Test Cricket Prediction and Discussion Thread [self - mod]

[noormcs5]

Pakistani bowlers gave away too many runs in first innings while Pakistan batting was so low in first innings that they have to face follow-on. Batters performance in second innings was good but damage done in first innings was huge. Shan Masood finally scored some runs along with Babar Azam. It's surprising that Babar Azam who is main batsmen for Pakistan was not able to score a first in his last ten test matches, stats for Shan Masood are also not much different. If PCB want to improve test performance then players like Shan Masood must be axed from the squad, who score a century or fifty once in a while.

Shan Masood was not happy when he was out because he thought that he was out due to poor umpiring. The umpire gave it not out and then South Africa took the review and in the review it has been proved that Shan Masood was out and when he was going to dressing room, he was acting and try to say it was clearly wrong and tried to pretend that he was not out. However he forget that it is not a cricket match of the 19s when there were no proper cameras and DRS. Still, Shan Masood played well, he was so near to make 150 but 145 is a lot and he should celebrate his amazing batting instead of arguing with umpires.

[Publictalk792]

Shan Masood was not happy when he was out because he thought that he was out due to poor umpiring. The umpire gave it not out and then South Africa took the review and in the review it has been proved that Shan Masood was out and when he was going to dressing room, he was acting and try to say it was clearly wrong and tried to pretend that he was not out. However he forget that it is not a cricket match of the 19s when there were no proper cameras and DRS. Still, Shan Masood played well, he was so near to make 150 but 145 is a lot and he should celebrate his amazing batting instead of arguing with umpires.

Shan Masood reaction when he got out was understandable but maybe he was focusing on wrong thing. He seemed very sure that umpire decision was wrong but then review showed that umpire was actually right. With all modern technology we have today like cameras and review system we can be sure that right decision was made. Instead of arguing with umpire Masood should be happy about how well he played scoring 145 runs. That was really great achievement and he should be proud of it. But unfortunately Pakistan lost the match. That was a sad moment. But Masood played extra ordinary in this test match.

[UmerIdrees]

Day 4 Pakistan vs South Africa innings. Pakistan is yet to trail 91 runs from 7 wickets. They can't recover the first-inning runs of South Africa. In this test match surely South Africa will win. Shan Masood is playing very nicely in this inning. He collects 145 runs. But in the first Innings, he contributes only 2 runs in the innings. Pakistan can't be happy for his bad performance. For that unhappiness, Shan Masood's perfect reply in this inning.

I think Pakistan did a good effort in this game as compared to the previous ones. Yes, I agree that they have lost this game. Pakistan were badly missing to their super star Saim Ayub, he had an injury and now he cannot even stand on his feet. But Babar Azam scored 81 runs which helped the Pakistan team a lot. Pakistan would not have got so many runs otherwise at a time the vibes were coming for them to be happy.
 
Ryan Rickelton was named player of the match as he scored 259 in a single innings. It gave a huge lead to South Africa and it made the difference. The series has finished.

How about if Pakistan batsmen would had tried to play slowly in the second innings. They made the good start as Shan Masood made 145 and Babar Azam made 81 which was so good for the team but the problem is when they had good start they should be hungry for more runs and access the situation. They could go slowly and calmly down  to play as many overs as possible as it is the test format. Also they have 2 days left on that time. If they would be slow there then they would not lose wickets and then they would get easy lead of some runs too. Nevertheless at the end of the day the Pakistan team experienced a loss.

[Haunebu]

Would like to remind everyone that it is still possible for Australia to miss the final of 2023–2025 ICC World Test Championship. They have two more matches remaining, and this time it's against Sri Lanka. Also, remember that these matches are being hosted by Sri Lanka. Australian batsmen performed poorly against Indian bowlers during the BGT, and it was their bowlers who rescued them. But these same bowlers will struggle in the flat and dusty pitches of Sri Lanka.

You're kidding, right? Do you really think Sri Lanka will whitewash Australia in a test series even if it's on their home turf? Australian batsmen struggled primarily against Bumrah and there is no such bowler in the Lankan squad.

