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Home and Away opponents for 2021-2023 World Test Championship

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Rafa

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For Pakistan, the away tours of Australia, NZ and England were more challenging compared to now where PakistN will tour WI, SL and Bangladesh .

Countries that will visit Pakistan are England , Australia and NZ and again it is not impossible for Pakistan to dominate these teams are home if they can out up a good unit.

Expect Pakistan to give a much solid performance in the upcoming cycle.

Another thing to note is Australia's away tours , they are scheduled to tour all Asian countries and that could get difficult for them.
 
I already created a thread on this a while back.

An India Pakistan WTC final is very likely.
 
Wow look against whom Pakistan is playing. It looks like the organizer's have carefully chosen the opponents of Pakistan to make sure they reach the final.
 
Shoaibbtt said:
I’ll say this on our Pakistan should beat NZ and Eng. Australia though is a different kettle of fish for me.
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Australia never won a Test when UAE became the temporary home for Pakistan in the last decade and NZ was the most successful team among SENA Nations.

Australia will be even more weaker now with fading Warner and Smith who is past his peak. Don't see how Australia can challenge Pakistan at home , NZ can do better.
 
This time Nz playing tough opponents in away tours.
England not going to play in India, good for them.
 
It almost feels like the organisers got tired of grouping India and Pakistan together in every ICC tournament to maximize revenues and scheduled fixtures to guarantee an India Pakistan Test championship final for a change.

Would be nice watching the likes of Shaheen and Hasan bowl against Gill, Kohli, Pant & co and Ashwin, Jadeja, Bumrah, Shami and Siraj against Babar, Rizwan & co in a neutral venue.
 
If Pakistan get their stuff together that is. The XI still isn't convincing enough to reach the finals. DESPITE the easy fixtures.
Still haven't figured out the opening slot and a good spinner is needed in the team. Yasir's been on a steep decline. Either he has to come back in to form or other spinners will be needed.
Azhar, Babar and Fawad are key in the home tests and their form isn't always guaranteed.
I expect Rizwan, Shaheen, Hasan Ali to lead the way to any wins
Beating WI at home is still not too easy. Pakistan tends to bottle the ocassional test vs them and that was with arguably the best team they had. .
 
England is very much beatable in a home series
Aus will be extremely tough to beat even in a home series
NZ is a wild card but they are more easier to beat than Aus
 
I'll start with our away games.

WI - end result should be a series win, though I expect WI to give some fightback in their own conditions.

BD - quite an easy series, should dominate them in all aspects.

SL - again, a relatively easy series which we should dominate.

Now our home games.

ENG - will need to conjure up dustbowls and extremely dry wickets. However, we will need a right-arm spinner to turn the ball the other way, because both Yasir and Nauman turn it the same way.

NZ - should look forward to giving New Zealand an appetizing series filled with dust bowls. I expect Yasir to run through them like a knife through butter.

AUS - because of the presence of Nathan Lyon, we will need to be careful about what we do here. If we don't have many left-handers, we can go ahead and create another dust bowl and hope to win, but we will need to be confident in playing Lyon.
 
RedwoodOriginal said:
Can't wait to see Australia get spinned out in Asia.
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Australia getting spun out is not a guarantee. I have a feeling posters are underestimating them a lot as usual. They were the best touring side in India in the last 5 years and against an SL, sans Herath, they should be favourites as well .
 
Nikhil_cric said:
Australia getting spun out is not a guarantee. I have a feeling posters are underestimating them a lot as usual. They were the best touring side in India in the last 5 years and against an SL, sans Herath, they should be favourites as well .
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One good tour in India doesn't change the fact that they were run over in UAE and Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka may not have Herath anymore but they do have Embuldeniya and Jayawickrama, who are both exciting left-arm spinners that are more than capable of spinning out Australia.
 
Eventhough Pakistan's away fixtures couldn't have been any easier, I can't say I am not apprehensive about West Indies and Sri Lanka. It goes back to Pakistan's self-destructive tendencies and imploding at any given time. And I've seen Pakistan implode so many times against West Indies that I can't be fully confident of the thought that Pakistan has that series in the bag.
 
