Your pick for WC2019 semi finalists

[ShebbySB]

Don't underrate Afghanistan.They are a dangerous side and can cause upsets in the tournament.

For me 4 finalists will be England,India,South Africa and Australia.Only teams capable of altering

that are NZ and PAK.

 

[DHONI_FANN]

18 minutes ago, ShebbySB said:

Don't underrate Afghanistan.They are a dangerous side and can cause upsets in the tournament.

For me 4 finalists will be England,India,South Africa and Australia.Only teams capable of altering

that are NZ and PAK.

 

This. I think Afghanistan will finish better than BD and may be even Sri Lanka. They play with a lot of passion

[Zero_Unit]

4 hours ago, DHONI_FANN said:

This. I think Afghanistan will finish better than BD and may be even Sri Lanka. They play with a lot of passion

This is higly unlikely. Afg might have done better than the 2 if the tournament was set up with 5 team on each group. But this time around, each team will play 9 matches. Afg might do better than WI but can't see them do better than both SL/BD. 

[Nikhil_cric]

I'd say it i would be England, India,NZ and PAK. The only two proper batsmen in OZ have been banned and it would be hard for them to acclimatise quickly. Pakistan are dangerous for the first time since 1999. Most well rounded attack with a couple of aggressive batsmen up the order. If they peak at the right time, they can even make the final.

England have a monster batting lineup but if there's assistance for bowlers, they will capitulate and their bowling is extremely unimpressive. India's batting is overrated. We failed to prepare for this WC since the last one ended and continued playing has beens like UV and now we have a weak middle order. If batting conditions are tough, i'd expect only Kohli and Dhawan to do anything. Bowling also blows hot and cold. On their day Bhuvi/Bumrah/Chahal/Kuldeep can be world class as a unit. But they can be hammered and backed by some pathetic catching this team won't go beyond SF. We might even have a shocker with us not qualifying especially when playing useless hacks like Jadhav. Which leaves NZ who in my view are quiet favourites. Explosive batsmen like munro and Guptill, proper bats in Williamson and Latham and a quality seam attack backed up by Santner and Sodhi. They can adapt to any playing conditions and are hard to beat. Even last time, it was only Starc and Johnson that they could not overcome. This time though, i suspect they might win the whole bloody thing.

 

Saffers will have a shocker. Their team is too one dimensional and won't adapt if the pitches aren't flat.

[Gollum]

I hope NZ wins the next WC, really likable bunch.

[prudent_kreeda]

I think NZ and PAK will be dark horses and will do better compared to India and may be SA .

[DHONI_FANN]

2 hours ago, prudent_kreeda said:

I think NZ and PAK will be dark horses and will do better compared to India and may be SA .

Pak?? Are you serious?? 

[kruiser]

On 4/8/2018 at 2:57 AM, Nikhil_cric said:

I'd say it i would be England, India,NZ and PAK. The only two proper batsmen in OZ have been banned and it would be hard for them to acclimatise quickly. Pakistan are dangerous for the first time since 1999. Most well rounded attack with a couple of aggressive batsmen up the order. If they peak at the right time, they can even make the final.

England have a monster batting lineup but if there's assistance for bowlers, they will capitulate and their bowling is extremely unimpressive. India's batting is overrated. We failed to prepare for this WC since the last one ended and continued playing has beens like UV and now we have a weak middle order. If batting conditions are tough, i'd expect only Kohli and Dhawan to do anything. Bowling also blows hot and cold. On their day Bhuvi/Bumrah/Chahal/Kuldeep can be world class as a unit. But they can be hammered and backed by some pathetic catching this team won't go beyond SF. We might even have a shocker with us not qualifying especially when playing useless hacks like Jadhav. Which leaves NZ who in my view are quiet favourites. Explosive batsmen like munro and Guptill, proper bats in Williamson and Latham and a quality seam attack backed up by Santner and Sodhi. They can adapt to any playing conditions and are hard to beat. Even last time, it was only Starc and Johnson that they could not overcome. This time though, i suspect they might win the whole bloody thing.