This series will most probably end 1-1 or 2-0 in Australia's favor. The Lankans only perform well against teams of their level or lower these days.

[SATWAT]

2nd test at Cape Town, South Africa vs Pakistan. South Africa won by 10 wickets. It's a huge victory for the South African Team over the other biggest team Pakistan. Pakistan closed their 2nd innings with 478 runs and Pakistan led South Africa only 58 runs to win. It's a very low score for South Africa to win. That's why they easily touch the winning figure without losing any wickets. Congratulations to South Africa.

Now its long time Pakistan is not big team they are badly down and out of game due to poor management and poor policies I am strongly feeling they are not having any chance of coming back into good position in near future as internal politics killing this badly.

The pig-3 has proposed re-arranging the existing structure for test cricket. At the moment, there are 9 teams in division 1 and only three teams in division 2. BCCI, ECB and CA are proposing to limit the number of teams in first division to 6. And this would rejuvenate the second division, as the number of teams would increase from 3 to 6. At the moment, the top-6 teams in the WTC points table are as follows:

1. South Africa
2. Australia
3. India
4. New Zealand
5. Sri Lanka
6. England

But one disadvantage with this division is that Pakistan will be relegated to the second division.

More details here: https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2025/jan/06/radical-plan-may-result-in-two-england-australia-ashes-series-every-three-years-cricket

Due to dirty politics and having things which are not suitable for cricket pig-3 working hard for killing beauty of cricket even in future their revenues will increase, but now we will have no charismatic cricket and many things which give this game popularity.
If they are working on strategy like this surely they are having something in mind about consequences as well because Pakistan is almost on downside and have no quick fightback due to poor quality in domestic system.

[noormcs5]

How about if Pakistan batsmen would had tried to play slowly in the second innings. They made the good start as Shan Masood made 145 and Babar Azam made 81 which was so good for the team but the problem is when they had good start they should be hungry for more runs and access the situation. They could go slowly and calmly down  to play as many overs as possible as it is the test format. Also they have 2 days left on that time. If they would be slow there then they would not lose wickets and then they would get easy lead of some runs too. Nevertheless at the end of the day the Pakistan team experienced a loss.

Pakistan should had to play good in the first innings when the target was so high and they were needy to make runs but every batsmen come and gone at that time, no one played with strategy and by analyzing the situation and ended up making less than 200 runs and was forced to a follow-on.

In the 2nd innings, the Pakistan team tried well but but as I said South Africa made so many runs in the first innings, resulting Pakistan cannot got a reasonable lead. When South Africa came to bat they did not compromise in hitting, back to back boundaries, led them through the win of the game by 10 wickets. 

[Compromise me]

Shan Masood was not happy when he was out because he thought that he was out due to poor umpiring. The umpire gave it not out and then South Africa took the review and in the review it has been proved that Shan Masood was out and when he was going to dressing room, he was acting and try to say it was clearly wrong and tried to pretend that he was not out. However he forget that it is not a cricket match of the 19s when there were no proper cameras and DRS. Still, Shan Masood played well, he was so near to make 150 but 145 is a lot and he should celebrate his amazing batting instead of arguing with umpires.

Shan Masood reaction when he got out was understandable but maybe he was focusing on wrong thing. He seemed very sure that umpire decision was wrong but then review showed that umpire was actually right. With all modern technology we have today like cameras and review system we can be sure that right decision was made. Instead of arguing with umpire Masood should be happy about how well he played scoring 145 runs. That was really great achievement and he should be proud of it. But unfortunately Pakistan lost the match. That was a sad moment. But Masood played extra ordinary in this test match.

Shan Masood wanted to play and he wanted to hit double century in this match. Pak team was in  difficult situation because Pak team needed more runs to give good target in this match and Pak team could not make good target and in the end, Pak team lost the match.

Shan Masood played excellent inning but Pak team lost the series by 2-0 and Pak team need improvement but Pak team is not focusing on improvement and players are not playing for the team but they are playing to make position in the team and that is the reason, Pak team lost the series.There should be many changes in the Pak team because many referenced players are part of Pak team and without emiting them there will be no change. Pak team could give only target of 58 runs which was very small and SA chased the target very easily.

