Test Cricket Prediction and Discussion Thread [self - mod]

[JSRAW]

^^ When playing red ball cricket Pakistan's record is not that bad in the English condition , at least they perform much better than other subcontinent teams. They always set up their long camps(practice match etc) in the England before any series, other subcontinent team especially Indians don't follow this formula seriously due to workload.

@JSRAW while in the past Pakistan may have been able to perform better in England because they used to arrive early like you said, but this time they have no match practice, and England player’s have already played a series and therefore they’ll be fitter and sharper than Pakistan’s player’s. Further I’ll once again wager some small bets on England to win the first test match and the series too, but I’m also interested to know if anyone here is taking a risk and wagering on Pakistan to win the first test match?.

They did play 2 warm up games so its not like they were sitting duck but i understand your point real match practice is different ball game.

As of now odds are pretty bad for England as they are clearly favorite team to win the first game. Although I might put some bets during mid-game if any opportunity comes + some bets on Babar-Root duo separately.

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[JohnBitCo]

England will keep the winning combination for the first test match against Pakistan beginning on August 5th.  This will surely be an interesting match to  watch.

Pakistan is a inconsistent team and with West Indies winning the first Test against England i hope Pakistan can give some resistance, i have not seen any Pakistan matches for a very long time and i am not aware of the team composition either and which batsman is their go to player and their bowlers are new and Wahab Riaz is back in the squad who is the only bowler i know.

No one have seen any team performance recently except West Indies and England recently. There has been no cricket matches in past few months and cricket just resumed now.
I agree that Pakistan is inconsistent team but i think they are far better then WestIndies. I hope we will see tight matches between the two nations.

^^ When playing red ball cricket Pakistan's record is not that bad in the English condition , at least they perform much better than other subcontinent teams. They always set up their long camps(practice match etc) in the England before any series, other subcontinent team especially Indians don't follow this formula seriously due to workload.

@JSRAW while in the past Pakistan may have been able to perform better in England because they used to arrive early like you said, but this time they have no match practice, and England player’s have already played a series and therefore they’ll be fitter and sharper than Pakistan’s player’s. Further I’ll once again wager some small bets on England to win the first test match and the series too, but I’m also interested to know if anyone here is taking a risk and wagering on Pakistan to win the first test match?.

Currently it is risky to place bet on Pakistan because we do not know how they will perform in the match. If you want, you can risk some amount in Pakistan favor to get good odds. England are the favorite before the match and you won't get good odds for them now. However once the match starts and if they are in a bad position initially in the match, the odds could change quickly and that will be best stage to bet on England because they always have the habit of coming back in the match.

[Indymoney]

Most of peoples feeling Pakistan is not good enough to face this England team but one thing is sure we have some good fight from West Indies even they fail in last two test matches and every one done good job so we are going to watch another very exciting series between these two teams as well Pakistan's record in England is also very good and now they already have some good pracitce so odds surely going to move for both teams very good and Pakistan is able to win one match or draw this series.

[bryant.coleman]

Most of peoples feeling Pakistan is not good enough to face this England team but one thing is sure we have some good fight from West Indies even they fail in last two test matches and every one done good job so we are going to watch another very exciting series between these two teams as well Pakistan's record in England is also very good and now they already have some good practice so odds surely going to move for both teams very good and Pakistan is able to win one match or draw this series.

Pakistan's record in England is better than the other Asian teams. No doubt with that. But at the same time, the current Pakistani team is perhaps the weakest and the least experienced squad ever to tour England. On the other hand, the English players are on top form. Pakistani batsmen are going to struggle against English pacers such as Stuart Broad and Chris Woakes. Their bowlers may perform well, but unless they get some support from the batsmen (Babar Azam alone may not be able to do much) we can expect a complete whitewash.

[Vishnu.Reang]

Do not expect amazing test cricket from the Pakistani side. They can win a match but I think it will be hard for them to win the series. I expect repeat telecast of England Vs West indies test series only this time it will be Pakistan replacing the WI.

Even if they win a single test against England, it is going to be an achievement. England is one of the big 3 teams, and they are on top form right now. Also, the win may help them in the World Test Championship table. An overseas victory may help them a lot to maintain their distance with the bottom ranking teams, such as West Indies, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

[ene1980]

but I’m also interested to know if anyone here is taking a risk and wagering on Pakistan to win the first test match?.

I would like to know their bowlers that could make an impact in the match, Wahab Riaz is back from retirement in the team because the selectors wanted him back in the team as they do not trust the present bowlers, i was checking the players profile and Azhar Ali, Babar Azam and Asad Shafiq could be their main batsman and England have a great bowling line up if they pick the best team.

