Countdown to India vs Pakistan WTC Final at Lords

[Norman]

Looking more and more likely now. We should be reaching the final easily thanks to the England series but poyzz look the most likely to finish 2nd. Or heck if we get a few surprise results , they could even finish at the top due to - 

 

Extremely favourable scheduling - Home series' against Australia, New Zealand and England. Away series against West Indies (drew 1-1), Bangladesh (leading 1-0) and Sri Lanka. 

 

Overall improvement in the last one year or so with the emergence of Shaheen and Rizwan, Babar and Hasan ali improving drastically in red ball cricket, a good solid batting group (for SC conditions) of Abid ali, Fawad alam, Azhar Ali etc and a decent spin attack of Nauman, shadab, Yasir etc... 

I'll be really surprised if we don't see this fixture come june 2023. Could be a brilliant spectacle and **** ton of  ad revenue for 5 days for the ICC.

 

And will be satisfying as hell to break our ICC trophy drought by beating them at Lords. 

 

 

 

[Norman]

Would like to know how the resident pak posters rate their chances of reaching the final. 

 

@First class @Autonomous @cric_fan @badmash @Finer

[bahadur_billa]

Pak lost a test against WI which they should have won. The ongoing test with Ban could be a draw due to rain. Eng Aus NZ won't be easy even at home. 

Australia series in March will be the deciding factor for Pak reaching the finals.

[Norman]

19 minutes ago, sarchasm said:

Why Lord's though? In the minds of desi fans Lord's is more legit than Motera, maybe?

 

Final would most likely be at Lords. (according to reports) 

[Norman]

24 minutes ago, bahadur_billa said:

Pak lost a test against WI which they should have won. The ongoing test with Ban could be a draw due to rain. Eng Aus NZ won't be easy even at home. 

Australia series in March will be the deciding factor for Pak reaching the finals.

 

 

All these sides will most likely send weakened sides. And not much of a practise before the series' because of security concerns. Pak will sweeep all of them. 

[Lord]

what happens in case no one tours Pak? surely cant be forfeit?

[New guy]

India won't qualify 

[Norman]

27 minutes ago, New guy said:

India won't qualify 

 

We have to play extremely poorly for that. 

 

Even after the draw in kanpur, we'll definitely get atleast 80% of the available points against, NZ (H) , BD (A), SL (H) and Aus (H). 

 

Already took 50% of the points in England with one game still to go. Unless we completely **** the bed and get sweeped 3-0 in South Africa , we're good to go. 

 

[LordPrabhzy]

2 minutes ago, Norman said:

 

We have to play extremely poorly for that. 

 

Even after the draw in kanpur, we'll definitely get atleast 80% of the available points against, NZ (H) , BD (A), SL (H) and Aus (H). 

 

Already took 50% of the points in England with one game still to go. Unless we completely **** the bed and get sweeped 3-0 in South Africa , we're good to go. 

 

Is the South Africa tour not part of the WTC?

[Lone Wolf]

NZ will qualify.  By avoiding a 2-0 in India they have made Their case stronger. 

They will face England away next year again for 3 tests..  Even a 3-0 victory isn't far fetched for them. 

All they have to do is win a home series vs South Africa which is the clincher here.  Pak will find hard to beat them at home or UAE again... 

India NZ Pak..  Only these three sides have a realistic shot at finals. 

 

[Lone Wolf]

Pakistan hasn't beaten NZ in a test series since 2011 home or away.   That series will ultimately decide who will face India in finals. 

[Norman]

54 minutes ago, Lord said:

what happens in case no one tours Pak? surely cant be forfeit?

 

They'll definitely tour. After the Azeem rafiq, Tim paine saga they won't risk it. 

[Norman]

14 minutes ago, LordPrabhzy said:

Is the South Africa tour not part of the WTC?

 

It is. 

[Sgattick10]

What about England's chances? 

[Vijy]

Ind's chances do not look great because our home record is starting to slip. First there was the huge loss against Pommies in Chennai and then the draw against NZ. Both were fuelled by some bizarre selections and some degree of luck going against us. Ozzies will fancy their chances against us, especially if we prepare raging turners - this is because some random Aussie bowler (like Agar) can get lots of wkts, while New God (Smith) can rescue their batting.

[Norman]

1 hour ago, Sgattick10 said:

What about England's chances? 

 

Very slim. 

 

vs India (H) - Won only 1 out ot 4 so far. 

 

vs Australia (A) - Will most likely get pummeled 4-0 or 4-1 

 

vs West Indies (A) - Extremely tricky. Lost 1-2 last time around. But WI have gotten worse so they may win

 

vs New Zealand (H) - Will lose again like they did this year

 

vs South Africa (H) - Will win

 

vs Pakistan (A) - Will probably lose

 

 

 

 

[Vijy]

6 minutes ago, Norman said:

 

Very slim. 

 

vs India (H) - Won only 1 out ot 4 so far. 

 

vs Australia (A) - Will most likely get pummeled 4-0 or 4-1 

 

vs West Indies (A) - Extremely tricky. Lost 1-2 last time around. But WI have gotten worse so they may win

 

vs New Zealand (H) - Will lose again like they did this year

 

vs South Africa (H) - Will win

 

vs Pakistan (A) - Will probably lose

 

 

 

 

I wonder what Oz's schedule is, and how their prospects look like. I know they have a tour of Ind

[R!TTER]

3 hours ago, Norman said:

 

They'll definitely tour. After the Azeem rafiq, Tim paine saga they won't risk it. 

National security excuses trumps all.

[R!TTER]

16 minutes ago, Norman said:

 

vs New Zealand (H) - Will lose again like they did this year

No a full strength Eng will win this time!

[First class]

5 hours ago, Norman said:

Would like to know how the resident pak posters rate their chances of reaching the final. 

 

@First class @Autonomous @cric_fan @badmash @Finer

I don't think Pakistan has any chance of making it to the WTC final. Team has made some progress but not by much.  Abid and Azhar are not good enough against quality fast bowling which Australia and England have , even on home condition. These are from along list of Pakistani batsmen who would feast on poor bowling attacks to keep their average high enough and stay in the team. I would include Younis Khan also in the same category . Fawad will not last too long. They should have tested some new middle orders batsmen like Saude Shkeel and Ghulam by now .  Abdullah Shafiq looks promising but its too early to rate him very high. No quality spinner to run though any visiting team even on spinning track . If Nauman and Sajid Khan are their best test  spinner , its a worrisome situation. Zafar Gohar should have been given a long run. Babar is not a good captain who can bring best out of his team and could lead team to a final. Pakistan lost T20 WC SF also due to his poor captaincy . Fast bowling has improved with Shaheen keep getting better and some support from Hasan and Dhahani and Naseem as back up. Pakistan will remain below India, England, Australia and New Zealand in test ranking , for at least 5-6 years.  

 

     There are some very promising young batsmen in domestic circuit but they need many years and some sensible and bold selection .  A selector like Mahammad Wasim who is so insecure about his job is unlikely to make many changes at right time.  Azhar Ali should have been dropped ( no one retires in Pakistan ) 3 years ago.