RedwoodOriginal said:
One good tour in India doesn't change the fact that they were run over in UAE and Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka may not have Herath anymore but they do have Embuldeniya and Jayawickrama, who are both exciting left-arm spinners that are more than capable of spinning out Australia.
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That Australian side in the UAE did not have Hazlewood, Cummins, Warner, Smith iirc. And they still managed to draw the 1st test and had Pakistan at 87/5 or something similar in the 2nd test despite losing both tosses. Only a superb innings from Sarfraz saved Pakistan then.

A full strength Australua should do a lot better than that everywhere in Asia.
 
Nikhil_cric said:
That Australian side in the UAE did not have Hazlewood, Cummins, Warner, Smith iirc. And they still managed to draw the 1st test and had Pakistan at 87/5 or something similar in the 2nd test despite losing both tosses. Only a superb innings from Sarfraz saved Pakistan then.

A full strength Australua should do a lot better than that everywhere in Asia.
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That one draw doesn't change the fact that Australia were dominated comprehensively throughout that test match. If anything, it was Sarfraz's poor captaincy on the final day that let a game that was already in the bag slip away.

As far as the second test match is concerned, Australia were even worse. They dominated the first session (in which they had Pakistan 57-5) and only the first session. They never even looked like threatening Pakistan after that as Fakhar Zaman and Sarfraz took the game away from them.

Australia have been to UAE with a full-strength squad in 2014 aswell, and were dominated even more comprehensively by a Yasir Shah playing his first series and an aging uncle by the name of Zulfiqar Babar.

Even if they manage to be competitive I don't see them winning in Pakistan.
 
If Pakistan don't reach the finals against these home and away opponents, then they will never ever reach the finals in the future. Pakistan will never have the opportunity of having an easier set of fixtures than this.

In away tours, Pakistan is not going to tour any of the SENA countries.

In home tours, Pakistan is hosting all SENA countries who are weaker against spin attack.

What more can Pakistan ask for ?
 
Pakistan must cash in big time. They seem favorites in most of the series they are to play home and away.
 
Wow what a dream schedule! Hope we sneak in a final appearance.

I also think the order we play the opponents is a factor. Pakistan are typically terrible starters, but as tournaments progress, they improve.

So better to start against lower teams who can't take advantage of our nervous starts. I believe Bang and Windies would be up first?
 
Civil said:
Wow what a dream schedule! Hope we sneak in a final appearance.

I also think the order we play the opponents is a factor. Pakistan are typically terrible starters, but as tournaments progress, they improve.

So better to start against lower teams who can't take advantage of our nervous starts. I believe Bang and Windies would be up first?
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First series is West Indies Away in July 2021

Then Bangaldesh Away in Nov 2021

Then Host Australia in March 2022

Then Sri Lanka away in July 2022

Then Host NZ in October 2022

Then Host England in December 2022
 
RedwoodOriginal said:
That one draw doesn't change the fact that Australia were dominated comprehensively throughout that test match. If anything, it was Sarfraz's poor captaincy on the final day that let a game that was already in the bag slip away.

As far as the second test match is concerned, Australia were even worse. They dominated the first session (in which they had Pakistan 57-5) and only the first session. They never even looked like threatening Pakistan after that as Fakhar Zaman and Sarfraz took the game away from them.

Australia have been to UAE with a full-strength squad in 2014 aswell, and were dominated even more comprehensively by a Yasir Shah playing his first series and an aging uncle by the name of Zulfiqar Babar.

Even if they manage to be competitive I don't see them winning in Pakistan.
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UAE is not Pakistan Pakistani pitches offer much more to fast bowling than pitches in the UAE and India. Unless Pakistan changes its pitches to dust bowls like India does, Eng/AUS/NZ will be MUCH MORE DANGEROUS in Rawalpindi/Karachi with their world-class pace attacks than they ever were in Sharjah/Dubai. In Pakistan, Hassan Ali and Shaheen are winning you test matches, which was never the case in the UAE. Even the likes of Rabada and Nortje had pretty good outings in Pak.
 
