ODI cricket and general cricketing discussion [self - mod]

[JunaidAzizi]

Today we have a match between Pakistan and Sri Lanka at Rawalpindi Stadium. This is the second series between Pakistan and Sri Lanka after their visit to Pakistan, the first being a T20 series where Pakistan showed its best performance. Now they are heading toward the ODI. The squad Pakistan chose is a good one, as per my observation, there are new players in the team who will bring more benefits to the team. However, I am a little bit fearful of the old players, considering their past performance. Now tell me what you observe and predict about this match.

[Mahdirakib]

I don't understand how Bangladesh and Zimbabwe will face each other in the final match? What statistics is this based on?
Don't forget that Afghanistan whitewashed Bangladesh in the last series. So I don't see a 50% chance of Bangladesh against Afghanistan. And Zimbabwe doesn't have a good record against Afghanistan. So be sure that Bangladesh is going to be eliminated. ~

I'm also wondering how he is considering Bangladesh as one of the finalists of this tri-series while they lost the first match against Zimbabwe. Both Zimbabwe and Afghanistan were favourite teams in this series. Bangladesh had also lost the last ODI series against Zimbabwe this year. Afghanistan is completely favourite to win against Bangladesh. They are also favourite to win the trophy now.

[eaLiTy]

^^ you are still not answering about how you gonna fit in the playing XI. Who'd you drop?

Arshdeep who was your highest wk in previous wc or Bumrah? Speaking of current form, if you are focusing on just that then how come you keep justifying sanju's inclusion in wc team? You can't change criteria of selection based on your liking.

It is simple if you take only recent performance into account, meaning IPL form right before a T20 World Cup selection. Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar will share the new ball, and Arshdeep Singh will be the first change bowler. Since you asked who I would replace, it is obvious Mohammed Siraj sits out. Bhuvneshwar Kumar finally gets his inclusion in the final T20 match against the West Indies because Arshdeep is injured. If I were a selector, these decisions would be based purely on performance in a similar tournament on similar pitches and nothing else.

I wasn't talking about 15 men squad but playing XI and you cant afford to have 3 specialist seamers along with pandaya in the playing XI.

You were so insisting on current form, at one point i thought Bhuvi might have been bowling at God mode level so i checked 2024 IPL highest wicket taker and found out that he was not even in the top 25 bowler list, in terms of wickets and for 2025 season he was in top 10 behind the likes of krishna, Arshdeep, Bumrah and pandaya ( speaking of seamers only).

I have only one query. Do you think that Bhuvneshwar Kumar bowled at a god mode level in this year's IPL?

If you agree, then that is what is actually meant by current form. Rarely do you see players perform at their best every season, and if someone performs at their best throughout an entire long tournament, then that is the benchmark you set as current form.

Even if you check the stats, Bhuvneshwar Kumar is the best fast bowler in terms of wickets in IPL's entire history. My only claim was that Bhuvneshwar Kumar should have been included in the T20 World Cup team for the tournament that took place in 2026, because he was the best bowler in the 2026 IPL in terms of average, economy, and wickets. He finished just a wicket short of the number one spot.

Historically, Bhuvi has always performed well against England, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, whom India played in the World Cup, and many lower tier teams, and I highly doubt any of these teams would survive his swing. It is not a secret that modern batsmen always struggle against any movement off the pitch. Since you are asking about a hypothetical scenario regarding which player to replace, that would be Arshdeep Singh, because he leaked runs against Namibia, West Indies, and England.

[WatChe]

Today we have a match between Pakistan and Sri Lanka at Rawalpindi Stadium. This is the second series between Pakistan and Sri Lanka after their visit to Pakistan, the first being a T20 series where Pakistan showed its best performance. Now they are heading toward the ODI. The squad Pakistan chose is a good one, as per my observation, there are new players in the team who will bring more benefits to the team. However, I am a little bit fearful of the old players, considering their past performance. Now tell me what you observe and predict about this match.

Sri Lanka decided to bowl first after winning the toss and Pakistan score after 27 overs is 149 and four wickets have gone down. Both Pakistani openers were not able to give a reasonable start to the team. In batting Pakistani team is relying on Babar Azam and he was able to score 45 runs today. Eshan Malinga got two wickets in his two consecutive overs due to which Pakistani team is now under pressure. Pakistan need to score at least 275 runs today, if they want to win the opening game of this tri-nation series.

