ODI cricket and general cricketing discussion [self - mod]

[pakhitheboss]

The news from Zimbabwe is that Craig Ervine has been appointed as the captain. And he is the 5th captain of the Zimbabwe cricket team since 2020. Zimbabwe has named a strong squad for the tours of Scotland and Ireland, with star players such as Craig Ervine, Sean Williams and Brendan Taylor included in the squad. The matches are going to be very crucial, as Zimbabwe is currently placed at the last position of the World Cup Super league points table, with just one win from 6 matches. Ireland has 3 wins from 12 matches played so far.   

Five captains have been changed in a span of just a year. What is the Zimbabwe cricket board trying to do? Let's see whether the new captain can deliver what the board expect him to do. Zimbabwe is not a bad team they lack experience, the more matches they will play the more experience they will have. Unfortunately they do not play at lot. This needs to change for them and other teams who are ranking lower in the order.

[bryant.coleman]

The Zimbabwean team does not seem bad. They try a lot but don't get the expected performance. Players like Williams and Tylor are in the squad. Hopefully, they can win the next series. Ireland and Scotland are not very strong teams. Zimbabwe will win only if they can get a stable performance.

Scotland is not a part of the ICC ODI Super League and the matches against them will not provide them any points. Ireland recently put up a very strong performance against South Africa, so I really doubt whether Zimbabwe would be able to beat them. But the good thing for Zimbabwe is that they are sending a full-strength side this time. They should not forget that this series may be their last opportunity to get enough points, to avoid world cup qualifier tournament in 2022.

[doomloop]

Personally, I have always enjoyed Raja's commentary and views on Cricket which is why I feel that PCB did the right thing appointing him as their chief. This could help the Pakistan team move in the right direction in my opinion.

Some stupid people are opposing his appointment due to his support for Indian Cricket. These people are clearly focusing on his political side and neglecting his experience in Cricket over the years.

I have mixed feelings about this. Look he has been a great commentator no doubt but he wasn't that great of a player and he had spats in past with Mohammas Yousuf which shows he can lose his mind too because if you see the entire drama around these two, it's clear that Ramiz was at fault.

I have always been an advocate of assigning good players as chairman and coaches because someone who has played the sport with passion will usually never put a foot wrong as a chairman.

I hope he does well and doesn't let his personal problems come in the way of the players.

[Haunebu]

I have mixed feelings about this. Look he has been a great commentator no doubt but he wasn't that great of a player and he had spats in past with Mohammas Yousuf which shows he can lose his mind too because if you see the entire drama around these two, it's clear that Ramiz was at fault.

I have always been an advocate of assigning good players as chairman and coaches because someone who has played the sport with passion will usually never put a foot wrong as a chairman.

I hope he does well and doesn't let his personal problems come in the way of the players.

Never knew about his spat with Yousuf. If he seriously was at fault, it's still alright since everyone makes mistakes now and then.

The Pakistan team clearly needs some changes in some critical areas and I feel that Raja has the ability and potential to bring about those changes. This is just my random prediction based on my opinion of him.

[pakhitheboss]

Pakistan head coach Misbah-ul-Haq has tested positive for Covid-19 in the pre-departure RT-PCR test in Jamaica. He will now quarantine out there while the rest of the team departs for Lahore.

Thank god! this did not happen in between the series otherwise the whole tournament would have been cancelled. I hope he is doing fine but the question again arises that did he break the bio bubble? If he did then what action will PCB take against its own official?

[Sithara007]

Thank god! this did not happen in between the series otherwise the whole tournament would have been cancelled. I hope he is doing fine but the question again arises that did he break the bio bubble? If he did then what action will PCB take against its own official?

Nowadays they are not cancelling the whole tournament if some of the players test positive. They are just isolating the infected players and those who are in close contact with him (similar to what happened in Sri Lanka, to the visiting Indian team - Krunal Pandya was the first one to test positive, followed by a few other players who got infected by him). But it is entirely another topic, if the infection spreads inside the bio-bubble. And this is what happened during the first leg of the IPL. Varun Chakravarthy got infected and then he spread the virus inside the bio-bubble.

[UmerIdrees]

Sri Lanka is currently witnessing a huge spike in new cases of COVID 19, and therefore this was expected (the government there just announced a complete lockdown for 10 days, which may be extended further). At least compared to this, Pakistan seems to be faring much better. I don't know whether Afghanistan will be able to put up a good fight. The players are also impacted by the civil unrest and even the IPL stars are saying that they are worried about family members back home.

Is Afghanistan cricket team on a tour, i am not seeing any matches after the civil unrest and i have seen comments in social media about players worried about their family back home and i was wondering where they were as i could not see any match schedule.

The update on this is that the Afghanistan team tour has been cancelled or postponed indefinitely. However Pakistan cricket board says that they will re-schedule it in 2022 which i don't see happening. Due to change in the political environment the Afghanistan team and country not ready for cricket yet.

