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Pick one X factor player from each international team?

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Local.Dada

T20I Debutant
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Sep 30, 2019
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Criteria: please stick to current active players.

India- Hardik Pandya
Westindies- Romario Sheperd
Pakistan- Rizwan
England- Chris Woakes (one of the most underrated cricketers in the world)
Australia- Travis Head
Afghanistan- Gurbaz
New Zealand- Wagner used to be that guy but now retired I think. However Daryl Mitchell
Srilanka- Assalanka
Bangladesh- Litton
Zimbabwe- Raza
South Africa- Klassen
 
Local.Dada said:
Criteria: please stick to current active players.

India- Hardik Pandya
Westindies- Romario Sheperd
Pakistan- Rizwan
England- Chris Woakes (one of the most underrated cricketers in the world)
Australia- Travis Head
Afghanistan- Gurbaz
New Zealand- Wagner used to be that guy but now retired I think. However Daryl Mitchell
Srilanka- Assalanka
Bangladesh- Litton
Zimbabwe- Raza
South Africa- Klassen
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I think Raturaj Gaikwad is India’s X factor player

Him and Rizwan for South Asia
 
Rana said:
I think Raturaj Gaikwad is India’s X factor player

Him and Rizwan for South Asia
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That is not a bad comparison actually. However I wouldn’t pick Rutu over Jaiswal or Gill (at this point of time). Ruturaj has shown good batting and captaincy temperament and has both defensive and attacking game.

Having said that my other considerations from Pak were Fakhar who unfortunately is now a 1 format player and Naseem who hasn’t proven his mettle in tests which I think is the pinnacle.

It is not a random pick but a well curated one and definitely not to troll or get a rise out of people. I have my reasons for Pandya over Bumrah or Woakes over Butler too.
 
Local.Dada said:
That is not a bad comparison actually. However I wouldn’t pick Rutu over Jaiswal or Gill (at this point of time). Ruturaj has shown good batting and captaincy temperament and has both defensive and attacking game.

Having said that my other considerations from Pak were Fakhar who unfortunately is now a 1 format player and Naseem who hasn’t proven his mettle in tests which I think is the pinnacle.

It is not a random pick but a well curated one and definitely not to troll or get a rise out of people. I have my reasons for Pandya over Bumrah or Woakes over Butler too.
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Yeah I wouldn’t be surprised with your choice.
 
Local.Dada said:
Let’s see your list, before nitpicking mine.
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I’m not promoting a thread where the OP states Rizwan is the X factor player from Pakistan.

I know this game, and I don’t have time for stupid discussions with people who don’t understand this game. Sorry.
 
Pakistan - Shaheen.
India - Pant.
Sri Lanka - Kusal Mendis.
Afghanistan - Rashid Khan.
Bangladesh - Nahid Rana.
England - Ben Stokes.
NZ - Rachin Ravindra.
Australia - Maxwell.
South Africa - Klaasen.
West Indies - Nicholas Pooran.
Zimbabwe - Sikandar Raza.
Ireland - Paul Stirling.
 
Pakistan = Fakhar
India = Hitman
Sri Lanka = kusal perrara
Afghanistan = Gurbaz
England = Butler (Tbf salt and everyone else is also explosive but Butler is king)
SA = Formerly Quinton but not Klaseen as quinton is almost retired
Australia = Travis Head
NZ = Finn Allen
Bangladesh = Liton Das
West Indies = Andre Russel
 
mominsaigol said:
Pakistan = Fakhar
India = Hitman
Sri Lanka = kusal perrara
Afghanistan = Gurbaz
England = Butler (Tbf salt and everyone else is also explosive but Butler is king)
SA = Formerly Quinton but not Klaseen as quinton is almost retired
Australia = Travis Head
NZ = Finn Allen
Bangladesh = Liton Das
West Indies = Andre Russel
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For me X factor is someone who's explosive and in a blink of an eye take the game away from you to impossible levels for the opposition. Their not the best players but when their onsong no one can match them.

