers don't make sense in the Indian conditions. 

Bumrah+Siraj(Shami based on form)+ 2 seam allrounder Hardik +Thakur + 1 spin all rounder Jadeja + Kuldeep combination when pitch is fast, like Wankede or Dharamshala.

Leave Thakur out and add spin allrounder Axar into the playing XI when a pitch is spin friendly (Axar+Jadeja+Kuldeep+Hardik+ 2 seamers). We will witness the same pattern in WC.

Both teams are fighting hard for 2 extra points. We are up for a thriller finish.

I have to say mighty impressed with this 20 yo kid Dunith Wellalage. First with the ball and now with the bat, he's already looking experienced against spin. The way he's facing Bumrah is commendable as well. He's showing some character so props to him.

Lankans spin the shit out of India today. At one point Indian openers were feasting but ah after 11 overs all went down the drain.

There was one partnership building up between Kishan and Rahul but they also fell to spin, So far Spin has taken all 9 wickets and Indian spinners must be licking their lips as well. Having said that Indians are still short of 15-ish more runs, as far as competitive score is concerned.  Maybe some cameo from Axar could change the balance? We still have 3 overs left, he still needs to farm strike tho.

That's what a good spinner does to you when he gets some assistance from the pitch.

Indian openers were looking comfortable and then came a 20 year old left arm Dunith Wellalage and picked up 3 big wickets. Sri Lankans are back in the game and they should put more pressure on the new batters. If this pitch keeps assisting spinners then Axar, Jaddu and Kuldeep are going to create a lot of problems for Lankans.

Another shitty talking point was ticket pricing in Ind vs Pak match.

Did you notice empty stands? One could argue that it happened due to rain but that wasn't the case. 70-80% of tickets went unsold only because of high ticket pricing, Before the match lowest price was $50 bucks and as soon as the match started it went to the usual price of $5. PCB had control over ticket prices as they are the host.

They don't need to change anything as both names are mentioned in the constitution and can be used interchangeably. Bringing any amendment only because of a name change is not a good optic and a big waste of time. All they have to do is use the word "Bharat" regularly, officially or unofficially that's it.

I am waiting for an upcoming special session and expecting some juicy stuff from Mota bhai. Maybe UCC? Idk but how will everyone react if it's about freeing temples from the government's control? Pipe dream atm but seriously that would be something.

This defeat might turn into a blessing in disguise for Pakistan if they manage to sort things out with their spin department and not rely on pace battery all the time.

Indians have to play another match within the next 12 hours so hope their bodies are recovering well, fair amount of test players in the current ODI setup so one would hope that it's alright.

So far India has ticked almost every box in this weird match.

Openers did their job nicely and deserve a fair share of credit as they kept the Pakistani pacer in check. Koach is koach, he did what he does best. KL Rahul was equally good, considering he was coming back from the surgery, his numbers in the middle order are good and i really hope he continues this form for the next 4-5 months xD.

Bumrah was amazing but he needs to careful with his recovery, he's too valuable. Miyan also looks good, if Pandaya keeps bowling like that then it's a big plus for India. Shardul doing well so far but the biggest talking point is Kuldeep, he's on a different level when he's high on confidence.

For Pakistan, it wasn't their day at all. They need to do some thinking about what if their seamers fail to perform and it happens with everyone in any long tournaments so their spinners need to take responsibility in the middle overs, otherwise it won't be good for the team as the opposition will put extra runs on the scoreboard. 

After bowling 98.5 overs Pakistan finally got the batting so that's a positive, although rain could ruin the fun. We would be lucky if the Indians ball 50 overs tonight. DRS might decide the results if it happens.

KL Rahul proving his worth in the middle order, again but i reckon his inning was overshadowed by Kohli. The way Koach accelerated his inning after his 50 was amazing.

My political reading.

IMO, It's just a political gimmick but if I am being honest then the opposition forced the current government to use "Bharat" instead of "INDIA" when the opposition opted for the India acronym for their alliance, which was an excellent move but double edge sword as well. 

BJP is an election beast, they even take gram panchayat elections very seriously, like it's a matter of life and death. So no wonder they played a "Bharat" card beautifully and they are not breaking any rule at all.

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My personal experience.

I've spent a fair amount of time working in SEA and okayish times traveling the Middle East and in my experience, if we ignore the English speaking locals then you will hear the sound of Indo, Indu, Ando, Hindostan, Hind and Turtsu (another ancient Indian name) which became Tianzhu/Tinzhu-Tinju (heaven) in China/japan instead of India regularly. We only got here because Persian didn't know how to pronounce "SaptaSindhu" which became "Haptahindu", then a shorter version "Hind /hindu)and Greek made into "indu". As far as local Indian languages go Bharat, Bharto, Bharoto, Barat, Bharatvarsha, Bharta, Bharata desham, Bharatam, Bharatu, Hindustan etc are quite common.

Indian or Bharata history is freaking rich af, you don't need wine to get high. There is a reason all indic religions are referred to as Sanathana, just dig in and embrace it.

So far in this edition of the Asia Cup India and Pakistan faced each other twice and the former group batted first both times.

1st match - 48.5 overs
2nd match - 24.1 overs

And Pakistan has yet to bat, that's what we used to see in gully cricket. Balla mera hai toh batting sirf main hi karunga.  

KL Rahul walks into the Playing XI without any fuss and an excuse is Iyer is struggling with back spasms . The dude surely has everyone's controversial pictures, including selectors, Dravid, Rohit and even Kohli. 

Having said that, he's batting in the middle order so it should be fine as he did perform quite well there, fingers crossed lol.

Thanks for the concussion substitute rule. His performance will give a headache to the selectors.

Their batting was flawless but the big talking point should be their bowling card. There were no Starc, Cummins and Hazelwood in the playing XI.  Nathan Ellis, Sean Abbott and Aaron Hardie all are new, it tells us about their domestic setup. 

Kinda surprised to see Litton Das batting tonight as he was missing from the squad, maybe injured? IDK. More surprising he was batting at the middle order.

Anyway, Bongs seems to lose the plot tonight and if i dare to say potentially a direct flight to Dhaka. Guess, a fair amount of fans were expecting the same.

It's a white ball cricket and the deck is flat so i won't blame bowlers much.

We can only blame them for, not balling enough hard length balls to Aussie but it happens in white ball cricket. The pitch does look a bit favorable to spinners but again you need quality spin bowlers for some success. For me, England and Australia are fav because they have almost all the ingredients and their batting looks scary.