[virasog]

Both Australia and South Africa have won their respective test series quite convincingly against India and Pakistan which is why they totally deserve to be the WTC final contenders.

I really, really hope South Africa can break their insane curse against Australia in big ICC tournaments by finally winning the WTC final. Excited!

Yes, i too hope that South Africa will give a good show and win this WTC final. Australia has already experience to play in the WTC final last time where they beat India by a big 209 runs margin. This is the first time South Africa will be playing this final and this will be on their nerves.

By the way, India were runner up in both the World Test Championship played and i can call them they are unlucky ones when it comes to WTC. Lets see if they can do something better in 2025–2027 season.

[WatChe]

Yes, i too hope that South Africa will give a good show and win this WTC final. Australia has already experience to play in the WTC final last time where they beat India by a big 209 runs margin. This is the first time South Africa will be playing this final and this will be on their nerves.

By the way, India were runner up in both the World Test Championship played and i can call them they are unlucky ones when it comes to WTC. Lets see if they can do something better in 2025–2027 season.

Indians have done hard work in both WTC played so far by making it to finals but in the end they have disappointing performance in both WTC finals. In 2021 they lost the final to New Zealand by 8 wickets and in 2023 they lost the final to Australia by 209 runs. Even in current WTC India was very close in qualifying for the finals if Pakistan had beaten South Africa in first test. This shows Indians have consistent performance in test, they just need to upgrade the performance at critical occasions. 

[Fuso.hp]

Yeah. They did honestly surprise me with their fightback, but it won't last long. They might end up giving a small lead at the end which the Proteas should chase relatively quickly without any issues.

Really I am also thinking that at any time the Pakistan batsmen will collapse and they will loss by an innings. Even I am not confident that they can't even make any sort of lead. Still Pakistan trail by 150+ runs. A long way to go in this match.

Shah Masood is batting on 119 and it is a matter of time he gets out and the team collapses. I don't think that today is the day that he make 300 runs  😂.

If Pakistan's Shan Masood gets out then Pakistan will really lose by innings. Babar Azam contributed a bit with 81 runs but if no batsman can contribute later Pakistan may not be able to take the lead by runs. Kamran Ghulam was run out by  Rabada, meaning Pakistan was going through a crisis moment. Pakistan are trailing by 140 runs which means that if they don't build a big partnership later on then Pakistan will definitely be defeated by an innings margin.

Pakistan lost to South Africa by a huge margin, basically Pakistan could not score many runs in their first innings, meaning they did not bat well in the first innings. If Pakistan could have scored 400-plus runs in the first innings, then they would have been able to set a much higher runs target. In the second Test match, Pakistan scored 194 runs in their first innings against South Africa and scored 478 runs in their second innings against South Africa. It is surprising that Pakistan could not win a single match in this Test series against South Africa, South Africa have strengthened their position for the Test Championship by winning the Test series against Pakistan.

In the second Test match, Pakistan lost by a big margin against South Africa. South Africa managed to score 615 runs in the first innings against Pakistan, on the contrary, Pakistan scored 478, 194 runs in 2 innings and South Africa won this match without losing any wicket in their second innings. Australia and South Africa have already qualified for the finals of the Test Championship. 
Last year we saw India and Australia in the final of the Test Championship, this season we will see a new team that has done a great job in Test cricket this year. So I think South Africa will compete well against Australia in the final of this year's Test Championship and the match will be an interesting match.

[ZAINmalik75]

It was predictable already that Pakistan would lose this match after seeing their first innings batting collapse. But everyone has to admit that Pakistan played well in the 2nd innings. The result is now, South Africa won by ten wickets. The result could have been a little better if they could play well in the first innings.

After losing the T20 series, Pakistan came back in the ODI's by whitewashing South Africans. So, everyone thought they would play a little better in the Test series. But they indeed lose both matches. Congrats to South Africa!