[nhaila]

Sri Lanka is currently witnessing a huge spike in new cases of COVID 19, and therefore this was expected (the government there just announced a complete lockdown for 10 days, which may be extended further). At least compared to this, Pakistan seems to be faring much better. I don't know whether Afghanistan will be able to put up a good fight. The players are also impacted by the civil unrest and even the IPL stars are saying that they are worried about family members back home.

Is Afghanistan cricket team on a tour, i am not seeing any matches after the civil unrest and i have seen comments in social media about players worried about their family back home and i was wondering where they were as i could not see any match schedule.

The update on this is that the Afghanistan team tour has been cancelled or postponed indefinitely. However Pakistan cricket board says that they will re-schedule it in 2022 which i don't see happening. Due to change in the political environment the Afghanistan team and country not ready for cricket yet.

Afghanistan political issues very unstable and risky conditions with taleban attack in the Kabul . So no positive conditions in cricket ground. Afghanistan all tour would be cancelled due to those issues.

[Sithara007]

The update on this is that the Afghanistan team tour has been cancelled or postponed indefinitely. However Pakistan cricket board says that they will re-schedule it in 2022 which i don't see happening. Due to change in the political environment the Afghanistan team and country not ready for cricket yet.

Here is what happened:
https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/afghanistan-vs-pak-2021-afghanistan-pakistan-odi-series-postponed-indefinitely-1274425

The PCB has issued a statement claiming that both the boards will try to reschedule the tournament in 2022, but I don't think that it is possible. It looks to me that the cricket in Afghanistan will suffer the same fate as Zimbabwe. Individual players may still be able to make out a living, but the national team can't perform in the long run without a domestic competition and administrative setup to back it up. I am more concerned about the participation of Afghanistan in the T20 World Cup. If they pull out, they will be replaced by the UAE.

[Swordsoffreedom]

Is anyone watching the match between Sri Lanka and South Africa? Sri Lanka scored 300 runs in 50 overs, a good enough collection. But now it seems they can't win. South Africa scored 144 runs in 26 overs. And they lost only 1 wicket. There are two set batsmen at the crease. Bavuma scored 34 off 50 balls and Markram scored 84 off 75 balls. The match is occupied by South Africa.

[Minor Miner]

Is anyone watching the match between Sri Lanka and South Africa? Sri Lanka scored 300 runs in 50 overs, a good enough collection. But now it seems they can't win. South Africa scored 144 runs in 26 overs. And they lost only 1 wicket. There are two set batsmen at the crease. Bavuma scored 34 off 50 balls and Markram scored 84 off 75 balls. The match is occupied by South Africa.

South Africa needs 65 runs from 42 balls. However, South Africa lost only 3 wickets. Sri Lanka still has a chance to win. If they are able to bowl planned then they can win. It will not be easy to collect 65 runs from 42 balls. Van der Dussen is batting well, if he stays at the crease maybe South Africa will win.

[LittleBitFunny]

Is anyone watching the match between Sri Lanka and South Africa? Sri Lanka scored 300 runs in 50 overs, a good enough collection. But now it seems they can't win. South Africa scored 144 runs in 26 overs. And they lost only 1 wicket. There are two set batsmen at the crease. Bavuma scored 34 off 50 balls and Markram scored 84 off 75 balls. The match is occupied by South Africa.

South Africa needs 65 runs from 42 balls. However, South Africa lost only 3 wickets. Sri Lanka still has a chance to win. If they are able to bowl planned then they can win. It will not be easy to collect 65 runs from 42 balls. Van der Dussen is batting well, if he stays at the crease maybe South Africa will win.

At the end, Sri Lanka won by 14 runs. If South Africa's middle-order batsmen batted a little better, South Africa would have won easily. The first 4 batsmen of South Africa played very well, they should have won this match. Very poor performance.

[bryant.coleman]

South Africa needs 65 runs from 42 balls. However, South Africa lost only 3 wickets. Sri Lanka still has a chance to win. If they are able to bowl planned then they can win. It will not be easy to collect 65 runs from 42 balls. Van der Dussen is batting well, if he stays at the crease maybe South Africa will win.

There is a reason why South Africa is known as eternal chokers of world cricket. From 260/3 (46 overs), they somehow managed to end up at 286/6 (50 overs). After Kyle Verreynne got out, their batting simply collapsed. Andile Phehlukwayo wasted a lot of balls at crucial stages (trust me, this is not the first time he is doing this), and it put a lot of pressure on Heinrich Klaasen at the other end. The biggest weakness for South Africa now is their lower order batting. They need to kick out unproductive guys like Phehlukwayo.