The OP putting rizzu as an X factor is hilarious considering the very definition of an X factor is

a variable in a given situation that could have the most significant impact on the outcome.

so putting rizzu who has 4 test centuries that have resukted in 4 losses vs Fakhar who single handidely crossed a 400 drs with zero input from any other member in the team is hilarious.
 
mominsaigol said:
Pakistan = Fakhar
India = Hitman
Sri Lanka = kusal perrara
Afghanistan = Gurbaz
England = Butler (Tbf salt and everyone else is also explosive but Butler is king)
SA = Formerly Quinton but not Klaseen as quinton is almost retired
Australia = Travis Head
NZ = Finn Allen
Bangladesh = Liton Das
West Indies = Andre Russel
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I agree with most of the names but for Afghanistan, I would say Rashid Khan.
 
BouncerGuy said:
I agree with most of the names but for Afghanistan, I would say Rashid Khan.
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Rashid isn't that spectacular.

In wc 2024 he only took one wicket againat Australia and was a non factor compared to other bowlers. He also wasn't really present much for the NZ game and is almost always useless against India.

He's a terrific bowler and his best batting innings in the asia cup last year was literally a generational performance.

However gurbaz is the man who usually plays match winning knocks. He's blistering start against pakistan in wc put pakistan in a narrow shell and allowed zadran to settle in, game was over in the first 10 to 1t thanks to him, Whereas rashid didn't even take a single wicket that game, it was all noor Ahmed show.

This world cup if his innings against NZ, Aus etc etc, he was the sole factor in determining if Afghanistan won or not. If he didn't kick off then Afghanistan would just get bunlded up like they did vs SA.

The only time gurbaz faiked and Afghanistan didn't get bundled up was against australia last year where zadran played a gem, However even in that game rashid only took the wickets of stoinis and Starc, He and the rest let the game slip away vs Maxwell and rashid couldn't break thorough cummins defense.

He's a terrific bowler and allrounder but the guy who ended the streak vs Pakistan was gurbaz ans the one who got Afghanistan into the semi final marking a historic moment for Afghanistan is gurbaz.

Dude is a gem, while rashid 90% od the time is backed by 2 more quality spinners who aid him with a spin onslaught
 
India - Bumrah
SA - Klaasen
BD - Litton
SL - Pathirana
WI - Pooran
NZ - Rachin
AFG - Gurbaz
OZ - Travis
 
Local.Dada said:
Criteria: please stick to current active players.

India- Hardik Pandya
Westindies- Romario Sheperd
Pakistan- Rizwan
England- Chris Woakes (one of the most underrated cricketers in the world)
Australia- Travis Head
Afghanistan- Gurbaz
New Zealand- Wagner used to be that guy but now retired I think. However Daryl Mitchell
Srilanka- Assalanka
Bangladesh- Litton
Zimbabwe- Raza
South Africa- Klassen
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I only agree on Riz, Head & Klassen.
 
Bharat: Jasprit Singh Bumrah
Australia: Travis Head
Sourhern Afrikaan: Henrick Klassen
Afghanistan: Arshad Nadeem
New Zealand: Ravindra


It stops there for me.
Rest of the teams, i cannot bother about them.
 
mominsaigol said:
Rashid isn't that spectacular.

In wc 2024 he only took one wicket againat Australia and was a non factor compared to other bowlers. He also wasn't really present much for the NZ game and is almost always useless against India.

He's a terrific bowler and his best batting innings in the asia cup last year was literally a generational performance.

However gurbaz is the man who usually plays match winning knocks. He's blistering start against pakistan in wc put pakistan in a narrow shell and allowed zadran to settle in, game was over in the first 10 to 1t thanks to him, Whereas rashid didn't even take a single wicket that game, it was all noor Ahmed show.

This world cup if his innings against NZ, Aus etc etc, he was the sole factor in determining if Afghanistan won or not. If he didn't kick off then Afghanistan would just get bunlded up like they did vs SA.

