ICC WORLD CUP 2023 DISCUSSION THREAD!

[libert19]

Run rate has come down after Gurbaz got out, this may put pressure on Afghans at tail overs and may lose further wickets, although they have plenty left.

Aside from that, Ibrahim Zadran appears nervous about his hundred  

Edit: Ibrahim gone, literally the moment I posted this comment. Fear is disease, humans can't help it.

[JSRAW]

should I say a pair (Rachin-Mitchell) who managed to hold both ends nicely and in doing so they also counterattacked, which was refreshing from the batting point of view, considering Indian spinners are in great form.

It's wise to say the paid Rachin and Mitchell built the New Zealand innings entirely as this duo scored 205 out of 273 runs. Even though India has a good spin attack, they have used three pacers and two spinners against New Zealand. Jadeja was economical but did not manage to take any wickets while Kuldeep Yadav was expensive and managed to get two wickets.

Compared to this, pacers were more successful on that day. Shami alone took five wickets and two wickets were taken by Siraj and Bumrah. It was Pacers Day for India. Virat missed another century.

At least due to this fixture, we finally had some sort of tight contest, which had almost everything (including a dramatic end in terms of Virat's inning). 

Seamers keeping things tight, the batter fighting back against spin and followed by no 5/3 from the Indians against the Kiwis (I am not sure if i am ever going to forget the 2019 semis encounter). 

[Iranus]

Afghanistan vs Pakistan

Today's only match is between Afghanistan vs Pakistan. I think today's match will be very competitive. Because the match is going to be held in Chennai. This ground is not very batting friendly. Bowlers get a lot of advantage on this pitch. The performance of Afghanistan's batsmen is very erratic. But their bowlers are capable of doing quite well on bowling friendly pitches. And that's why I think the match will be competitive.

The performance of the batsmen of both Pakistan and Afghanistan teams has been erratic. The average score of the first innings of this pitch is 226 runs. And the average score of the second innings is 204 runs. If Afghanistan can bat first and give Pakistan a target of 280+ runs, it will not be easy for Pakistan to win this match. I would say both teams have chances to win

Although Pakistan's opponent is Afghanistan, today's match will be a very interesting match. We may have to wait till the last ball to see who will win this match today. We have seen Pakistan and Afghanistan matches several times before and in all the matches we have seen between Afghanistan and Pakistan we have to wait till the last ball and either team wins the match in dramatic fashion. Pakistan will play Afghanistan which means Pakistan will be ahead statistically but no team is big in world cup as we have seen in previous few matches and Afghanistan can beat a team like England so I am sure Afghanistan will perform very well against Pakistan. I wouldn't be surprised if there is no change in the Pakistan XI as they did very well against Australia in the last match.

We did not see the expected performance from Pakistan. A target of 283 runs was set aside by them. It is a good enough target considering the pitch. But the bowlers are not doing well. Afghanistan collected 130 runs in the first wicket pair. And they lost their second wicket for just 190 runs. Rahmanullah Gurbaz scored 65 runs and Ibarhim Zadran scored 87 runs. Rahmat Shah remains unbeaten with 32 runs. Afghanistan need only 93 runs. It is not a difficult task. But in the past matches we have seen that Afghanistan are completely dependent on their top order. If Afghanistan lose more wickets in the next few overs, they are likely to lose.

[Vaskiy]

Run rate has come down after Gurbaz got out, this may put pressure on Afghans at tail overs and may lose further wickets, although they have plenty left.

Aside from that, Ibrahim Zadran appears nervous about his hundred  

Edit: Ibrahim gone, literally the moment I posted this comment. Fear is disease, humans can't help it.

Gurbaz and Zadran gave good start and it have given confidence to the rest of the players in chasing the target. Gurbaz at 65 runs and Zadran at 87 runs have walked to the pavilion. Rahmat Shah have reached his half century and Hashmatullah Shahidi is doing his best. More 60 runs in 58 balls is going to be an easy win for Afghanistan. Pakistan bowlers are struggling hard as they weren't able to break partnership which is must for them to win the match.