Nikhil_cric said:
It will be a huge surprise if Pakistan dont make the finals with that schedule.
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I think you are applying Indian mental model when saying this. Pakistan hasn't yet reverted to building rank turners at home to roll over international teams. These new Pakistani pitches offer a lot to fast bowlers. If you saw Pak vs SA test series, fast bowlers dominated the series from both sides but spin did come into play in Karachi during the second innings (though SA is so weak at it).
In all of the home series wins vs SL, BGL and SA since resumption in 2020, Pak has won test matches because of Hassan, Shaheen, Naseem and Abbas with spinners playing a support role. Aus/NZ/Eng will be fielding one of the best pace attacks ever.
In UAE, spinners came into play from 1st session and fast bowlers mostly supported them.

In mid-2000s when India was visiting Pakistan. At that time, Pakistan was building flat tracks for test matches. That's no longer true.
 
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TheNightWatchman said:
If Pakistan get their stuff together that is. The XI still isn't convincing enough to reach the finals. DESPITE the easy fixtures.
Still haven't figured out the opening slot and a good spinner is needed in the team. Yasir's been on a steep decline. Either he has to come back in to form or other spinners will be needed.
Azhar, Babar and Fawad are key in the home tests and their form isn't always guaranteed.
I expect Rizwan, Shaheen, Hasan Ali to lead the way to any wins
Beating WI at home is still not too easy. Pakistan tends to bottle the ocassional test vs them and that was with arguably the best team they had. .
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The opening slot will eventually be solved by sending Azhar up and bringing Saud in at 4. We'll have to wait for Imran Butt to fail a few more times before we get it, but when we do our batting looks decent if not spectacular. Imran is the only walking wicket in the team. Having Nauman and Hasan as opposed to Naseem and Abbas helps out massively too.

Yasir has rediscovered some of his form, averaging 33 with the ball in his last 10 innings. We're really yet to see the best of him and Nauman together. The pair of them should have enough ability in all of the next 6 tours. Same goes for Shaheen and Hasan.

Overall it's a decent, unspectacular XI but if they don't make the WTC final in these conditions it'll be deeply disappointing.
 
hitthestump said:
The opening slot will eventually be solved by sending Azhar up and bringing Saud in at 4. We'll have to wait for Imran Butt to fail a few more times before we get it, but when we do our batting looks decent if not spectacular. Imran is the only walking wicket in the team. Having Nauman and Hasan as opposed to Naseem and Abbas helps out massively too.

Yasir has rediscovered some of his form, averaging 33 with the ball in his last 10 innings. We're really yet to see the best of him and Nauman together. The pair of them should have enough ability in all of the next 6 tours. Same goes for Shaheen and Hasan.

Overall it's a decent, unspectacular XI but if they don't make the WTC final in these conditions it'll be deeply disappointing.
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Glad PP fans are not in charge. Suggested solution is to move both Azhar Ali and Babar from 3 and 4 who are settled and already scoring. Babar top 10 player at no4 slot and Azhar Ali who is averaging 55+ since Dec 2019. And this is to accommodate Saud... who has loads of potential but has zero international experience. Saud could go on to become a great or nobody, who knows...

Hmmmm do you like going to Casinos? Seems like you’re a risk-taker.
 
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- South Africa, New Zealand, England and West Indies have the toughest tours. Will be surprised if any of them reach the Final.

- I wouldn't count Australia out. Yes Australia's away series are all in Asia so that'll be tricky, but their home fixtures are decent. If they beat Sri Lanka, beat/draw with Pakistan and a respectable loss to India - that could be enough ?

- Pakistan's away tours are the kindest of all the teams but the home series aren't bankers by any means.

- India are pretty impregnable at home though whether they can maintain their spectacular consistency as the stars begin to age remains to be seen. The wildcards are the England and South Africa tours. If SAF can stitch together a decent batting unit, blood the likes of J Malan, that series will be very interesting.

It's shaping up to be a cracking WTC cycle - the fixtures are somewhat more balanced out in terms of difficulty than the previous cycle. I just hope they simplify the points system.
 
Farabi said:
UAE is not Pakistan Pakistani pitches offer much more to fast bowling than pitches in the UAE and India. Unless Pakistan changes its pitches to dust bowls like India does, Eng/AUS/NZ will be MUCH MORE DANGEROUS in Rawalpindi/Karachi with their world-class pace attacks than they ever were in Sharjah/Dubai. In Pakistan, Hassan Ali and Shaheen are winning you test matches, which was never the case in the UAE. Even the likes of Rabada and Nortje had pretty good outings in Pak.
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You're right. UAE is not Pakistan, because Pakistani pitches are even more favorable to Pakistan.