It's true that after terrible performance in first inning  everyone expect same down fall from pakistani team in second innings, especially after follow on rule but the response they has been shown was completely shocking and at that time to be honest things were completely favoring them. because they already build 200 around partnership without loss of single wicket but then baber dismissal on decent short really degrade them but still i was hoping shan will Handel situation, but due to unfair decision of field umpire in favor of shan almost finished Pakistan chances as they were the one we can turn things and continue thier innings on last day too.

Anyway congratulations to south African on thier victory but believe me Pakistan can turn that match results if each Eleven player filled thier responsibility properly

[UmerIdrees]

Now in short time, we will have chase started by Zimbabwe things are going to be not easy but still we will be having entertaining end of this second test after having poor and bore end of first test match now winning target is 278 for Zimbabwe.

Zimbabwe is going to lose this match. At the end of the first innings, Zimbabwe was leading by 86 runs. Afghanistan batted very badly in their first innings. In the first innings, Afghanistan's collection was only 157 runs. And the Zimbabwe team was able to collect 243 runs. But in the second innings, the batting of Afghanistan's batsmen changed the entire scenario of the match.

In the second innings, Rahmat Shah played a brilliant innings of 139 runs and Ismat Alam played a brilliant innings of 101 runs. Because of the responsible batting of these two batsmen, Afghanistan could collect 363 runs in the second innings. Afghanistan was able to give a big target of 278 runs.

It is a very difficult task to collect 278 runs in the last innings on this pitch. Zimbabwe was able to collect up to 205 runs for the loss of 8 wickets. There is no experienced batsman at the crease. Zimbabwe needs 73 more runs to win. Afghanistan is going to win this match.

The first match was drawn becasue nethier team was able to decide how to play the test matches and both teams contains new players, that is why no result but then in the next match, they understood how to play the match and Afghanistan achived wonderful win.

Yes at a moment Zimbabwe were rising but they cannot do anything beacsue Afghanistan had an advantage that they have two experienced and good players named Rashid Khan who dominated Zimbabwe in bowling and also was the player of the match while Rehmat dominated them in batting by scoring a century.

[Sithara007]

The reaction to the proposal from pig-3, to divide the test cricket to two divisions have been overwhelmingly negative.

https://www.foxsports.com.au/cricket/powerbrokers-weigh-up-twotier-test-cricket-revolution-claims-bombshell-report/news-story/9146a4a618e58acc4d5a789bd48e0404
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/cricket/2025/01/06/ashes-england-australia-india-test-series-jay-shah-money/
https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/360541097/big-three-cricketing-nations-talks-split-tests-two-divisions

But IMO, this is a step in the right direction. No one wants to watch a match between Australia or West Indies, or for that matter one between India and Bangladesh. A first division consisting of 6 teams would make sure that there are few lop-sided matches.

[HelliumZ]

Now in short time, we will have chase started by Zimbabwe things are going to be not easy but still we will be having entertaining end of this second test after having poor and bore end of first test match now winning target is 278 for Zimbabwe.

Zimbabwe is going to lose this match. At the end of the first innings, Zimbabwe was leading by 86 runs. Afghanistan batted very badly in their first innings. In the first innings, Afghanistan's collection was only 157 runs. And the Zimbabwe team was able to collect 243 runs. But in the second innings, the batting of Afghanistan's batsmen changed the entire scenario of the match.

In the second innings, Rahmat Shah played a brilliant innings of 139 runs and Ismat Alam played a brilliant innings of 101 runs. Because of the responsible batting of these two batsmen, Afghanistan could collect 363 runs in the second innings. Afghanistan was able to give a big target of 278 runs.

It is a very difficult task to collect 278 runs in the last innings on this pitch. Zimbabwe was able to collect up to 205 runs for the loss of 8 wickets. There is no experienced batsman at the crease. Zimbabwe needs 73 more runs to win. Afghanistan is going to win this match.

The first match was drawn becasue nethier team was able to decide how to play the test matches and both teams contains new players, that is why no result but then in the next match, they understood how to play the match and Afghanistan achived wonderful win.

Yes at a moment Zimbabwe were rising but they cannot do anything beacsue Afghanistan had an advantage that they have two experienced and good players named Rashid Khan who dominated Zimbabwe in bowling and also was the player of the match while Rehmat dominated them in batting by scoring a century.

