4th June - Group B - India v Pakistan

[Pratters]

It's England. It's not going to be easy for every one to adjust despite the flat tracks. Yet I am supposed to not have my views. If every one thought the same thing, we would be sheep.

 

[cnerd123]

Yet I am supposed to not have my views. If every one thought the same thing, we would be sheep.

It's Alt-Facts all over again

 

[weldone]

Not sure if weldone actually believes Pakistan will win. If he does put his money where his mouth is then he might actually make a good amount of.money if Pakistan pull it off. What are the current odds being offered by bookies?

Nah, I think India is still favorite but Pakistan has a chance.

The current odds are 1.4 for India and 2.75 for Pakistan (so bookies giving roughly 70% chance of India win and 30% chance of Pak win) - which is not way off imo.

 

[weldone]

Pakistan needs 2 quick wickets in the powerplay. Bring Yuvi in early against the new ball and anything is possible.

 

[centurymaker]

This game is at a different ground from the one where Indian fast bowlers have been doing well. It's a ground where teams have been racking up 350 + scores with ease. And New Zealand would have got 400+ the way they were batting in their chase of 357 vs Sri Lanka.

So Ashwin could come into the picture again!

These 3 are certain starters -
Pandya
Jadeja
Bumrah

And it's tough to decide the remaining 2 from-
Bhuvi/Shami/Yadav/Ashwin

 

[centurymaker]

If Bumrah is getting or gets his yorkers right in the nets, he will play no doubt.

 

[Jade's]

East Lahore will choke with Virat Kohli getting a globe

 

[Black_Warrior]

Nah, I think India is still favorite but Pakistan has a chance.

The current odds are 1.4 for India and 2.75 for Pakistan (so bookies giving roughly 70% chance of India win and 30% chance of Pak win) - which is not way off imo.

On a flat pitch, Pakistan are at a disadvantage because it completely negates Amir/Junaid with the new ball and unless you get Rohit/Kohli/Dhawan with the new ball, you are going to struggle to get them out.. And in terms of batting, no matter how flat the pitch, there is no way Azhar, Shehzad, Babar, Hafeez can match the scoring rate of Rohit, Kohli, Dhawan, Dhoni/Yuvraj

If it's slightly overcast though, and Pakistan win the toss and bowl first, and then Amir/Junaid can do something like this
http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/current/match/589308.html

That's pretty much the only way they have a chance.

 

[CricAddict]

This game is at a different ground from the one where Indian fast bowlers have been doing well. It's a ground where teams have been racking up 350 + scores with ease. And New Zealand would have got 400+ the way they were batting in their chase of 357 vs Sri Lanka.

So Ashwin could come into the picture again!

These 3 are certain starters -
Pandya
Jadeja
Bumrah

And it's tough to decide the remaining 2 from-
Bhuvi/Shami/Yadav/Ashwin

For the first time in Indian cricket history, we are struggling to fit in 4/5 bowlers out of a good set while we have open slots in batting.

 

[centurymaker]

I just saw Shami bowl... the guy is surely not 100%!! So now, I can't see how they can pick him over Bhuvi or Yadav.

 

[tobe_ornot2]

ANy chance Ashraf starts after the warm up game?

 

[smash84]

ANy chance Ashraf starts after the warm up game?

He will be a flop now that there are so many expectations from him even before he has started

 

[Black_Warrior]

ANy chance Ashraf starts after the warm up game?

I am now going to pretend that this is not the Indian CT team selection thread but a match thread and discuss the combinations of the other team.

Ashraf definitely has a strong chance to play, but to play him, they will either need to pick one of Imad/Shadab or tinker with their top 6 - play 1 less batsman.


Possible XI 1

Azhar
Shehzad
Babar
Hafeez
Sarfraz
Malik
Imad
Fahim
Amir
Hassan
Junaid

Possibly the best combination but I personally would prefer Shadab over Imad. His non spinning darts would trouble non Asian teams but not India. Shadab is a wicket taking leg spinner and India don't play spin as well as before.


Possible XI 2

Hafeez
Shehzad
Babar
Sarfraz
Malik
Imad
Shadab
Fahim
Amir
Hassan
Junaid

The batting does look a bit weaker and I don't see Arthur/Sarfraz taking that risk

Possible XI 3

Azhar
Shehzad
Babar
Hafeez
Sarfraz
Malik
Shadab
Imad
Fahim
Hassan
Amir

This is a possibility, to go for Fahim over Junaid and they might do this since they are not entirely convinced of Junaid but the risk here is that is Fahim is a medium pacer and if he is your third seamer on a flat pitch, you are going to get whacked. Hafeez is not the same bowler anymore, and you could be relying on him and Malik to make up for Fahim's quota and end up giving more runs.