Also, every pitch doesn't have to be either a dustbowl or a green-top. There is a big space in-between. And whatever pitches Pakistan make will certainly favor spin in a big way, just as they did against South Africa. That doesn't mean though that we should dish out unsporting dustbowls like India where games end within 2 days just because India does it.
 
RedwoodOriginal said:
You're right. UAE is not Pakistan, because Pakistani pitches are even more favorable to Pakistan.

Also, every pitch doesn't have to be either a dustbowl or a green-top. There is a big space in-between. And whatever pitches Pakistan make will certainly favor spin in a big way, just as they did against South Africa. That doesn't mean though that we should dish out unsporting dustbowls like India where games end within 2 days just because India does it.
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Yes, they are favorable to Pakistan. The point was that Pakistani pitches are also more favorable to fast bowling than UAE was, which means Starc, Cummins, Hazelwood, Archer, Boult, Wagner, Southee, Jamieson, Anderson, Broad etc. have a LOT to look forward to when they visit Pakistan, specially Rawalpindi where Spinners hardly come into play. And we all know Pakistan struggles against pace. Pakistan was like 40/4 vs Rabada and Nortje in both tests. Aus/NZ/Eng will not let you come back into the game that easily after those kinds of starts.
Pakistan's pace attack of Hassan and Shaheen are still proving themselves at the test level whereas we dont have a third seamer.

Pakistan's success in UAE was based on neutralizing fast bowling and spinners were bowling from literally the 1st session.

I don't think Pakistan is going in as favorites unless Pakistan makes the pitches dust bowls like those in UAE. Whether they should is another debate.
 
Farabi said:
Yes, they are favorable to Pakistan. The point was that Pakistani pitches are also more favorable to fast bowling than UAE was, which means Starc, Cummins, Hazelwood, Archer, Boult, Wagner, Southee, Jamieson, Anderson, Broad etc. have a LOT to look forward to when they visit Pakistan, specially Rawalpindi where Spinners hardly come into play. And we all know Pakistan struggles against pace. Pakistan was like 40/4 vs Rabada and Nortje in both tests. Aus/NZ/Eng will not let you come back into the game that easily after those kinds of starts.
Pakistan's pace attack of Hassan and Shaheen are still proving themselves at the test level whereas we dont have a third seamer.

Pakistan's success in UAE was based on neutralizing fast bowling and spinners were bowling from literally the 1st session.

I don't think Pakistan is going in as favorites unless Pakistan makes the pitches dust bowls like those in UAE. Whether they should is another debate.
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So what? Shaheen and Hasan on Pakistani pitches are just as good as any other fast-bowling duo in the world. And going in with 2 frontline fast-bowlers, 2 spinners and a seam-bowling all-rounder is a sound strategy on Pakistani pitches.

Being 40-4 doesn't really matter when you come back to demolish the opposition on both occasions. Pakistan were also 57-5 against Australia in Abu Dhabi and came back to win by 373 runs.

You also seem to have a major misunderstanding of how pitches play in Asia. Even if a wicket favors fast-bowlers, it rarely ever has enough bounce and seam movement to really trouble batsmen. In the last 5 years, I have only seen one true green-top in Asia, which was produced by India against Sri Lanka in the 2017 Kolkata Test. And even in that game the weather played a part in making the wicket more favorable to fast-bowlers.

Pakistan will very much be favorites going into their series against Australia, England and New Zealand. Regardless of the pitches they produce.
 
RedwoodOriginal said:
So what? Shaheen and Hasan on Pakistani pitches are just as good as any other fast-bowling duo in the world. And going in with 2 frontline fast-bowlers, 2 spinners and a seam-bowling all-rounder is a sound strategy on Pakistani pitches.

Being 40-4 doesn't really matter when you come back to demolish the opposition on both occasions. Pakistan were also 57-5 against Australia in Abu Dhabi and came back to win by 373 runs.

You also seem to have a major misunderstanding of how pitches play in Asia. Even if a wicket favors fast-bowlers, it rarely ever has enough bounce and seam movement to really trouble batsmen. In the last 5 years, I have only seen one true green-top in Asia, which was produced by India against Sri Lanka in the 2017 Kolkata Test. And even in that game the weather played a part in making the wicket more favorable to fast-bowlers.