[MFahad]

but I’m also interested to know if anyone here is taking a risk and wagering on Pakistan to win the first test match?.

I would like to know their bowlers that could make an impact in the match, Wahab Riaz is back from retirement in the team because the selectors wanted him back in the team as they do not trust the present bowlers, i was checking the players profile and Azhar Ali, Babar Azam and Asad Shafiq could be their main batsman and England have a great bowling line up if they pick the best team.

Not sure how Pakistani batsmen will perform in the first test match but we all know that England team is in full form and they are on a winning stream.
I am sure they will like to continue their winnings form in their next test series.

[7788bitcoin]

No one have seen any team performance recently except West Indies and England recently. There has been no cricket matches in past few months and cricket just resumed now.
I agree that Pakistan is inconsistent team but i think they are far better then WestIndies. I hope we will see tight matches between the two nations.

Yes and in that England played a series and Pakistan is yet to play international matches, Pakistan might be a far better team in papers than West Indies and if they can beat England then we can say that.

Even if they win a single test against England, it is going to be an achievement. England is one of the big 3 teams, and they are on top form right now. Also, the win may help them in the World Test Championship table. An overseas victory may help them a lot to maintain their distance with the bottom ranking teams, such as West Indies, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

Winning against England in England will be a huge achievement for any team and West Indies were able to defeat England because the bowlers were able to trouble the rusty batsman and they missed crucial catches and if Pakistan have the bowlers that could trouble England then they will have a shot at victory.
The best bowling team usually win and South Africa Australia and India does have good bowlers and i would like to see a series against England.

[Vishnu.Reang]

Not sure how Pakistani batsmen will perform in the first test match but we all know that England team is in full form and they are on a winning stream.
I am sure they will like to continue their winnings form in their next test series.

Well.. this is what we thought before the first test match between England and West Indies. What happened then? England lost the match as a result of their own complacency and bad selection policy. It was a stupid decision to drop Broad from the first test. He was do depressed that he even thought about retiring from international cricket. But he came back to the squad for the second test and won it for England. Let's see how the idiotic selectors perform regarding the team selection for the matches against Pakistan.

[7788bitcoin]

Well.. this is what we thought before the first test match between England and West Indies. What happened then? England lost the match as a result of their own complacency and bad selection policy. It was a stupid decision to drop Broad from the first test. He was do depressed that he even thought about retiring from international cricket. But he came back to the squad for the second test and won it for England. Let's see how the idiotic selectors perform regarding the team selection for the matches against Pakistan.

If England has to loose the match against Pakistan then like you said the selectors have to do some blunders like they did against West Indies, you cannot replace their best bowler for the past series and expect the rest of the bowlers will do the job and when that failed they rectified their mistake and Stuart Broad just won them two Tests and earned the man of series and hopefully they will not make such blunders again.

[ene1980]

Not sure how Pakistani batsmen will perform in the first test match but we all know that England team is in full form and they are on a winning stream.
I am sure they will like to continue their winnings form in their next test series.

The entire Pakistan batting line up depends upon how Babar Azam and Azhar Ali play and i think they have the experience playing in England, West Indies troubled the England batsman with their pace and i am not sure whether they have express bowlers in the team like they used to have in the past, if they can swing the ball or have a bowler that could bowl at a good pace then we will have an interesting battle, if not England will win the series easily.

[Vishnu.Reang]

If England has to loose the match against Pakistan then like you said the selectors have to do some blunders like they did against West Indies, you cannot replace their best bowler for the past series and expect the rest of the bowlers will do the job and when that failed they rectified their mistake and Stuart Broad just won them two Tests and earned the man of series and hopefully they will not make such blunders again.

The ECB selection policy is a joke. They treat Jofra Archer, like he is some sort of divine creation. But look at his stats. He has played most of his test matches against weak teams, and still he has taken only 34 wickets from 9 matches (at a bowling average > 30.00). And this joker actually claimed that someone called him racial slang in social media and threatened to pull out of the 3rd test match against West Indies. It would have been much better if he pulled out of that test. He ended with one wicket after conceding 96 runs.

[pakhitheboss]

Do not expect amazing test cricket from the Pakistani side. They can win a match but I think it will be hard for them to win the series. I expect repeat telecast of England Vs West indies test series only this time it will be Pakistan replacing the WI.