 

Saffers will have a shocker. Their team is too one dimensional and won't adapt if the pitches aren't flat.

Agree with most of it. My only hope is that Chahal is discarded way before wc, and jadeja is in.

Karthik should be there and if there is a freak coincidence that dhoni cannot play, then we are making the finals.

Pakistan I agree if getting into dangerous category.

SA will flop, but Aus will be resilient. 

[Vilander]

On 4/6/2018 at 4:32 AM, Gollum said:

don't know whether it will surpass the CT F massacre (biggest margin of defeat ever in a ICC final) but will still be a blowout. 

Gollum are you a pakistani ? really you are the only person who repeats this again and again. 

[Gollum]

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Edited April 10, 2018 by Gollum

[Gollum]

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Edited April 10, 2018 by Gollum

[Gollum]

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Edited April 10, 2018 by Gollum

[Asim]

@Gollum bas kar dey ab rulaey ga kya

[Asim]

Ind should only be worried incase they meet Pak in Final ;)

[Gollum]

9 minutes ago, Asim said:

Ind should only be worried incase they meet Pak in Final ;)

Neither India nor Pak are making the finals in the current form they are in. Mediocrity has no place in a WC, in smaller tournaments and bilaterals, flaws remain hidden but on the biggest stage against hungry, motivated teams, things will be very tough.

[kira]

On 4/6/2018 at 4:31 PM, Lala said:

1. England

2. Pakistan

3. South Africa

4. India

 

Semi 1 --> Eng vs Ind = Eng

Semi 2 --> Pak vs SA = Pak

 

Final --> Eng vs Pak = Winner is a doubt because Eng have their own home conditions backed by home support. Other hand Pak usually play well in England. Past track record is the proof. Anyway we can see a good final. 

 

Pakistan won't even be in the top 5, bookmark my post and visit it in a year's time and then apoligize for even thinking that a minnow like pak would make the semis

[kira]

Eng, Aus/Nz, Sa, India will be the semis

[Gollum]

Hate Dhoni even more every passing day. He unceremoniously dumped Sachin, GG, Viru in 2012 CB series and took potshots at them in his movie, as if they were being selfish and only he was was the unselfish team man. Fast forward 6 years and Cool has been nothing but a dead weight, he has failed miserably in every big ICC tournament in the recent past and just to protect his brand value he is going to cost us another WC next year. So easy to sling mud on others but after destroying our test unit and being a non factor in ICC tourneys for so long, this perjurer still refuses to call it quits. Very sad actually because right now we have no standout ODI team like in the past, all are extremely flawed and even a fairly decent team can win next year's edition. We have a devastating top 3 and an acceptable bowling attack, pity we never bothered to set our middle order right in the last 4 years. What do you expect the likes of Rahane, Karthik, Dhoni, Pandey, Jadhav etc to do between overs 10 to 45 against international standard bowling? Top 3 will win us a few matches but they can never win a tournament on their own. Even Gilly-Hayden-Ponting needed the support of Clarke, Bevan, Martyn, Hussey and Symonds to win WCs, we have a bunch of jokers in the middle overs slot. Had we gone with an ideal preparation, Rahul would be our no 4 mainstay and Pant would be our own De kock, that would have made 5 devastating bats with Pandya at no 6 needing just one more batsman. Our selectors and management have screwed up badly and the 2019 edition is unlikely to give us viewing pleasure. A mediocre side is going to take the cup, a side that will be first among equals and not one that is the best in the world.

Edited April 10, 2018 by Gollum

[Gollum]

Looking at the prospective Indian team in the WC I would rate it as the worst since 1999 WC. 2003 and 2011 were gun teams, 2015 was very good and 2007 team too was more complete, unfortunately the format of that WC was very risky for some of the big teams, had we come out of the group stages that team had the personnel to make the semis. Man to man I would place the 2007 team higher than today's ODI team which explains our chances next year. Ofc the delusional ones here will still consider us heavy favorites, discounting the fact that even if we reach the business end, we have become such big chokers on the big stage that even a minnow team will start as favourites just because of our mental midgetery.