Pakistan will very much be favorites going into their series against Australia, England and New Zealand. Regardless of the pitches they produce.
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"Shaheen and Hasan on Pakistani pitches are just as good as any other fast-bowling duo in the world." --> This is why we should avoid playing Zim so much.

"Even if a wicket favors fast-bowlers, it rarely ever has enough bounce and seam movement to really trouble batsmen."
Did you even see Nortje and Rabada's spells?

"Pakistan will very much be favorites going into their series against Australia, England and New Zealand. Regardless of the pitches they produce."
Okay...
 
Farabi said:
"Shaheen and Hasan on Pakistani pitches are just as good as any other fast-bowling duo in the world." --> This is why we should avoid playing Zim so much.

"Even if a wicket favors fast-bowlers, it rarely ever has enough bounce and seam movement to really trouble batsmen."
Did you even see Nortje and Rabada's spells?

"Pakistan will very much be favorites going into their series against Australia, England and New Zealand. Regardless of the pitches they produce."
Okay...
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This is why we should avoid playing Zim so much.

Didn't know we played a test series at home against Zimbabwe. I must have missed that one.

Did you even see Nortje and Rabada's spells?

I did. They were on top at certain points of the match but failed to make enough of a difference to bowl Pakistan out cheaply even once. In the second innings they were woefully impotent, which just goes to show the importance of spinners on Asian wickets, especially in the second innings of a test match.

Okay...

Being sarcastic won't change the ground realities. Pakistan are a fairly decent, mid-tier test team and at home, like any other team they have strengths that give them a unique advantage over touring teams.
 
Farabi said:
Glad PP fans are not in charge. Suggested solution is to move both Azhar Ali and Babar from 3 and 4 who are settled and already scoring. Babar top 10 player at no4 slot and Azhar Ali who is averaging 55+ since Dec 2019. And this is to accommodate Saud... who has loads of potential but has zero international experience. Saud could go on to become a great or nobody, who knows...

Hmmmm do you like going to Casinos? Seems like you’re a risk-taker.
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You make a fair point, shame you let yourself down at the end though.
 
Pakistan wins 21-23 WTC: "They had an easy path. Overrated achievement. Fluke."

Pakistan loses 21-23 WTC/doesn't qualify for final: "Pakistan is a mediocre team. We deserve this humiliation."
 
Totally pathetic schedule. You do not deserve to play in the WTC Final without playing an away series in one of the top 4 sides.

This schedule should be scrapped and rejected.

Besides, those who think Pakistan will walk into the WTC final based on this are actually mistaken.

West Indies will probably beat Pakistan at home, and beating the likes of Australia, England and New Zealand in Pakistan will not be easy.

These teams will enjoy Pakistani conditions more than the UAE ones and will put up a much better show.

Pakistan can easily lose one or two of these series.

Based on the fixtures, India vs Australia final seems possible.

Australia will win all home series and although they will get rinsed in India, if they can avoid a defeat in either Pakistan or Sri Lanka, they will enough points to qualify for the final.
 
Mamoon said:
Totally pathetic schedule. You do not deserve to play in the WTC Final without playing an away series in one of the top 4 sides.

This schedule should be scrapped and rejected.

Besides, those who think Pakistan will walk into the WTC final based on this are actually mistaken.

West Indies will probably beat Pakistan at home, and beating the likes of Australia, England and New Zealand in Pakistan will not be easy.

These teams will enjoy Pakistani conditions more than the UAE ones and will put up a much better show.

Pakistan can easily lose one or two of these series.

Based on the fixtures, India vs Australia final seems possible.

Australia will win all home series and although they will get rinsed in India, if they can avoid a defeat in either Pakistan or Sri Lanka, they will enough points to qualify for the final.
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Somehow New Zealand is playing the current WTC Final after playing almost all their series at home.

The WTC will favour a team by making them play most of their series at home, because it is impossible to essentially create a "fair cycle".

In the upcoming cycle, Pakistan can count themselves as being extremely lucky. We showed no intent on our tours to AUS, ENG, and NZ throughout this current WTC cycle, but we have a better chance at least in Pakistan.

