*Official* Group A General Discussion

[Blaze 18]

Yeah, you can't ever write Australia off. They have a team that is more than capable of producing the goods.

 

[Prad100w]

I have a feeling they will play better than both England and South Africa.

 

[Blaze 18]

I would rate Australia light years ahead of South Africa in a tournament of this kind. As an Indian fan, I am not really worried about South Africa to be honest. They are a good side on paper, certainly, but Australia are just on a different level when it comes to World Cups and when it comes to playing under pressure.

 

[Lostman]

I would rate Australia light years ahead of South Africa in a tournament of this kind. As an Indian fan, I am not really worried about South Africa to be honest. They are a good side on paper, certainly, but Australia are just on a different level when it comes to World Cups and when it comes to playing under pressure.

This^
Have a hard time seeing SA winning one must win game let alone three, which is what this tournament comes down to.

On the other hand its the type of format I can see Pakistan winning even after banning 4 more players.

 

[smash84]

.

On the other hand its the type of format I can see Pakistan winning even after banning 4 more players.

 

[smash84]

I would rate Australia light years ahead of South Africa in a tournament of this kind. As an Indian fan, I am not really worried about South Africa to be honest. They are a good side on paper, certainly, but Australia are just on a different level when it comes to World Cups and when it comes to playing under pressure.

Yeah, THIS

 

[salman85]

And what amuses you is..... ?

This is exactly the type of scenario that Pakistan excel in. Controversies raging left,right and center,poor form etc,and then it is turned around on the biggest stage of them all.It was the case in 1992,and it was the case in 2007.The same goes for Pakistan's most memorable triumphs over the years.I'm not saying that history repeats itself everytime,but writing Pakistan off is pretty naive.

 

[Prad100w]

And what amuses you is..... ?

This is exactly the type of scenario that Pakistan excel in. Controversies raging left,right and center,poor form etc,and then it is turned around on the biggest stage of them all.It was the case in 1992,and it was the case in 2007.The same goes for Pakistan's most memorable triumphs over the years.I'm not saying that history repeats itself everytime,but writing Pakistan off is pretty naive.

People tend to write off Pakistan just by saying they have a **** team, which is not the case. Bowling is still very good. Shoaib, Gul Riaz/Tanvir are good enough to cause enough threat to the opposition and the spinners Ajmal and Rehman are really good and would be vital in the subcontinent. But the thing which would be a worry is the batting.Thats where they need players like Younis and Misbah to provide some calming influence in that middle order along with the other aggressive players. Umar Akmal is a very good batsman. Afridi and Razzaq in the sub continent would definitely be a worry for any opposition. I would say this team can beat any other team in the competition on their day. If they are disciplined enough, could be a contender for the semis at least. And yes when you least expect they jump up and hurt you.

 

[vcs]

people tend to write off pakistan just by saying they have a **** team, which is not the case. Bowling is still very good. Shoaib, gul riaz/tanvir are good enough to cause enough threat to the opposition and the spinners ajmal and rehman are really good and would be vital in the subcontinent. But the thing which would be a worry is the batting.thats where they need players like younis and misbah to provide some calming influence in that middle order along with the other aggressive players. Umar akmal is a very good batsman. Afridi and razzaq in the sub continent would definitely be a worry for any opposition. I would say this team can beat any other team in the competition on their day. If they are disciplined enough, could be a contender for the semis at least. And yes when you least expect they jump up and hurt you.

AWTA. Pakistan's side will never be short on talent.

 

[smash84]

And what amuses you is..... ?

This is exactly the type of scenario that Pakistan excel in. Controversies raging left,right and center,poor form etc,and then it is turned around on the biggest stage of them all.It was the case in 1992,and it was the case in 2007.The same goes for Pakistan's most memorable triumphs over the years.I'm not saying that history repeats itself everytime,but writing Pakistan off is pretty naive.

what amuses me is your optimism. Which is good. Frankly the only time we have ever reached the final is when either we had fantastic leadership (Imran 92 and Wasim 99) or when we had a superb team like in 99. Sorry to say but Afridi is nowhere near the class of Imran or Wasim.

People tend to write off Pakistan just by saying they have a **** team, which is not the case. Bowling is still very good. Shoaib, Gul Riaz/Tanvir are good enough to cause enough threat to the opposition and the spinners Ajmal and Rehman are really good and would be vital in the subcontinent. But the thing which would be a worry is the batting.Thats where they need players like Younis and Misbah to provide some calming influence in that middle order along with the other aggressive players. Umar Akmal is a very good batsman. Afridi and Razzaq in the sub continent would definitely be a worry for any opposition. I would say this team can beat any other team in the competition on their day. If they are disciplined enough, could be a contender for the semis at least. And yes when you least expect they jump up and hurt you.

