ICC Cricket World Cup 2019

MJJ

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Apart from England, you'll find it difficult to identify another team with obsurdly high strike rates. For instance, off the top of my head, the India players go something like this:

Dhawan - 90
Rohit - 88
Kohli - 87
Dhoni - 88
Jhadav - 100+

Edit:

You've got to balance averages with strike rates. All those batsmen I named average 48+, if I'm not mistaken. How many batsmen in the history of cricket average 50 and had a strike rate of 90+? Im gonna guess that AB is the only ever.
Bit surprised by that but to prove my point.

Fakhar- 21 sixes in 31 innings vs Rohit- 218 sixes in 200 innings
Imam- 13 sixes in 24 innings vs Dhawan- 67 in 127 innings
Babar- 23 sixes in 57 innings vs 116 in 219
Haris- 18 sixes in 30 innings vs 224 in 289

The other two players in the batting order (malik and sarfraz are also not hitters) whereas your lower order can accelerate pretty quickly. Our side is still built for the cricket of 90s and really struggles to post a score close to 300.

Edit- Kohli strike rate is 93. So your top three have strike rates in the 90s whereas we have one player in the 90s and two in the 80s. Our four,five and six player also have strike rates in the 80s. Doubt any other side has that.
 

Di Maria's angel

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Bit surprised by that but to prove my point.

Fakhar- 21 sixes in 31 innings vs Rohit- 218 sixes in 200 innings
Imam- 13 sixes in 24 innings vs Dhawan- 67 in 127 innings
Babar- 23 sixes in 57 innings vs 116 in 219
Haris- 18 sixes in 30 innings vs 224 in 289

The other two players in the batting order (malik and sarfraz are also not hitters) whereas your lower order can accelerate pretty quickly. Our side is still built for the cricket of 90s and really struggles to post a score close to 300.

Edit- Kohli strike rate is 93
Aside from Rohit, who only hits big in the last 10, we don't have six hitters. Look at those numbers? And stop including Dhoni, his strikes in the last four years have been between 77-80.
 

Cloud7

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I had a discussion with a friend about Narine and he felt that generally batsmen have decided to play it safe against Sunil and play out his 4 overs for very little. The little man is a beast though; last 3 seasons, his strike rates have been 170+ and he managed 350 runs last season. Best ever to play in the IPL.
His batting is quite handy, but I wouldn’t trust that in an any format except T20. Honestly, I wish that he could re-find some of his mojo again, as at his best he was unplayable, and outside of cricket, he’s quite a cool, pleasant guy.

He just doesn’t seem like the same player anymore. One of my friends summed it up pretty well in a match we went to watch. “He’s lost everything. He’s lost his line, lost his length and lost his wife.”
 

MJJ

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Aside from Rohit, who only hits big in the last 10, we don't have six hitters. Look at those numbers? And stop including Dhoni, his strikes in the last four years have been between 77-80.
:lol: You included Dhoni, not me. Take your top five,six batsman and compare them to the Pakistani counterparty. I will be surprised if even one pakistani wins the competition.
 

Di Maria's angel

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:lol: You included Dhoni, not me. Take your top five,six batsman and compare them to the Pakistani counterparty. I will be surprised if even one pakistani wins the competition.
Ok, man. Like I said to @harshad I dont have you down as semi finalists. I reckon you could quite possibly be a dark horse as you were on 2017 - you know, when you destroyed our team?
 

MJJ

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Ok, man. Like I said to @harshad I dont have you down as semi finalists. I reckon you could quite possibly be a dark horse as you were on 2017 - you know, when you destroyed our team?
:lol: sorry, our shittiness is a sore subject. It's annoying that our cricket is still stuck in the 90s.

The cl final was due to fakhar giving us a good platform and hafeez channeling his inner Razzaq. I will be very surprised if we repeat that.
 

Sanche7

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Would consider England as the favourites, Australia showing some good form too. West indies could be the dark horse of the tournament.

Worrying signs for India going by the IPL form although T20 and ODIs are very different. But Dhawan and Rohit look out of form, Kohli struggling as the captain, Rayudu, Jadeja, Karthik all out of form. Even among the bowlers, only Bumrah looks good and maybe Shami too occasionally. Don't think the spinners would be of much use in England
 

Di Maria's angel

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Would consider England as the favourites, Australia showing some good form too. West indies could be the dark horse of the tournament.