[Abdul Sami786]

Today we have a match between Pakistan and Sri Lanka at Rawalpindi Stadium. This is the second series between Pakistan and Sri Lanka after their visit to Pakistan, the first being a T20 series where Pakistan showed its best performance. Now they are heading toward the ODI. The squad Pakistan chose is a good one, as per my observation, there are new players in the team who will bring more benefits to the team. However, I am a little bit fearful of the old players, considering their past performance. Now tell me what you observe and predict about this match.

I just watched this match which is going live and only a 32 overs have been played by PAKISTAN batsmen and in this situation PAKISTAN players have scored very few runs. Most of the games of PAKISTAN which are held in their country are mostly held in Rawalpindi and there SRI LANKA often gets a chance to play when once there was a blast near the stadium. PAKISTAN has scored 172 runs in these overs by these 4 batsmen and they are trying their best to score these runs. Sri Lanka now seems to be a heavier team than PAKISTAN in this series so PAKISTAN batsmen are not able to score much runs. If this squad gets best results for them in this series then they will be taken along in important games which will work hard for the betterment of the team. Right now the match is going on and SRI LANKA is batting, then we will see the won and loss of this game.

[Bityar]

Today we have a match between Pakistan and Sri Lanka at Rawalpindi Stadium. This is the second series between Pakistan and Sri Lanka after their visit to Pakistan, the first being a T20 series where Pakistan showed its best performance. Now they are heading toward the ODI. The squad Pakistan chose is a good one, as per my observation, there are new players in the team who will bring more benefits to the team. However, I am a little bit fearful of the old players, considering their past performance. Now tell me what you observe and predict about this match.

Pakistan is now at 280 with the loss of 6 wickets in 45 overs while salman ali agha have made his century and is not out Babar azam, hassan nawaz and saad baig have also played well i dont know why they are including saim ayub because he have given many chances and he is not performing i think he should be benched now because their are some deserving players laike farhan, maaz sadaqat so a chance should also give to them. My prediction is Pakistan because i think they perform better in their home ground and as they are giving target of 300 plus so i think they will easily win this match.

[JSRAW]

^^ you are still not answering about how you gonna fit in the playing XI. Who'd you drop?

Arshdeep who was your highest wk in previous wc or Bumrah? Speaking of current form, if you are focusing on just that then how come you keep justifying sanju's inclusion in wc team? You can't change criteria of selection based on your liking.

It is simple if you take only recent performance into account, meaning IPL form right before a T20 World Cup selection. Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar will share the new ball, and Arshdeep Singh will be the first change bowler. Since you asked who I would replace, it is obvious Mohammed Siraj sits out. Bhuvneshwar Kumar finally gets his inclusion in the final T20 match against the West Indies because Arshdeep is injured. If I were a selector, these decisions would be based purely on performance in a similar tournament on similar pitches and nothing else.

I wasn't talking about 15 men squad but playing XI and you cant afford to have 3 specialist seamers along with pandaya in the playing XI.

You were so insisting on current form, at one point i thought Bhuvi might have been bowling at God mode level so i checked 2024 IPL highest wicket taker and found out that he was not even in the top 25 bowler list, in terms of wickets and for 2025 season he was in top 10 behind the likes of krishna, Arshdeep, Bumrah and pandaya ( speaking of seamers only).

I have only one query. Do you think that Bhuvneshwar Kumar bowled at a god mode level in this year's IPL?

If you agree, then that is what is actually meant by current form. Rarely do you see players perform at their best every season, and if someone performs at their best throughout an entire long tournament, then that is the benchmark you set as current form.

Even if you check the stats, Bhuvneshwar Kumar is the best fast bowler in terms of wickets in IPL's entire history. My only claim was that Bhuvneshwar Kumar should have been included in the T20 World Cup team for the tournament that took place in 2026, because he was the best bowler in the 2026 IPL in terms of average, economy, and wickets. He finished just a wicket short of the number one spot.

Historically, Bhuvi has always performed well against England, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, whom India played in the World Cup, and many lower tier teams, and I highly doubt any of these teams would survive his swing. It is not a secret that modern batsmen always struggle against any movement off the pitch. Since you are asking about a hypothetical scenario regarding which player to replace, that would be Arshdeep Singh, because he leaked runs against Namibia, West Indies, and England.