The bowling is just decent. Nothing to write home about really. Riaz has yet to prove himself and Shoaib is not a great death bowler.

AWTA. Pakistan's side will never be short on talent.

Yeah but talent alone gets us nowhere (except maybe court hearings)

 

[vcs]

Haha, as an Indian fan, to hear a statement like "Shoaib is not a great death bowler" feels weird. I imagine it must feel the same when Pakistani fans hear us criticizing the likes of Sehwag and Waterboy for underachieving in ODIs.

Oh and Riaz is very good. I think he'll do very well with the ball and play some useful lower-order knocks in this WC.

 

[smash84]

lol......true....Sehwag and waterboy as non-performers.....we wish we could have such non-performing batsmen......they are better than our performing batsmen tbh

 

[salman85]

what amuses me is your optimism. Which is good. Frankly the only time we have ever reached the final is when either we had fantastic leadership (Imran 92 and Wasim 99) or when we had a superb team like in 99. Sorry to say but Afridi is nowhere near the class of Imran or Wasim.

I respectfully disagree.

Whereas Afridi is no Imran,he does have a touch of genie about him.He can galvanize the team well,is flamboyant,and he does offer a lot of fire that was missed since Wasim's tenure at the helm.If i had to pick one man to lead Pakistan to the title,it would be him.His record has been decent.True,we lost the England and SA series,but we went down fighting.

Imran supports Afridi himself.I remember reading something about it recently.

Call me crazy,but Afridi does inspire a certain confidence in me,and a certain knack for the unexpected.There is a tendency in Afridi for the shocking,but there is also a tendency for the brilliant.I expect the latter to be in abundance during the World Cup.Not initially,but when it matters most,i expect it to be there.

Pakistan FTW

 

[smash84]

I respectfully disagree.

Whereas Afridi is no Imran,he does have a touch of genie about him.He can galvanize the team well,is flamboyant,and he does offer a lot of fire that was missed since Wasim's tenure at the helm.If i had to pick one man to lead Pakistan to the title,it would be him.His record has been decent.True,we lost the England and SA series,but we went down fighting.

Imran supports Afridi himself.I remember reading something about it recently.

Call me crazy,but Afridi does inspire a certain confidence in me,and a certain knack for the unexpected.There is a tendency in Afridi for the shocking,but there is also a tendency for the brilliant.I expect the latter to be in abundance during the World Cup.Not initially,but when it matters most,i expect it to be there.

Pakistan FTW

Afridi is probably the best option available at the moment but he himself is not one of the greats of the game and until the last few years his place in the team was always under quesiton.

Also the fact that Afridi himself until last month was so under confident about the team's chances. FTR though he was being realistic

 

[pup11]

The gap between some of the games for all sides is just insane, seriously why can't they just have three group stage games taking place on the same day.
The fans of the respective sides would watch the games with their sides in action and the tournament too would also feel a lot more compact and less taxing for the fans and players alike.
As an Australian fan I'm hoping that the sight of that golden trophy would really boosts our side and helps us play a lot better than what we have been playing like in the last 12 months, but still very nervous about our games in Sri Lanka since it has been a venue where we have always struggled.

 

[smash84]

The gap between some of the games for all sides is just insane, seriously why can't they just have three group stage games taking place on the same day.
The fans of the respective sides would watch the games with their sides in action and the tournament too would also feel a lot more compact and less taxing for the fans and players alike.

This

 

[Blaze 18]

The gap between some of the games for all sides is just insane, seriously why can't they just have three group stage games taking place on the same day.
The fans of the respective sides would watch the games with their sides in action and the tournament too would also feel a lot more compact and less taxing for the fans and players alike.

Agreed.

 

[SteveNZ]

Truly dont understand why some people are picking NZ to not make it out of the group.

Kenya, Zimbabwe and Canada. I'm not sure they're going better, even if we did lose 11 on the trot.

And we've been travelling average into previous World Cups then done reasonably well.

 

[salman85]

Newzealand will make it into the QF's.I don't think there's any question about it.The only potential upset could be in Group B,where Bangladesh might end up owning West Indies.And even that is a big might.

 

[Agent Nationaux]

World Cup 2011: Canada asks ICC to help resolve visa problems | Cricket News | ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 | ESPN Cricinfo

I just don't understand why only Canada is facing this problem, because other countries like South Africa have Pakistani born players.

My other concern is what if Pakistan qualifies for the quarter finals, will there be any visa problems?