[Minor Miner]

Afghanistan vs Pakistan

Today's only match is between Afghanistan vs Pakistan. I think today's match will be very competitive. Because the match is going to be held in Chennai. This ground is not very batting friendly. Bowlers get a lot of advantage on this pitch. The performance of Afghanistan's batsmen is very erratic. But their bowlers are capable of doing quite well on bowling friendly pitches. And that's why I think the match will be competitive.

The performance of the batsmen of both Pakistan and Afghanistan teams has been erratic. The average score of the first innings of this pitch is 226 runs. And the average score of the second innings is 204 runs. If Afghanistan can bat first and give Pakistan a target of 280+ runs, it will not be easy for Pakistan to win this match. I would say both teams have chances to win

Although Pakistan's opponent is Afghanistan, today's match will be a very interesting match. We may have to wait till the last ball to see who will win this match today. We have seen Pakistan and Afghanistan matches several times before and in all the matches we have seen between Afghanistan and Pakistan we have to wait till the last ball and either team wins the match in dramatic fashion. Pakistan will play Afghanistan which means Pakistan will be ahead statistically but no team is big in world cup as we have seen in previous few matches and Afghanistan can beat a team like England so I am sure Afghanistan will perform very well against Pakistan. I wouldn't be surprised if there is no change in the Pakistan XI as they did very well against Australia in the last match.

We did not see the expected performance from Pakistan. A target of 283 runs was set aside by them. It is a good enough target considering the pitch. But the bowlers are not doing well. Afghanistan collected 130 runs in the first wicket pair. And they lost their second wicket for just 190 runs. Rahmanullah Gurbaz scored 65 runs and Ibarhim Zadran scored 87 runs. Rahmat Shah remains unbeaten with 32 runs. Afghanistan need only 93 runs. It is not a difficult task. But in the past matches we have seen that Afghanistan are completely dependent on their top order. If Afghanistan lose more wickets in the next few overs, they are likely to lose.

I don't see any possibility of Pakistan winning. The performance of their bowlers is very poor. Afghanistan have already accumulated 213 runs with the loss of just two wickets. The team needs only 70 runs from 70 balls. Their batsmen's performances have been erratic but they are talented enough. As the team has lost just 2 wickets, it is not difficult for them to win this match. If Pakistan lose today's match, I don't see any chance of them qualifying for the semi-finals. After winning the first two matches, if they lose today's match, it will be Pakistan's third defeat in a row. The team is playing very badly.

[hypothetical]

Run rate has come down after Gurbaz got out, this may put pressure on Afghans at tail overs and may lose further wickets, although they have plenty left.

Aside from that, Ibrahim Zadran appears nervous about his hundred  

Edit: Ibrahim gone, literally the moment I posted this comment. Fear is disease, humans can't help it.

Gurbaz and Zadran gave good start and it have given confidence to the rest of the players in chasing the target. Gurbaz at 65 runs and Zadran at 87 runs have walked to the pavilion. Rahmat Shah have reached his half century and Hashmatullah Shahidi is doing his best. More 60 runs in 58 balls is going to be an easy win for Afghanistan. Pakistan bowlers are struggling hard as they weren't able to break partnership which is must for them to win the match.

Ibrahim Zadran and Rahmanullah Gurbaz were very good as their opening pair today.Basically the chase has done the main job for their team to win today.Afghanistan are sure to win today as they have lost only two wickets.Afghanistan need 51 runs from just 47 balls to go with eight wickets still in hand.If Afghanistan win today, it will be very difficult for Pakistan to reach the semi-finals.In this World Cup, Afghanistan first lost to Bangladesh and then turned around quite well and are going to beat England first and today Pakistan.

[elevates]

Why did Babar Azam remove the pacers and introduce spinnerss? I haven't seen them getting anything out of this wicket. As of now I conclude this will be a close game. The Afganistan batters are utilizing this stupidity from Babar Azam as Afganistan is now increasing their run rate.

[libert19]

This match is so interesting to watch somehow. I still think Afghanistan could lose this, there will be hat-trick or something, probably just delusion.

[laurenB7742]

Why did Babar Azam remove the pacers and introduce spinnerss? I haven't seen them getting anything out of this wicket. As of now I conclude this will be a close game. The Afganistan batters are utilizing this stupidity from Babar Azam as Afganistan is now increasing their run rate.