I agree that Australia, England, and New Zealand will enjoy Pakistani conditions. However, if Pakistan can get a few more stadiums renovated (particularly the Multan Stadium, which has hosted some good spinning tracks in the past), we will have a better opportunity.

Against Australia, England, and New Zealand, the pitch will need to have the least support for fast bowlers and maximum support for spinners. The dead QEA trophy wickets should be the benchmark we use to make these pitches.

As for Pakistan's tour to the West Indies, I believe that Pakistan has a good chance of winning that series, though it will not be easy by any means. West Indies are capable of bringing even the best oppositions down to their knees in their home conditions.

It would be embarrassing if we don't whitewash Bangladesh and Sri Lanka on our away tours, but it is worth looking at how poorly our batsmen play spin. Babar will have to watch out because Taijul and Embuldeniya would enjoy bowling to him on a spinning wicket.

Pakistan's goal should be to whitewash West Indies, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh to have inroads to the final. They need to target a series win against one of England, Australia, and New Zealand. They need to also assume that they will lose one of those three series, but must avoid a whitewash.

If our team plays really well, we can expect to gain maximum points from WI, BD, and SL.

We will most likely lose to Australia unless their major middle order batsmen are injured.

I back us to roll England over if Yasir Shah is given a square turner, though Moeen Ali and Jack Leach could be a bit of a problem in spinning conditions.

New Zealand should be an easy series win for us, Watling is retiring and they have no capable spinner right now.

Bottom line comes down to what you said: we are lucky that we aren't touring large cricketing nations, but at the same time, we cannot be complacent in the games that we do play.

Even if Pakistan makes the WTC Final, I doubt we'll win if we're up against IND, NZ, AUS, or ENG.
 
Unless unavoidable circumstances like Corona waves or anything afftects the matches or any series, Pak should reach final easily.

There shouldn't be any excuse for not playing next WTC final.
 
It definitely won’t be as easy as some people are making it out to be. But this is definitely our best opportunity to reach the WTC Final.
Also, people complaining about the scheduling do realize that it’s a rotation schedule and the “easiness” or “difficultly” of each scheduled will even out with every cycle. Also, I didn’t hear too many complaints about NZ’s schedule in this current cycle. Please stop with the hypocrisy.
 
Line and Length said:
It definitely won’t be as easy as some people are making it out to be. But this is definitely our best opportunity to reach the WTC Final.
Also, people complaining about the scheduling do realize that it’s a rotation schedule and the “easiness” or “difficultly” of each scheduled will even out with every cycle. Also, I didn’t hear too many complaints about NZ’s schedule in this current cycle. Please stop with the hypocrisy.
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As an Indian fan, I'm certainly not complaining. What a great sight it would be to see India and Pakistan playing a test match after more than 15 years in an iconic WTC final if they both make it.

Also, while I think New Zealand deserved to win the world cup, they didn't deserve to make the WTC final. Australia probably deserved it more than the Kiwis who made the final purely based on their home record.
 
street cricketer said:
It almost feels like the organisers got tired of grouping India and Pakistan together in every ICC tournament to maximize revenues and scheduled fixtures to guarantee an India Pakistan Test championship final for a change.

Would be nice watching the likes of Shaheen and Hasan bowl against Gill, Kohli, Pant & co and Ashwin, Jadeja, Bumrah, Shami and Siraj against Babar, Rizwan & co in a neutral venue.
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I don’t think [MENTION=131701]Mamoon[/MENTION] approves of India and Pakistan playing
 
street cricketer said:
As an Indian fan, I'm certainly not complaining. What a great sight it would be to see India and Pakistan playing a test match after more than 15 years in an iconic WTC final if they both make it.

Also, while I think New Zealand deserved to win the world cup, they didn't deserve to make the WTC final. Australia probably deserved it more than the Kiwis who made the final purely based on their home record.
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It would certainly be an amazing sight to watch a WTC Final between India and Pakistan. Although, if I’m not mistaken, the 2023 Final will be in Australia. That would be a real pity. I think an Pakistan-India Final in England would be a much more watchable affair.
 