Worrying signs for India going by the IPL form although T20 and ODIs are very different. But Dhawan and Rohit look out of form, Kohli struggling as the captain, Rayudu, Jadeja, Karthik all out of form. Even among the bowlers, only Bumrah looks good and maybe Shami too occasionally. Don't think the spinners would be of much use in England
I wouldn't be too worried about our form going into the tournament. Before 2015 - we lost 4-0 to England and Australia. Before 2011 - we lost the odi series against SA.
 

NinjaFletch

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In terms of great, I was exclusively referring to him in the IPL where he's been extremely useful for MI. For someone who bats at number 6 or 7 (ODIs), he still has a lot to offer.
He's just the dictionary definition of a bits and pieces cricketer for me. That's fine in T20 cricket and perhaps acceptable in ODI cricket when you have no other options for balance but in a side who already (should) have Russell alongside Holder and Braithwaite it's overkill.

It's not like they're not short of power hitters either.
 

Di Maria's angel

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He's just the dictionary definition of a bits and pieces cricketer for me. That's fine in T20 cricket and perhaps acceptable in ODI cricket when you have no other options for balance but in a side who already (should) have Russell alongside Holder and Braithwaite it's overkill.

It's not like they're not short of power hitters either.
Maybe. I feel like there was much more to him. Useful batsmen, useful bowler and exceptional fielder. Averaged 35 batting at number 5 in ODIs. His numbers weren't ever going to be impressive given his role in the team. Injuries never helped the big man.
 

Aboutreika18

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:lol: sorry, our shittiness is a sore subject. It's annoying that our cricket is still stuck in the 90s.

The cl final was due to fakhar giving us a good platform and hafeez channeling his inner Razzaq. I will be very surprised if we repeat that.
Ok, man. Like I said to @harshad I dont have you down as semi finalists. I reckon you could quite possibly be a dark horse as you were on 2017 - you know, when you destroyed our team?
I reckon the biggest hope for Pakistan is that the tournament is being held in England, where they'll have great support and tend to exceed expectations.
 

Dudu

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NZ became the first team to announce their WC Squad. My XI would be:

Guptill
Nicholls
Williamson
Ross Taylor
Latham
Neesham
Santner
Ish Sodhi
Southee
Boult
Lockie

Very decent side imo! Not sure about whether to choose Santer or De Grandhomme, and I reckon Southee will be fighting for his spot with Henry.
 

KM

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Reckon CdG is a lock in their team. Henry over Southee too imo.
 

MDFC Manager

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Good to see Rahul getting into decent form. Can't wait to see him start over Dhawan.
 

Dudu

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Smith and Warner in the Squad.
Hazelwood and Handscomb miss out.

I suspect Hazlewood is still not fully fit and they're going to make sure he is available for the Ashes.

But gee that is shocking that Handscomb misses out. Really really harsh, he's been absolutely fantastic! I would have been tempted to drop one of the bowlers to pick him, or put him in place of Carey (as Handscomb can keep too).
 
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zing

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Smith and Warner in the Squad.
Hazelwood and Handscomb miss out.

I suspect Hazlewood is still not fully fit and they're going to make sure he is available for the Ashes.

But gee that is shocking that Handscomb misses out. Really really harsh, he's been absolutely fantastic! I would have been tempted to drop one of the bowlers to pick him, or put him in place of Carey (as Handscomb can keep too).
Very strong squad. Isn't handscomb just a part time keeper?
 

Moby

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Hopefully semis would be Australia England India and West Indies. Our weak batting line up means final would probably be Australia vs England
 

Di Maria's angel

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Meh. DK has been woeful in the IPL. Shankar has been crap as well. No idea why we refuse to pick Pant.
 

zing

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Good squad. Would've picked a seamer(if we had tried one) for Jadeja but otherwise I'd pick the same.
 

NinjaFletch

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Smith and Warner in the Squad.
Hazelwood and Handscomb miss out.

I suspect Hazlewood is still not fully fit and they're going to make sure he is available for the Ashes.

But gee that is shocking that Handscomb misses out. Really really harsh, he's been absolutely fantastic! I would have been tempted to drop one of the bowlers to pick him, or put him in place of Carey (as Handscomb can keep too).
He definitely should have gone as well as Carey. Who will keep if Carey goes down with an injury?
 

KM

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MSK Prasad saying that Karthik gets in ahead of Pant due to his Wicketkeeping skills inspite of the fact Pant is the test keeper must be the most braindead selection I've ever seen.