I have seen spinners do quite well on this pitch in past matches. Perhaps this is why Babar Azam used his spinners. But Pakistan does not get good performance from spinners. I certainly don't blame Babar's captaincy.
Pakistan could have given 300+ target in today's match. A target of 283 runs was not enough. Pakistan's batsmen cannot do well enough. The performance of their top order players was quite slow.
We are seeing Pakistan's very bad fielding in today's match as well. If not for the bad fielding they could have saved 20/30 more runs and it would have been more difficult for Afghanistan to win the match. Afghanistan now need 30 runs from 30 balls. As both the batsmen at the crease are playing very well, they will easily collect 30 runs in 30 balls.

[Bureau]

PCB STOP TALKING AND START WORKING!

None of us have ever imagined Pakistan getting defeated by Afghanistan. One of the commentators is praising the Afghan team as he is half Australian and half Pakistani. Where things got so wrong that Pakistan cannot win a game against a team new to this World Cup, almost everything that Afghanistan needs is being provided by the BCCI. It's another big shame for Pakistan to get defeated by an underdog like Afghanistan. It is an end for Pakistan getting into the semifinals of the World Cup as they won't be able to get out of this defeat psychologically. Another game to prove that the era of Pakistan cricket is now on the rise unless the PCB comes up with an immediate solution.

[Bitcoin Smith]

This match is so interesting to watch somehow. I still think Afghanistan could lose this, there will be hat-trick or something, probably just delusion.

I missed one of the exciting match of this tournament due to my busy schedule and to be honest I didn't even track the scores of either teams but at the time of match end I am surprised to see Pakistan got upset by AFG and most convincingly which shows the weakness of Pakistan's both batting and bowling and if they want to ensure their ability they have to make a big comeback against bigger teams or they will be considered as depleting cricket nation.

[Dimitri94]

None of us have ever imagined Pakistan getting defeated by Afghanistan. One of the commentators is praising the Afghan team as he is half Australian and half Pakistani. Where things got so wrong that Pakistan cannot win a game against a team new to this World Cup, almost everything that Afghanistan needs is being provided by the BCCI. It's another big shame for Pakistan to get defeated by an underdog like Afghanistan. It is an end for Pakistan getting into the semifinals of the World Cup as they won't be able to get out of this defeat psychologically. Another game to prove that the era of Pakistan cricket is now on the rise unless the PCB comes up with an immediate solution.

To be honest, the Pakistan team is not in its previous position. They are slowly going down. Especially their bowling line-up had a good reputation but that reputation is no longer exist. On one hand they don't have a good batting line-up except for a few and on the other hand if the bowling condition is also bad then nothing good can be expected from them. It is certainly humiliating for Pakistan that their bowlers could not do anything against a team like Afghanistan. But nothing can be done without ability. PCB should play a role in building better teams. It is difficult to expect anything good from such a team especially in a tournament like World Cup cricket.

[SATWAT]

PCB STOP TALKING AND START WORKING!

None of us have ever imagined Pakistan getting defeated by Afghanistan. One of the commentators is praising the Afghan team as he is half Australian and half Pakistani. Where things got so wrong that Pakistan cannot win a game against a team new to this World Cup, almost everything that Afghanistan needs is being provided by the BCCI. It's another big shame for Pakistan to get defeated by an underdog like Afghanistan. It is an end for Pakistan getting into the semifinals of the World Cup as they won't be able to get out of this defeat psychologically. Another game to prove that the era of Pakistan cricket is now on the rise unless the PCB comes up with an immediate solution.

I completely disagreed with this half Australian and half Pakistani commentator because this is not happening first time, we have history of many poor results like these with PCB is never been well organized authority in Pakistan mostly controlled by politicians which use this for their own purpose like Pakistan lost to Bangladesh was political decision back in 1999 and then Pakistan also lost Ireland which was due inner politics by players.
We have to accept few realities about Pakistan and their culture which is never been working on merit mostly players and authorities are doing things for their own sack which is having matter of shame but not this defeat because the lost against a well-organized team which beats England few days back in this same event.