Wc 2026 started in Feb ( team was selected in dec 2025)and IPL window was from late March 2026. So how are they supposed to select a player based on IPL, which didn't even started? They don't have time machine. So, I'd say your only claim was bit dodgy.

Speaking of " god mode" Yeah, Bhuvi was pretty good in the last season but overall, throughout his career his name was never put on teamsheet first. In IPL, it could happen because of local rules but international it never happened. Having said that, in T-20 Bhuvi is miles ahead from our new crop in seam, barring Arshdeep. Likes of prashidh, rana etc are decent at times but behind Bhuvi in terms of exploiting new ball with swing ( also Bhuvi death bowling is average).

I still believe that in T-20 he was never considered because of " bring young blood policy" and rohit- dravid, I've seen both of em and selectors stating that policy thingy countless times.

His best format was test cricket ( here, I've seen his god mode level spells) and he had opportunity to become one of the great of Indian cricket but somehow he failed to compete with oldie Ishant, Umesh Yadav, shami and Bumrah. Later, Kohli- shastri sidelined him for some reason.

[Cheema02]

Today we have a match between Pakistan and Sri Lanka at Rawalpindi Stadium. This is the second series between Pakistan and Sri Lanka after their visit to Pakistan, the first being a T20 series where Pakistan showed its best performance. Now they are heading toward the ODI. The squad Pakistan chose is a good one, as per my observation, there are new players in the team who will bring more benefits to the team. However, I am a little bit fearful of the old players, considering their past performance. Now tell me what you observe and predict about this match.

Yes, Pakistani new player Saad Baig was added to the playing XI as a wicketkeeper and he scored a crucial 39 runs today. There was consistency in Pakistan's batting and bowling performance in today's match. Salman Ali Agha played a truly magnificent innings; he scored well despite not reaching a century and assisted Pakistan in reaching a total of over 300 against Sri Lanka. The bowling performance is more commendable than the batting because every bowler took wickets; especially Captain Shaheen Shah Afridi picked 3 important wickets, and Naseem Shah also picked 2 wickets. Sri Lankan batter Pavan Rathnayake performed well, scoring a half-century and making the match interesting, but he was ultimately unsuccessful in his run chase; Pakistan has now taken a 1-0 lead in the series.

[BTC FutureKing]

Today we have a match between Pakistan and Sri Lanka at Rawalpindi Stadium. This is the second series between Pakistan and Sri Lanka after their visit to Pakistan, the first being a T20 series where Pakistan showed its best performance. Now they are heading toward the ODI. The squad Pakistan chose is a good one, as per my observation, there are new players in the team who will bring more benefits to the team. However, I am a little bit fearful of the old players, considering their past performance. Now tell me what you observe and predict about this match.

Yes, Pakistani new player Saad Baig was added to the playing XI as a wicketkeeper and he scored a crucial 39 runs today. There was consistency in Pakistan's batting and bowling performance in today's match. Salman Ali Agha played a truly magnificent innings; he scored well despite not reaching a century and assisted Pakistan in reaching a total of over 300 against Sri Lanka. The bowling performance is more commendable than the batting because every bowler took wickets; especially Captain Shaheen Shah Afridi picked 3 important wickets, and Naseem Shah also picked 2 wickets. Sri Lankan batter Pavan Rathnayake performed well, scoring a half-century and making the match interesting, but he was ultimately unsuccessful in his run chase; Pakistan has now taken a 1-0 lead in the series.

Pakistan actually performed brilliantly against Sri Lanka but I personally say that we expect such a performance from Pakistan in important and necessary matches but every time Pakistan has disappointed us.If we analyze the match between Pakistan and Sri Lanka then Pakistan performance was impressive.Sri Lanka won the toss and invited Pakistan to bat.Except for the last batsmen from Pakistan, everyone worked hard and Saad Baig Salaman Ali Agha and Babar Azam played the match.Their effort was the most. Hopefully Pakistan will try to maintain such a performance and win the one off tournament.It is not that Sri Lanka did not work hard but tried to surpass Pakistan target but unfortunately Sri Lanka lost by a margin of 37 runs.