Line and Length said:
It would certainly be an amazing sight to watch a WTC Final between India and Pakistan. Although, if I’m not mistaken, the 2023 Final will be in Australia. That would be a real pity. I think an Pakistan-India Final in England would be a much more watchable affair.
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It would be great to have it in Australia. Lot of Ind pak supporters there too
 
I think that schedule right there shows you why this being a 2 year event is pretty stupid. The schedules are so incredible imbalanced and the finals don't actually reflect who is the real top team(s) at the time. They need to make this a 4 year event where everybody is able to play home/away series with each other to really access who is at top.

The way the schedule is set, it is perfect for Pakistan and likely makes them a favourite to make it to the finals. But then again, putting Pakistan as favourites in anything is fool's gold.
 
Pakistan have started the Championship Cycle on the Worst possible note and India have started on the Best note.

It's very unlikely that we will see an India Pakistan WTC finals. Now the question remains who will play India in the next WTC finals ?
 
I don’t understand how in WTC, with each match played over 5 days and the whole tournament over 2 years, any schedule can make path to finals for a mid-ranked team easy. Each series is tough for a mid-tier team with some nearly-unwinnable, unlike for top 3 where at least some series will be relatively easy.

One main advantage Pak has, over Aus, England etc, is that it does not have to face India for non-cricketing reasons.

The second advantage for Pakistan, if one can call so, is that many visiting teams will not be full strength due to IPL, lack of “entertainment” or real/perceived security reasons specific to Pakistan. So Pakistan has a better chance to beat weakened rivals at home than otherwise. This is not the case with India, Eng, Aus or NZ where visiting teams are expected to be full strength. Covid waves can affect any trip of course.

Overall, Pakistan has to depend on much improved performance to reach finals. Scheduling benefits are minimal at best.
 
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WTC Final 2023 - Nz vs India... Once again. And this time India will win

You heard it here first!
 
CricketingMinds said:
WTC Final 2023 - Nz vs India... Once again. And this time India will win

You heard it here first!
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3 years away, a lot will change and teams will look different.

I doubt we'll have Taylor, Boult and Southee while India may lose Pujara, Rohit, Rahane and Kohli.
 
RedwoodOriginal said:
That one draw doesn't change the fact that Australia were dominated comprehensively throughout that test match. If anything, it was Sarfraz's poor captaincy on the final day that let a game that was already in the bag slip away.

As far as the second test match is concerned, Australia were even worse. They dominated the first session (in which they had Pakistan 57-5) and only the first session. They never even looked like threatening Pakistan after that as Fakhar Zaman and Sarfraz took the game away from them.

Australia have been to UAE with a full-strength squad in 2014 aswell, and were dominated even more comprehensively by a Yasir Shah playing his first series and an aging uncle by the name of Zulfiqar Babar.

Even if they manage to be competitive I don't see them winning in Pakistan.
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Well. They have won in Pakistan. SL next
 
Nikhil_cric said:
Well. They have won in Pakistan. SL next
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The biggest reason Australia won in Pakistan was due to Pakistan's own incompetence. Had Pakistan produced sporting wickets or turning tracks, Australia would have never left with a series win. I fully expect their batters to be exposed in Sri Lanka, who won't make the same mistake of not producing ripping, rank-turners.

If Australia win in Sri Lanka though, I will accept that they have improved drastically as a team. Because winning one test match is easy, winning two series in foreign conditions is not.
 
RedwoodOriginal said:
The biggest reason Australia won in Pakistan was due to Pakistan's own incompetence. Had Pakistan produced sporting wickets or turning tracks, Australia would have never left with a series win. I fully expect their batters to be exposed in Sri Lanka, who won't make the same mistake of not producing ripping, rank-turners.

If Australia win in Sri Lanka though, I will accept that they have improved drastically as a team. Because winning one test match is easy, winning two series in foreign conditions is not.
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We can easily ascribe every single away series win to the incompetence of the home side but the reality could possibly be that Australia is capable of beating Pskistan on must surfaces because they are a high quality side.
Considering that SL are struggling against BD, there's a strong chance that Australia can beat SL in their den as well.
 
Nikhil_cric said:
We can easily ascribe every single away series win to the incompetence of the home side but the reality could possibly be that Australia is capable of beating Pskistan on must surfaces because they are a high quality side.
Considering that SL are struggling against BD, there's a strong chance that Australia can beat SL in their den as well.
Click to expand...

Nah I saw the entire series. It was more down to Pakistan's incompetence than anything else.
 
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