[SamReomo]

We did not see the expected performance from Pakistan. A target of 283 runs was set aside by them. It is a good enough target considering the pitch. But the bowlers are not doing well. Afghanistan collected 130 runs in the first wicket pair. And they lost their second wicket for just 190 runs. Rahmanullah Gurbaz scored 65 runs and Ibarhim Zadran scored 87 runs. Rahmat Shah remains unbeaten with 32 runs. Afghanistan need only 93 runs. It is not a difficult task. But in the past matches we have seen that Afghanistan are completely dependent on their top order. If Afghanistan lose more wickets in the next few overs, they are likely to lose.

This match was a great disaster by Pakistani team they have lost the match against a weaker time and now it's proven that they won't be able to stand against South African team in the upcoming match. This time team Pakistan discouraged its fans very bitterly and their poor performance shown that their captain isn't competent enough to manage the team. Team Afghanistan won against team Pakistan which was totally unexpected victory. I thought that Pakistan may show dominance against Afghanistan but they weren't dominant at all.

[Webetcoins]

This match is so interesting to watch somehow. I still think Afghanistan could lose this, there will be hat-trick or something, probably just delusion.

I missed one of the exciting match of this tournament due to my busy schedule and to be honest I didn't even track the scores of either teams but at the time of match end I am surprised to see Pakistan got upset by AFG and most convincingly which shows the weakness of Pakistan's both batting and bowling and if they want to ensure their ability they have to make a big comeback against bigger teams or they will be considered as depleting cricket nation.

While Pakistan is on field we can expect many things with drama and suspense as well which is nature of this team same happen in today game with at the end Afghanistan have their first win against Pakistan which is good for them after having big win against England now things are going worst for the two losers because they have minimum chances for the top four after this performance specially Pakistan which is completely failed to give their best after win against Sri Lanka.

Here we have to praise Afghanistan which done good performance in all departments and have two big wins in this event with most chances they could be still out of the top six, but they have already done impressive job their lost against Bangladesh is surely going to hurt them otherwise I have feeling they could be in top six without any problem.

[Bitcoin Smith]

This match is so interesting to watch somehow. I still think Afghanistan could lose this, there will be hat-trick or something, probably just delusion.

I missed one of the exciting match of this tournament due to my busy schedule and to be honest I didn't even track the scores of either teams but at the time of match end I am surprised to see Pakistan got upset by AFG and most convincingly which shows the weakness of Pakistan's both batting and bowling and if they want to ensure their ability they have to make a big comeback against bigger teams or they will be considered as depleting cricket nation.

While Pakistan is on field we can expect many things with drama and suspense as well which is nature of this team same happen in today game with at the end Afghanistan have their first win against Pakistan which is good for them after having big win against England now things are going worst for the two losers because they have minimum chances for the top four after this performance specially Pakistan which is completely failed to give their best after win against Sri Lanka.

Here we have to praise Afghanistan which done good performance in all departments and have two big wins in this event with most chances they could be still out of the top six, but they have already done impressive job their lost against Bangladesh is surely going to hurt them otherwise I have feeling they could be in top six without any problem.

Due to this loss Australia got better edge to be in the top 4 which was once at the bottom of the table so this week is going to be an exciting week, and probably it will give the sure contenders for top 4 spots at the end of this week.

So now the second half of the tournament, any team with good spin attack can't be taken as easy pick.

[doomloop]

Why did Babar Azam remove the pacers and introduce spinnerss? I haven't seen them getting anything out of this wicket. As of now I conclude this will be a close game. The Afganistan batters are utilizing this stupidity from Babar Azam as Afganistan is now increasing their run rate.

I have seen spinners do quite well on this pitch in past matches. Perhaps this is why Babar Azam used his spinners. But Pakistan does not get good performance from spinners. I certainly don't blame Babar's captaincy.
Pakistan could have given 300+ target in today's match. A target of 283 runs was not enough. Pakistan's batsmen cannot do well enough. The performance of their top order players was quite slow.
We are seeing Pakistan's very bad fielding in today's match as well. If not for the bad fielding they could have saved 20/30 more runs and it would have been more difficult for Afghanistan to win the match. Afghanistan now need 30 runs from 30 balls. As both the batsmen at the crease are playing very well, they will easily collect 30 runs in 30 balls.