[B2Z]

Today we have a match between Pakistan and Sri Lanka at Rawalpindi Stadium. This is the second series between Pakistan and Sri Lanka after their visit to Pakistan, the first being a T20 series where Pakistan showed its best performance. Now they are heading toward the ODI. The squad Pakistan chose is a good one, as per my observation, there are new players in the team who will bring more benefits to the team. However, I am a little bit fearful of the old players, considering their past performance. Now tell me what you observe and predict about this match.

Pakistan Sri Lanka and England ODI tri-series first match was held where Pakistan secured victory against Sri Lanka. In the first match of the series, Pakistan batted first against Sri Lanka and batting first Pakistan was able to score 305 runs on the scoreboard after losing all the wickets in the allotted 49.5 overs. On the other hand, Sri Lanka came into the field with a target of 306 runs in the second innings and they could not gain much advantage against the Pakistani bowlers as they lost all the wickets in 48.1 overs and scored only 268 runs on the scoreboard, thus Sri Lanka lost the first match by a big margin of 37 runs to Pakistan.

[ZAINmalik75]

Sri Lanka decided to bowl first after winning the toss and Pakistan score after 27 overs is 149 and four wickets have gone down. Both Pakistani openers were not able to give a reasonable start to the team. In batting Pakistani team is relying on Babar Azam and he was able to score 45 runs today. Eshan Malinga got two wickets in his two consecutive overs due to which Pakistani team is now under pressure. Pakistan need to score at least 275 runs today, if they want to win the opening game of this tri-nation series.

Sirilankan continued thier defeat streak and thus Pakistan secured the very first match at tri series, Baber inning were fine enough but was unable to hold on for long and yeh quick back to back departure from Malinga broke the crucial partnership which definitely push Pakistan on the back foot. Although after early bad start Salman agha stepped up brilliantly with a match defining century at middle overs when team were really under the mounting pressure and thus placed a competitive total.
 
However while chase Sirilankan truly made Pakistan a bit sweaty, but thanks to Shaheen and rest whom stepped up and break each and every possible danger at death overs and shut the door with 37 runs victory.

[Bityar]

Pakistan actually performed brilliantly against Sri Lanka but I personally say that we expect such a performance from Pakistan in important and necessary matches but every time Pakistan has disappointed us.If we analyze the match between Pakistan and Sri Lanka then Pakistan performance was impressive.Sri Lanka won the toss and invited Pakistan to bat.Except for the last batsmen from Pakistan, everyone worked hard and Saad Baig Salaman Ali Agha and Babar Azam played the match.Their effort was the most. Hopefully Pakistan will try to maintain such a performance and win the one off tournament.It is not that Sri Lanka did not work hard but tried to surpass Pakistan target but unfortunately Sri Lanka lost by a margin of 37 runs.

The worst part is that pakistani team only perform in the homeground there are hardly some matches which pakistan have won in other grounds but in home ground they playwell. You are saying right every time when we expect some win from the team they disoppoint us badly like there are some finals which we lost very badly and also pak vs india which after 2022 we never win from india. Yesterday match was good like the way salman ali agha played that was a great comeback like he was drop from test match and also from t20 and also he was removed from captaincy. I think salman ail agha is a very good player in odi and test only in t20 he is inconsistent.

[WatChe]

Sirilankan continued thier defeat streak and thus Pakistan secured the very first match at tri series, Baber inning were fine enough but was unable to hold on for long and yeh quick back to back departure from Malinga broke the crucial partnership which definitely push Pakistan on the back foot. Although after early bad start Salman agha stepped up brilliantly with a match defining century at middle overs when team were really under the mounting pressure and thus placed a competitive total.
 
However while chase Sirilankan truly made Pakistan a bit sweaty, but thanks to Shaheen and rest whom stepped up and break each and every possible danger at death overs and shut the door with 37 runs victory.

Babar Azam need to find some acceleration as well, he scored 45 runs but look at his strike rate it's just 78 and need to improved in next games specially against England. Pakistan was able to cross 300 runs only because of Salman Agha aggressive innings. Due to T20, ODI cricket has also gone fast and you need to score over 300 runs to win the game. Pakistani main fast bowlers have bowled well in first match and that's a good sign for Pakistan because there pace attack is really struggling these days.