[Vilander]

13 hours ago, Gollum said:

Bro I am not a Pakistani, have been on this forum for many years now, how can you even suspect like that? I keep repeating this again and again because it haunts me till date, I am yet to get over that loss and will never forgive Kohli and co for the dishonor they brought that day. No loss in cricket has traumatized me like that one, my idol Federer got roasted by Nadal in RG 2008 F and I was harsh towards him till he turned the rivalry around in 2017...does that make me a supporter of the Spanish butt picker? I am surprised by how you guys have put that humiliation behind you, for me more than the loss it was the deliberate backstabbing of Kumble by brat and subsequent laughter by our big players post match which irritates me till date. We never lost to GOAT WI or ATG Aus by 180 runs in a finals, how did we lose by that margin to a no 8 ranked team, is it even humanely possible? I have no love for Pakistan or their people or culture or religion......I just want vengeance and hopefully it comes in an ICC tourney final. If I were a player who took part in the match that day, I would have felt ashamed and not danced and partied with the winning team...that is treason in my book. 

 

13 hours ago, Gollum said:

And @Vilander having strong views about certain topics or disagreeing with general sentiment doesn't warrant comments like 'Are you Pakistani?' I may disagree with popular opinion here or have unconventional, may be even crackpot theories and observations about certain things, but that doesn't mean I hate Indian cricket team or am not Indian. If I rate Smith above Kohli, doesn't make me Pakistani, same if I rate King Viv above SRT. In the lead up to that match I remember we had a few terror incidents in Kashmir and our soldiers lost their lives. I recall watching videos of the crying families and gun salute of the martyrs in the lead up to the match. There were also videos of our CRPF brave hearts eagerly waiting for the finals, was played on many news channels. On game day we lost without any fight and behaved disgracefully, like a bunch of loser buffoons post match. I cried a lot after that match, destroyed some stuff..... the only images running in my mind post match were the reactions of grieving families, CRPF men giving interviews about following the match with enthusiasm and in contrast the complete surrender of our spineless cricketers that day. No matter how much I try I can't get these images out of my head, I know stuff like politics, terrorism and sports shouldn't be mixed but I can't help it. The image of poor middle class rural boys making the ultimate sacrifice compared to no *s given attitude of our overpaid, pampered shameless cricketers who don't know 2 cents about playing for the honour of the flag..... It wasn't like we couldn't beat them. Kohli wanted to sabotage Kumble, so elected to field on a cloudless hot sunny day on a patta in a big final, plus he made decisions in that match which gave the impression that they were simply to piss off Kumble and not for winning. Had the Kohli-Kumble fallout saga not come out in the open, I would have called it blatant fixing. If we had given a tough fight but lost respectably and not behaved like asinine clowns after the loss, I would have shrugged off the defeat and said 'Tough Luck'....but that's not what happened. You may think these are ramblings of an emotional fool which is fine, I don't mind being called a fool, just not Pakistani.

 

12 hours ago, Gollum said:

Worst part in the aftermath of the final was a certain community bursting crackers all night and celebrating our loss. I hadn't seen such celebration even in Bengal, Hyderabad and Bhopal but witnessed firsthand in Bengaluru. These small things exponentially increase feelings associated with a particular event. That day many fireworks went off in Kashmir, our jawans were taunted and mocked at by locals.Put yourself in the place of a jawan posted there. Your colleagues are dying every day at the hands of Pak jihadis, you are hated and abused and have to show remarkable restraint in the face of unprovoked hostility. You have decided to sacrifice your life for the country to protect your own. Yet people paid 1000x as much as you disgrace the nation and cheerlead with the winning team which also happens to represent your enemy. Again sorry for mixing sports with politics but how will any self respecting Indian feel after what Kohli-Yuvi did in the aftermath? For them is increasing fanbase, earning praise from a certain section and doing aman ki tamasha more important than representing the country? Sportsmen should get inspiration from our men in uniform rather than Z grade Bollywood chewts. When you play for your country give it your all and even if you lose show some dignity in your loss FFS, brand building and fake aman can never take precedence over sporting results. 

definition of being triggered. I have no doubts now pakistani.