After having two wins now Pakistan having three loses which are clearly indicating their weaknesses with Pakistan batting is not able to perform against quality spin, and they also have no quality spinners which can restrict opponents and their fast bowlers having just speed not depth which was their trade-mark in history and their strategy is also not working which is surely the biggest concern right now they are probably out of this event, but we can expect something surprising as well.

Today I watch this match and really surprise with the work and performance of the Afghanistan which was really well organized and done good job throughout match specially their tactics were impressive as they play with their four spinners which clearly give them good benefit against team like Pakistan 283 was not good target on this track with their early poor batting give them big setback.

[laurenB7742]

Why did Babar Azam remove the pacers and introduce spinnerss? I haven't seen them getting anything out of this wicket. As of now I conclude this will be a close game. The Afganistan batters are utilizing this stupidity from Babar Azam as Afganistan is now increasing their run rate.

I have seen spinners do quite well on this pitch in past matches. Perhaps this is why Babar Azam used his spinners. But Pakistan does not get good performance from spinners. I certainly don't blame Babar's captaincy.
Pakistan could have given 300+ target in today's match. A target of 283 runs was not enough. Pakistan's batsmen cannot do well enough. The performance of their top order players was quite slow.
We are seeing Pakistan's very bad fielding in today's match as well. If not for the bad fielding they could have saved 20/30 more runs and it would have been more difficult for Afghanistan to win the match. Afghanistan now need 30 runs from 30 balls. As both the batsmen at the crease are playing very well, they will easily collect 30 runs in 30 balls.

After having two wins now Pakistan having three loses which are clearly indicating their weaknesses with Pakistan batting is not able to perform against quality spin, and they also have no quality spinners which can restrict opponents and their fast bowlers having just speed not depth which was their trade-mark in history and their strategy is also not working which is surely the biggest concern right now they are probably out of this event, but we can expect something surprising as well.
Today I watch this match and really surprise with the work and performance of the Afghanistan which was really well organized and done good job throughout match specially their tactics were impressive as they play with their four spinners which clearly give them good benefit against team like Pakistan 283 was not good target on this track with their early poor batting give them big setback.

After all, it would not be wrong to say that the condition of Pakistan's squad is quite weak now. There is no consistency in the performance of the squad's batsmen. Almost every batsman's performance is erratic. No batsman is able to bat responsibly. Only Babar Azam is batting slightly better. On the other hand, the performance of Pakistan's bowlers is also not satisfactory. Naseem Shah is not with the squad due to injury. I see Shaheen Shah Afridi as the only quality bowler in the Pakistan squad. Increase the performance of Pakistan's spin bowlers. I think Pakistan's spin attack is the weakest in this World Cup. If you perform like this, it is impossible to qualify for the semi-finals.

[Iranus]

South Afrika vs Bangladesh

After the defeat against the Netherlands, South Africa had a huge 229-run win against England. They have proved the ability of their batsmen and bowlers. Today South Africa team will play against Bangladesh.

Bangladesh team cannot be called strong. A relatively weak team. Although they started their World Cup journey with a win against Afghanistan, they lost the next three matches. However, it is difficult to make predictions about the performance of this team. The team's biggest weakness was their opening pair. But their two openers played very well in the last match. If the opening pair plays well against South Africa, Bangladesh will be able to make this match competitive.

The pitch of Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai is not batting friendly. However, in the last match, South Africa has given the England team a target of 400 runs on this pitch. And so I will say Bangladesh will be under a lot of pressure today. If the bowlers do not perform well, they will be beaten ruthlessly.

[Sithara007]

Two of the favorites are now almost out of the world cup - England and Pakistan. For England, the only win came against Bangladesh and their misery is not going to end anytime soon. Pakistan has so far won 2 out of the 5 matches they have played, but one of those wins came against the Netherlands. And the other win came against a weak Sri Lanka. Their next match is against South Africa. BTW, Hotstar is making good revenue from the live streams. Yesterday for the Pakistan vs Afghanistan match, the peak viewership was 20 million.