Karthik is unlikely to play a single match. I'd have tried Rahul as a backup keeper and chose a fourth seamer just in case. But hey-ho.
 

Mr.Ridiculous__

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MSK Prasad saying that Karthik gets in ahead of Pant due to his Wicketkeeping skills inspite of the fact Pant is the test keeper must be the most braindead selection I've ever seen.

Karthik is unlikely to play a single match. I'd have tried Rahul as a backup keeper and chose a fourth seamer just in case. But hey-ho.
I agree with the second part, but Dinesh Karthik is a significantly better keeper than Pant. It's not even close.
 

KM

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I agree with the second part, but Dinesh Karthik is a significantly better keeper than Pant. It's not even close.
Pant is the test keeper. Keeping is a very essential part of test matches. If they're dropping Pant on the basis of his keeping then he has no right to be in the test matches.
 

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MSK Prasad saying that Karthik gets in ahead of Pant due to his Wicketkeeping skills inspite of the fact Pant is the test keeper must be the most braindead selection I've ever seen.

Karthik is unlikely to play a single match. I'd have tried Rahul as a backup keeper and chose a fourth seamer just in case. But hey-ho.
It is exactly this kind of backward logic that is laughable. Wouldn't surprise me now if we end up seeing Karthik actually play as a specialist batsman now :houllier:
 

Mr.Ridiculous__

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Pant is the test keeper. Keeping is a very essential part of test matches. If they're dropping Pant on the basis of his keeping then he has no right to be in the test matches.
I agree that Keeping is an essential part of Tests, hence Saha got the nod for a while. Pant is very error prone and needs to rectify that and his batting is what I feel is driving his career at the moment. Karthik is a lot more secure.

Karthik shouldn't be in the side though.
 

Ayush_reddevil

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Surely Rahul will bat at 4 ? Vijay Shankar has not made a 50 at international level in any form so would be a surprise if he starts
 

Edgar Allan Pillow

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Surely Rahul will bat at 4 ? Vijay Shankar has not made a 50 at international level in any form so would be a surprise if he starts
Looks like Shankar starts ahead of Rahul.

MSK Prasad said:
“After the Champions Trophy we have tried quite a few middle-order batsmen, which also included Karthik, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey. We did give a few more chances to Rayudu but Vijay Shankar gives three dimensions. He can bat, if the conditions are overcast he can bowl, plus he is a fielder. We are looking at Vijay Shankar as a No. 4. Now we have plenty of options for that slot,” MSK Prasad said after the squad was announced.

Also, Prasad said that KL Rahul has been picked as the reserve opener in the squad, but he can bat in the middle order if the team management wants him to. “To begin with, he will only be a reserve opener, but if the team management needs, he can bat in the middle order too,” Prasad further added.
 

sport2793

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I agree that Keeping is an essential part of Tests, hence Saha got the nod for a while. Pant is very error prone and needs to rectify that and his batting is what I feel is driving his career at the moment. Karthik is a lot more secure.

Karthik shouldn't be in the side though.
Pant's batting is all that is needed for this side, or for any side in general. He is already a better batsman than Rahul in my book and one of only 3 batsmen in India at this moment in time that can singlehandedly destroy a world-class bowling attack (other two being Sharma and Kohli). Not sure why everyone gets fixated over his keeping, it seems so irrelevant relative to what he offers with his batting and laughable when he already starts in Tests over DK. I think what it came down to was that they needed a backup opener and they plan to play Vijay at #4 over Rahul. They only see DK as a backup keeper and probably hope they will not have to play him at all, which seems like a wasted spot nonetheless.

Glad they stuck with Dhawan though, for some reason he's always gold at ICC tournaments. His recent 97 for DC was promising too.
 

crappycraperson

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If they wanted to take DK then they should have given him more chances in middle order over the course of last year. He has no 100 in 70 odd ODI innings. Can't rely on him with that kind of record. Basically they backed Rayadu and then just got cold feet at the last minute. Vijay Shankar is a useless selection if they don't plan to bowl him regularly (which knowing Kohli, he won't.) They also caused the Pant situation by not picking him for ODIs in Oz. Kohli has repeatedly said that he wants a middle order batsman that can hit from word go so that they can capitalise on good starts to push 300+ scores to 350+. Pant is tailor made for that role, his keeping is not an issue if you play him as a batsman. Our WC hopes batting wise gonna come down to top 3 and Hardik bringing it home. Can't rely on rest.