 

[smash84]

Wahab is injured, he probably won't play this fixture. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing

 

[tobe_ornot2]

I am now going to pretend that this is not the Indian CT team selection thread but a match thread and discuss the combinations of the other team.

Ashraf definitely has a strong chance to play, but to play him, they will either need to pick one of Imad/Shadab or tinker with their top 6 - play 1 less batsman.


Possible XI 1

Azhar
Shehzad
Babar
Hafeez
Sarfraz
Malik
Imad
Fahim
Amir
Hassan
Junaid

Possibly the best combination but I personally would prefer Shadab over Imad. His non spinning darts would trouble non Asian teams but not India. Shadab is a wicket taking leg spinner and India don't play spin as well as before.


Possible XI 2

Hafeez
Shehzad
Babar
Sarfraz
Malik
Imad
Shadab
Fahim
Amir
Hassan
Junaid

The batting does look a bit weaker and I don't see Arthur/Sarfraz taking that risk

Possible XI 3

Azhar
Shehzad
Babar
Hafeez
Sarfraz
Malik
Shadab
Imad
Fahim
Hassan
Amir

This is a possibility, to go for Fahim over Junaid and they might do this since they are not entirely convinced of Junaid but the risk here is that is Fahim is a medium pacer and if he is your third seamer on a flat pitch, you are going to get whacked. Hafeez is not the same bowler anymore, and you could be relying on him and Malik to make up for Fahim's quota and end up giving more runs.

Not sure if malik should start batting below Sarfraz but otherwise agree.

Not a huge fan of playing an 18 yo in such a match plus imads batting is important.

Wahab is injured, he probably won't play this fixture. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing

Wahab shouldn't be first choice anyway

 

[Black_Warrior]

That was wishful thinking on my part. Mallik is definitely 5 and Sarfraz 6 which IMO is the wrong way to go about it.

Malik is the closest thing to a power hitter this team has so you want him coming in a bit later.

Sarfraz is the best at rotating strike, milking singles, finding gaps this team has, and you want him batting between 20-40, especially to make up for the dot balls caused by Azhar/Shehzad/Babar.

 

[tobe_ornot2]

That was wishful thinking on my part. Mallik is definitely 5 and Sarfraz 6 which IMO is the wrong way to go about it.

Malik is the closest thing to a power hitter this team has so you want him coming in a bit later.

Sarfraz is the best at rotating strike, milking singles, finding gaps this team has, and you want him batting between 20-40, especially to make up for the dot balls caused by Azhar/Shehzad/Babar.

Malik does strike the ball beautifully but he takes time to get going and over the last year or so is one of the very best at building ODI innings. Hence he is a far superior batsman to Sarfraz and should be playing at 4 or 5.

In terms of Sarfraz, as much as he can rotate t he strike I would not trust him with building a long useful innings.

 

[Black_Warrior]

Was the best batsman in the ODI series in England last year though.


2nd ODI: England v Pakistan at Lord's, Aug 27, 2016 | Cricket Scorecard | ESPN Cricinfo

5th ODI: England v Pakistan at Cardiff, Sep 4, 2016 | Cricket Scorecard | ESPN Cricinfo

 

[tobe_ornot2]

If you thikn that represents Sarfraz's overall career then fine but the reality is, it does not.

Simply looking at the last 2 years, Malik avg 56, sr 97, 100s 1, 50s 8 with 33 6s and 73 4s

Sarfraz on the other hand is avg 47, sr 92, 100s 1, 50s 5, with 704s and....1 6 lol

Both are good numbers but we can easily tell who is the bestt striker, who is the more consistent batsman. Which takes me back to my original point, who would I trust more with building an innings and the obvious answer is Malik (especially as a match winner with a whopping average of 86 and sr of 100). None of this is to say Sarfraz is a bad batsman but he isn't as good as Malik and thus should play lower down in the batting order. It is madness and plain stupidity to waste your best bat with the tail.

 

[Black_Warrior]

Didn't say it represents his entire career. You said you wouldn't trust him with building an innings. I just provided two recent examples where he did just that.

That theory of not having your best batsman batting down is certainly true but the context here is also about how to best utilise your resources. Does Pakistan have a cleaner striker lower down? No.
Who can play the role better? Sarfraz or Malik?

Game strategies are built upon making the best out of your resources and sometimes that means having your best batsman bat a bit lower if it means you can get more out.

Pakistan's death over batting has been the lowest among the top order teams for a while now