[AgriTrack]

Today we have a match between Pakistan and Sri Lanka at Rawalpindi Stadium. This is the second series between Pakistan and Sri Lanka after their visit to Pakistan, the first being a T20 series where Pakistan showed its best performance. Now they are heading toward the ODI. The squad Pakistan chose is a good one, as per my observation, there are new players in the team who will bring more benefits to the team. However, I am a little bit fearful of the old players, considering their past performance. Now tell me what you observe and predict about this match.

This weekend is really enjoyable because Pakistan team gave us great joy affer winning the first ODI. Rawalpindi pitches are usually flat, but in this game a little seam movement was visible, and the pitch responded well to the pacers. Pakistan chose to bat first and justified that decision by posting a huge total of over three hundred runs. Salman Ali played an important role in this total, scoring a leading innings of 107, and Babar missed his half-century by just five runs. Overall, the Pakistani batters responded well

At the start, Sri Lanka looked nervous and lost early wickets. In the middle overs, however, the game was completely in their hands: they had six wickets in hand, needed only a hundred-odd runs, and the required run rate was under control. After losing Janith's wicket, though, Sri Lanka lost all hope, and Pakistan now had a chance to win the series.

[eaLiTy]

~
Wc 2026 started in Feb ( team was selected in dec 2025)and IPL window was from late March 2026. So how are they supposed to select a player based on IPL, which didn't even started? They don't have time machine. So, I'd say your only claim was bit dodgy.

Yes, I messed up the timeline completely. I thought the IPL was conducted before the T20 World Cup because it is logically the correct move for everyone to get experience before a coveted international tournament. Maybe I'm getting old

Speaking of " god mode" Yeah, Bhuvi was pretty good in the last season but overall, throughout his career his name was never put on teamsheet first. In IPL, it could happen because of local rules but international it never happened. Having said that, in T-20 Bhuvi is miles ahead from our new crop in seam, barring Arshdeep. Likes of prashidh, rana etc are decent at times but behind Bhuvi in terms of exploiting new ball with swing ( also Bhuvi death bowling is average).

This is the only reason I was debating the inclusion of Bhuvneshwar Kumar here; he is a far better bowler than the current players, and if he is fit, he should be playing T20 cricket. So-called selectors like Agarkar used to cling to the squad even when they were injured because the management didn't have the ability to find a genuine fast bowler from a billion people. Now that he's become a selector, he is just shunting out genuine talent, which is what is unacceptable to me.

I still believe that in T-20 he was never considered because of " bring young blood policy" and rohit- dravid, I've seen both of em and selectors stating that policy thingy countless times.

All I can remember is a time when India completely lacked genuine pace bowlers. I remember watching countless games in the past where we played with just one fast bowler, a couple of medium pacers, and the rest spinners. Now, for the first time, we are seeing exceptional bowlers, yet they are not allowed a spot in the name of 'policy.' That is just not acceptable in my eyes.

His best format was test cricket ( here, I've seen his god mode level spells) and he had opportunity to become one of the great of Indian cricket but somehow he failed to compete with oldie Ishant, Umesh Yadav, shami and Bumrah. Later, Kohli- shastri sidelined him for some reason.

In my view, Bhuvi can still play T20s because I do not remember him having any outstanding Test spells. Shami, on the other hand, should be included in Tests—if he is fit enough to bowl that long—and in ODIs, but not in T20s. It looks like only Bhuvi has the opportunity because of a selector pushing for his return; there is no one to back Shami yet.

[JSRAW]

^^ anyway he's in the squad now and next wc is in SENA, both t-20 and odi so if he does well then who knows if he gets into 15 men squad and after that depending on team combination, it's very much possible for him to get into playing XI. Wicket taking seamers are always in demand in sena conditions ( more like seam allrounder) but still.

Small boards are going for trilateral here n there but not BIG-3.

[Nanga Parbat]

Afghanistan vs Zimbabwe

Afghanistan's batsmen have done their part to victory this match in which their batsmen have made their target enough strong with a lot of effort and hard work. Their batsmen have scored 294 runs. If they want to be completely successful in this match, they will have to strengthen their bowling a little bit so that the Zimbabwe batsmen play carelessly and score poor runs, due to which they will lose by a large margin. The Zimbabwe batsmen are doing the same thing. They have lost their precious 4 wickets in 8 overs, which could have brought them close to the target, but now they will have a lot of tough perhaps the whole team will be out in a few overs. Afghanistan is a very strong team for them, so Zimbabwe will have to play very hard, which is enough tough for them. Afghanistan will easily victory this match, Zimbabwe is just playing for formality, otherwise leave this match.