Zimbabwe lost the second test match by 72 runs in this case I would blame Zimbabwe's poor performance in the second innings especially the failure of Afghanistan's Rashid Khan to defend the ball properly which cost Zimbabwe the match. If Zimbabwe led by 86 runs in the first innings, they were bowled out for just 205 runs in the second innings.  If Zimbabwe could have defended properly and made a partnership or two then maybe Zimbabwe could have easily won this match. Craig Ervine and Sikandar Raja played innings of 53 and 38 runs respectively, but after that no batsman or any big partnership could be formed, defeat was confirmed by 72 runs.  But Afghan star Rashid Khan, who took seven wickets, played the biggest role in the win.

[Sithara007]

Due to dirty politics and having things which are not suitable for cricket pig-3 working hard for killing beauty of cricket even in future their revenues will increase, but now we will have no charismatic cricket and many things which give this game popularity.
If they are working on strategy like this surely they are having something in mind about consequences as well because Pakistan is almost on downside and have no quick fightback due to poor quality in domestic system.

There is no point in blindly opposing all the proposals. Pig-3 has put some solid arguments. The gap between stronger teams and weaker teams has increased quite a lot in the recent times, and this is one of the reasons why the pig-3 requested for the re-arrangement. In recent times, there have been a lot of mismatches involving teams such as West Indies and Sri Lanka. And these matches result in a lack of interest for test cricket among the fans. Ideally teams like West Indies should compete against Ireland and Zimbabwe, rather than playing against India and Australia.

[Swordsoffreedom]

The first match was drawn becasue nethier team was able to decide how to play the test matches and both teams contains new players, that is why no result but then in the next match, they understood how to play the match and Afghanistan achived wonderful win.
Yes at a moment Zimbabwe were rising but they cannot do anything beacsue Afghanistan had an advantage that they have two experienced and good players named Rashid Khan who dominated Zimbabwe in bowling and also was the player of the match while Rehmat dominated them in batting by scoring a century.

Afghanistan team is very strong compared to Zimbabwe in Test match. And in this match we have already predicted that Afghanistan will be able to win the match. But Zimbabwe played great in the first innings.

Afghanistan was able to collect only 157 runs in their first innings. No batsman of the squad could do well. On the other hand, Zimbabwe was able to collect 243 runs in their first innings. Afghanistan was able to take a lead of 86 runs.

However, Rahmat Shah changed the scenario of the entire match in the second innings. They lost 5 wickets for only 69 runs in the second innings. But even then Rahmat Shah and Ismat Alam batted responsibly. Rahmat Shah could play an innings of 139 and Ismat could play an innings of 101 runs. As a result, Afghanistan was able to give a big target of 278 runs. Afghanistan won because of the innings of these two batsmen.

[JahriMeayer]

The first test match between South Africa and Pakistan, was normal enough where both team Scored max 300 runs or below in each Inngins, and RSA won finally. But when it comes to second test match, RSA showed an incredible batting performance in first Inngins where they scored 615 runs which was a higher milestone for Pakistan to cross. Temba Bavuma and Kyle Verreynne able to done their century but Ryan Rickelton(259) was the one who made more than double century where Pakistan able to scored 194 runs along with all their players together. It shows south Africa team is not only strong in batting but also in bowling to where they have many skillful dengerous bowlers. Pakistan did good efforts in second innings, made 478 runs which was good enough but as RSA set higher score in previous Inngins, they just needed to Score a little runs and thus RSA won the series. Although Pakistan Whitewashed them in ODI format. Overall both team gave us fantastic matches with full of entertainment

[Sithara007]

No coverage for Abhimanyu Easwaran from the mainstream media. He returned from Australia without playing a single test. Hardly any of the Indian batsmen apart from Jaiswal, Reddy and Pant were scoring runs, and yet the Indian selectors refused to include him in the playing XI. If that was the case, then why he was picked for the squad? Now he will be playing the Vijay Hazare Trophy knockout phase matches for his state team (Bengal). Tomorrow, Bengal will take on Haryana at the Moti Bagh Stadium in Vadodara, and it is expected that Abhimanyu will be selected for the playing XI.