[Minor Miner]

Is anyone watching the match between Sri Lanka and South Africa? Sri Lanka scored 300 runs in 50 overs, a good enough collection. But now it seems they can't win. South Africa scored 144 runs in 26 overs. And they lost only 1 wicket. There are two set batsmen at the crease. Bavuma scored 34 off 50 balls and Markram scored 84 off 75 balls. The match is occupied by South Africa.

South Africa needs 65 runs from 42 balls. However, South Africa lost only 3 wickets. Sri Lanka still has a chance to win. If they are able to bowl planned then they can win. It will not be easy to collect 65 runs from 42 balls. Van der Dussen is batting well, if he stays at the crease maybe South Africa will win.

At the end, Sri Lanka won by 14 runs. If South Africa's middle-order batsmen batted a little better, South Africa would have won easily. The first 4 batsmen of South Africa played very well, they should have won this match. Very poor performance.

As I expected, Sri Lanka has a chance to win. Sri Lanka's bowlers have taken advantage of the slow batting of the South African batsmen very well. And they were able to beat South Africa by 14 runs. The South African team's performance is declining day by day,

[BALIK]

I was shocked to see the performance of South Africa. They lost the second wicket on 166 runs. Yet they have lost this match. There is no good finisher batsman in their team. The way South Africa started their innings, they controlled the whole match. Yet they have been defeated.

[Mahdirakib]

I was shocked to see the performance of South Africa. They lost the second wicket on 166 runs. Yet they have lost this match. There is no good finisher batsman in their team. The way South Africa started their innings, they controlled the whole match. Yet they have been defeated.

Most of the South African players are inexperienced. They saved their wickets and played a bit slowly. Maybe they had the plan to score quickly in death overs. But they lost their set batsman during that time and couldn't chase the target. Sri Lankan team is similar to South Africa. Their squad is also filled with inexperienced players but it was a good win for them. Because they performed badly in last few series.

[eaLiTy]

~
This is big news. Personally, I have always enjoyed Raja's commentary and views on Cricket which is why I feel that PCB did the right thing appointing him as their chief. This could help the Pakistan team move in the right direction in my opinion.

Hopefully Ramiz Raja will do things in his power to improve the domestic circuit and i used to watch the podcast of Shoaib Akhtar who is an aggressive critic and he used to invite guest usually former players and ask for solutions to improve cricket in Pakistan and so is the case with Inzamam-ul-Haq who reviews every match through his podcast.

I am sure if these former players are paid decently and appoint them, they will be willing to work and help in developing young talents

Some stupid people are opposing his appointment due to his support for Indian Cricket. These people are clearly focusing on his political side and neglecting his experience in Cricket over the years.

I am not sure about his political affiliation, the only thing i heard Ramiz Raja did was to compare how India is producing great talents while Pakistan who had great talents in the past are now struggling and it is a positive criticism to improve the infrastructure.

[pakhitheboss]

I was shocked to see the performance of South Africa. They lost the second wicket on 166 runs. Yet they have lost this match. There is no good finisher batsman in their team. The way South Africa started their innings, they controlled the whole match. Yet they have been defeated.

Considering the SA team to be new still, they played good. SL has been winning continuously all their tournament. They are boosting with confidence, this is a good sign considering most of them will be part of the T20 squad for the Worldcup. Two more matches left in this tournament. Not expecting a lot from the SA side but I also do not want SL to win all the matches.

[Sithara007]

I was shocked to see the performance of South Africa. They lost the second wicket on 166 runs. Yet they have lost this match. There is no good finisher batsman in their team. The way South Africa started their innings, they controlled the whole match. Yet they have been defeated.

Lack of good finishing has been one of the weak points for South Africa since many decades. The equation was like 29 runs from 4 overs with 7 wickets in hand. Which team would go on to lose from this position? South Africa somehow managed to lose the match despite this. Their top order is one of the best in the world (apart from Temba Bavuma, who is in the squad for reasons other than cricket). Yesterday Aiden Markram and Rassie van der Dussen played very sensibly and took them very close to victory. But they received no support from the lower order.

[Juggy777]

I was shocked to see the performance of South Africa. They lost the second wicket on 166 runs. Yet they have lost this match. There is no good finisher batsman in their team. The way South Africa started their innings, they controlled the whole match. Yet they have been defeated.

Lack of good finishing has been one of the weak points for South Africa since many decades. The equation was like 29 runs from 4 overs with 7 wickets in hand. Which team would go on to lose from this position? South Africa somehow managed to lose the match despite this. Their top order is one of the best in the world (apart from Temba Bavuma, who is in the squad for reasons other than cricket). Yesterday Aiden Markram and Rassie van der Dussen played very sensibly and took them very close to victory. But they received no support from the lower order.

@Sithara007 I wonder if the South African selectors will take bold calls post this debacle, or will they continue to pick a team that has no good finisher and continue losing matches like this.

Also which player’s do you’ll feel should be included in their team, and keeping aside the politics if only merit counted then whom would you’ll consider ready to play in the playing 11.