[BTC FutureKing]

Sirilankan continued thier defeat streak and thus Pakistan secured the very first match at tri series, Baber inning were fine enough but was unable to hold on for long and yeh quick back to back departure from Malinga broke the crucial partnership which definitely push Pakistan on the back foot. Although after early bad start Salman agha stepped up brilliantly with a match defining century at middle overs when team were really under the mounting pressure and thus placed a competitive total.
 
However while chase Sirilankan truly made Pakistan a bit sweaty, but thanks to Shaheen and rest whom stepped up and break each and every possible danger at death overs and shut the door with 37 runs victory.

Babar Azam need to find some acceleration as well, he scored 45 runs but look at his strike rate it's just 78 and need to improved in next games specially against England. Pakistan was able to cross 300 runs only because of Salman Agha aggressive innings. Due to T20, ODI cricket has also gone fast and you need to score over 300 runs to win the game. Pakistani main fast bowlers have bowled well in first match and that's a good sign for Pakistan because there pace attack is really struggling these days.

Babar Azam who is expected to play faster and better than the great batsmen because there are only a few batsmen who try to make the team score unsurpassable. Pakistan batting and bowling were both fantastic against Sri Lanka.I have always considered that the target is very strong in both T20 matches and ODIs for which it is very important for the team to be stable and strong.Pakistan should work hard in every match and continue its winning streak.Shaheen Shah Afridi who is also the captain of Pakistan ensured the victory by taking 3 important wickets of Sri Lanka. There is hope and possibility for Pakistan that it will defeat England in the same way in the next match.However Pakistan should practice more so that there is no negligence or negligence.

[Cheema02]

Afghanistan vs Zimbabwe

Afghanistan's batsmen have done their part to victory this match in which their batsmen have made their target enough strong with a lot of effort and hard work. Their batsmen have scored 294 runs. If they want to be completely successful in this match, they will have to strengthen their bowling a little bit so that the Zimbabwe batsmen play carelessly and score poor runs, due to which they will lose by a large margin. The Zimbabwe batsmen are doing the same thing. They have lost their precious 4 wickets in 8 overs, which could have brought them close to the target, but now they will have a lot of tough perhaps the whole team will be out in a few overs. Afghanistan is a very strong team for them, so Zimbabwe will have to play very hard, which is enough tough for them. Afghanistan will easily victory this match, Zimbabwe is just playing for formality, otherwise leave this match.

Yes, you are absolutely right; the Afghanistan team is much stronger than Zimbabwe and they are going to win this match by a very big margin. Looking at the target set by Afghanistan, I realized it would be very difficult for Zimbabwe to chase it down unless Sikandar and others deliver a strong performance, which could make the match more interesting. Sikandar Raza got off to a good start, playing an innings of 48 runs; unfortunately, he couldn't convert it into a half-century, and none of the other batters supported him. Zimbabwe lost theri 7 wickets so far and are just scoring 130 runs and need 181 runs off 81 balls which seems quite difficult because the required run rate has climbed to 12. Afghanistan are bowling well; their bowlers picked up the last three wickets in the last five overs and surely they will win this match easily.

[Zaka1221]

After having a good batting against Bangladesh in the test match today, Sediqullah Atal scored a 3rd century in the ODI against Zimbabwe; with the help of this century, Afghanistan posted a good total on board against Zimbabwe in their first game of the Tri series at Abu Dhabi. In chase of 295, Zimbabwe lost early wickets, which limited their chances to have a second win in this Tri series.
After securing a big win against Bangladesh in the first ODI, Sikandar Raza and Ryan Burl were on the crease, but chances were already ending for a win due to poor batting. Both scored 47 runs in 16 overs, which are not going to help them have any chance today. Afghanistan is playing with their full-strength squad; it's always never been easy to face these legendary white-ball players. 21 overs and 204 runs to with 6 wickets in hand—easy win for Afghanistan.