[libert19]

The reaction to the proposal from pig-3, to divide the test cricket to two divisions have been overwhelmingly negative.

https://www.foxsports.com.au/cricket/powerbrokers-weigh-up-twotier-test-cricket-revolution-claims-bombshell-report/news-story/9146a4a618e58acc4d5a789bd48e0404
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/cricket/2025/01/06/ashes-england-australia-india-test-series-jay-shah-money/
https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/360541097/big-three-cricketing-nations-talks-split-tests-two-divisions

But IMO, this is a step in the right direction. No one wants to watch a match between Australia or West Indies, or for that matter one between India and Bangladesh. A first division consisting of 6 teams would make sure that there are few lop-sided matches.

I'll go with general wisdom here.

The rarer a thing is, more valuable it is; you do it frequent, and it loses it's meaning. The less serieses are held between AUS/IND/ENG more prestigious they will stay. So, I am not in favor of this proposal and hopefully this won't come into fruition.

Ideally teams like West Indies should compete against Ireland and Zimbabwe, rather than playing against India and Australia.

Do you forget WI creating upset by defeating Aussies at Gabba last year?

You get better by playing against better teams, IMO every team should be able to play against anyone.

[Lidger]

Now in short time, we will have chase started by Zimbabwe things are going to be not easy but still we will be having entertaining end of this second test after having poor and bore end of first test match now winning target is 278 for Zimbabwe.

Zimbabwe is going to lose this match. At the end of the first innings, Zimbabwe was leading by 86 runs. Afghanistan batted very badly in their first innings. In the first innings, Afghanistan's collection was only 157 runs. And the Zimbabwe team was able to collect 243 runs. But in the second innings, the batting of Afghanistan's batsmen changed the entire scenario of the match.

In the second innings, Rahmat Shah played a brilliant innings of 139 runs and Ismat Alam played a brilliant innings of 101 runs. Because of the responsible batting of these two batsmen, Afghanistan could collect 363 runs in the second innings. Afghanistan was able to give a big target of 278 runs.

It is a very difficult task to collect 278 runs in the last innings on this pitch. Zimbabwe was able to collect up to 205 runs for the loss of 8 wickets. There is no experienced batsman at the crease. Zimbabwe needs 73 more runs to win. Afghanistan is going to win this match.

The first match was drawn becasue nethier team was able to decide how to play the test matches and both teams contains new players, that is why no result but then in the next match, they understood how to play the match and Afghanistan achived wonderful win.

Yes at a moment Zimbabwe were rising but they cannot do anything beacsue Afghanistan had an advantage that they have two experienced and good players named Rashid Khan who dominated Zimbabwe in bowling and also was the player of the match while Rehmat dominated them in batting by scoring a century.

Zimbabwe lost the second test match by 72 runs in this case I would blame Zimbabwe's poor performance in the second innings especially the failure of Afghanistan's Rashid Khan to defend the ball properly which cost Zimbabwe the match. If Zimbabwe led by 86 runs in the first innings, they were bowled out for just 205 runs in the second innings.  If Zimbabwe could have defended properly and made a partnership or two then maybe Zimbabwe could have easily won this match. Craig Ervine and Sikandar Raja played innings of 53 and 38 runs respectively, but after that no batsman or any big partnership could be formed, defeat was confirmed by 72 runs.  But Afghan star Rashid Khan, who took seven wickets, played the biggest role in the win.

Zimbabwe's achievements in the entire series against Afghanistan were a win in just one T20 match and a draw in one Test match, with the rest of the matches going in favor of Afghanistan. After watching the batting of both the teams in the first test match, we got a bad idea about the wickets, so in the second test match, the curator may have made similar bad wickets, but the wickets in the second test match were slightly better. 
In the second test match, the two teams batted for a total of four innings where Afghanistan defeated Zimbabwe by 72 runs. If Zimbabwe could have performed a little better in batting, then maybe they would have had some chance of winning the second test match. 

If Zimbabwe had not won a single T20 match and drawn a single Test match, there would have been nothing to say about this Zimbabwe.