Even if they win a single test against England, it is going to be an achievement. England is one of the big 3 teams, and they are on top form right now. Also, the win may help them in the World Test Championship table. An overseas victory may help them a lot to maintain their distance with the bottom ranking teams, such as West Indies, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

Do you really think that a single win will help Team Pakistan and can it be called as a big achievement over losing an entire series? Single match win will not boost their moral nor will it help them in achieving anything. They will still be called as loser and it surely affect their ranking.

[JSRAW]

ENG vs PAK
-England going with the same winning squad, no changes so far.
-Pakistan announced their 16 men squad, plenty of options in fast bowling. Excited for Shaheen Afridi and Nassem Shah

[7788bitcoin]

~
The ECB selection policy is a joke. They treat Jofra Archer, like he is some sort of divine creation. But look at his stats. He has played most of his test matches against weak teams, and still he has taken only 34 wickets from 9 matches (at a bowling average > 30.00). And this joker actually claimed that someone called him racial slang in social media and threatened to pull out of the 3rd test match against West Indies. It would have been much better if he pulled out of that test. He ended with one wicket after conceding 96 runs.

The England experimentation is not healthy as it will shatter the confidence of the players if they think they might not be permanent fixture in the team and hence the pressure will break them. Jofra Archer is a young talent and he needs to change his line and length rather than pitching it short trying to take the head of the batman and his length is predictable, if he varies his line and length then he might be a wicket taking bowler.

People are too sensitive in this day and age, so no comments regarding the racial thing.

-Pakistan announced their 16 men squad, plenty of options in fast bowling. Excited for Shaheen Afridi and Nassem Shah

Not familiar with these players, what happened to Wahab Riaz, i thought he was recalled in the team from retirement to play the Test series.

[BitSat19]

ENG vs PAK
-England going with the same winning squad, no changes so far.
-Pakistan announced their 16 men squad, plenty of options in fast bowling. Excited for Shaheen Afridi and Nassem Shah

My feeling is they will drop these players from side and last eleven will be as others Imam ul haq, Fawad Alam, Sarfraz Ahmad, Kashif Bhatti and Sohail Khan because its first test and they will try to have some good fight.

[JSRAW]

^^
3 batsmen and 3 bowlers are fixed though.
Batsmen: Babar-Abid Ali- Azhar Ali
Fast Bowlers: Mohammad Abbas-Naseem Shah-Shaheen Shah Afridi
If pitch is bit dry then may be Yasir Shah too.

-Pakistan announced their 16 men squad, plenty of options in fast bowling. Excited for Shaheen Afridi and Nassem Shah

Not familiar with these players, what happened to Wahab Riaz, i thought he was recalled in the team from retirement to play the Test series.

He was but it would be unfair to existing players (fast bowlers) who were working their butts off from quite some time now. If 1st test results goes south for Pakistan or some bowlers fails miserably then may be he has some chance, this seems right approach to me.

[Vishnu.Reang]

Looks like Pakistan got a good start here. After 12 overs, they are 32/0 with Abid Ali and Shan Masood resisting the English bowlers. Perhaps the Pakistan captain made the right decision by electing to bat. England has included Jofra Archer in the squad, despite his lack of form and recent theatrics. Let's see how that is going to work out for them.

[JSRAW]

Looks like Pakistan got a good start here. After 12 overs, they are 32/0 with Abid Ali and Shan Masood resisting the English bowlers. Perhaps the Pakistan captain made the right decision by electing to bat. England has included Jofra Archer in the squad, despite his lack of form and recent theatrics. Let's see how that is going to work out for them.

Well he got Abid Ali, Ali was in the good form and i had high from him but anyways.

I am bit surprised Pakistan going with the 2 spinners Shadab-Yasir shah. Guess they were counting on winning the toss and opt to Bat first without any hesitation then take game into final day. (4th inning curse?).

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Edit : Damn Azhar Ali ! You wasted the review, perks of being Captain  ... 43/2

[ene1980]

Looks like Pakistan got a good start here. After 12 overs, they are 32/0 with Abid Ali and Shan Masood resisting the English bowlers. Perhaps the Pakistan captain made the right decision by electing to bat. England has included Jofra Archer in the squad, despite his lack of form and recent theatrics. Let's see how that is going to work out for them.

The good start is gone as Azhar Ali is gone for a duck and Pakistan lost 2 wickets for 48 runs. It is going to be a good battle and i am not sure whether to wage a bet on the innings total for Pakistan. Babar Azam is the trump card and he is in good form in his past six innings as he scored centuries back to back and he needs to continue that form in the match for Pakistan to post a challenging total. Jofra Archer can bounce the ball and Asian batsman are not that good pulling the ball and it will be a challenge.