The only time gurbaz faiked and Afghanistan didn't get bundled up was against australia last year where zadran played a gem, However even in that game rashid only took the wickets of stoinis and Starc, He and the rest let the game slip away vs Maxwell and rashid couldn't break thorough cummins defense.

He's a terrific bowler and allrounder but the guy who ended the streak vs Pakistan was gurbaz ans the one who got Afghanistan into the semi final marking a historic moment for Afghanistan is gurbaz.

Dude is a gem, while rashid 90% od the time is backed by 2 more quality spinners who aid him with a spin onslaught
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You can only pick one for your team. A great fast bowler who can do it all or a great batsman who can destroy all teams.

Think like a bumrah/Cummins or a head/hitman

Or like a wasim akram or a Ricky ponting.

I am a fan of hostile fast bowling. So for me it's always bowlers. Bumrah/Cummins or a wasim/Ambrose etc. Marshall the goat.
 
kron said:
You can only pick one for your team. A great fast bowler who can do it all or a great batsman who can destroy all teams.

Think like a bumrah/Cummins or a head/hitman

Or like a wasim akram or a Ricky ponting.

I am a fan of hostile fast bowling. So for me it's always bowlers. Bumrah/Cummins or a wasim/Ambrose etc. Marshall the goat.
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It still has to be Hitman for me even if he's a burnt corpse now.

Bumrah wouldn't have done a damn if rohit didn't bulky starc, the only time bumrah properly stepped in was at the wc final 2024, but otherwise 90% of the time rohit takes the game away from you to the point that even if you have crap bowlers it doesn't do a damn.

He's been in the game way longer then bumrah and his double hundred, his wc PP exploits in 2023 and 2024 are too valuable.

However after rohit retires, yes bumrah will be the X factor for me.

However this is just a preference, it's really upto how people see it. So I respect your opinion on Bumrah and cummins.

I still However firmly believe that great batting can defeat the purpose of poor bowling.

If you have horrible batting but great bowling then you can still loose games if the score isn't high enough.

I checked Chuck Ajmal, and chuck ajmal was even more difficult to play then Bumrah, so much so that the dude averages 4 wickets per game taking a wicket every 5 deliveries lol, he had an off day against Bangladesh in asia cup, but his 10 overs and 4 overs and test spells were a nightmare.

However pakistan still suffered immensely from 2012 to 2015 because the batting wasn't their.

But India dominated even post 2012 with lack of bowling mainly because rohit and kohli have butchered 400+ totals collectively so even with crap bowling it didn't matter, like these guys chased 370 against sri lanka.
 
mominsaigol said:
It still has to be Hitman for me even if he's a burnt corpse now.

Bumrah wouldn't have done a damn if rohit didn't bulky starc, the only time bumrah properly stepped in was at the wc final 2024, but otherwise 90% of the time rohit takes the game away from you to the point that even if you have crap bowlers it doesn't do a damn.

He's been in the game way longer then bumrah and his double hundred, his wc PP exploits in 2023 and 2024 are too valuable.

However after rohit retires, yes bumrah will be the X factor for me.

However this is just a preference, it's really upto how people see it. So I respect your opinion on Bumrah and cummins.

I still However firmly believe that great batting can defeat the purpose of poor bowling.

If you have horrible batting but great bowling then you can still loose games if the score isn't high enough.

I checked Chuck Ajmal, and chuck ajmal was even more difficult to play then Bumrah, so much so that the dude averages 4 wickets per game taking a wicket every 5 deliveries lol, he had an off day against Bangladesh in asia cup, but his 10 overs and 4 overs and test spells were a nightmare.

However pakistan still suffered immensely from 2012 to 2015 because the batting wasn't their.

But India dominated even post 2012 with lack of bowling mainly because rohit and kohli have butchered 400+ totals collectively so even with crap bowling it didn't matter, like these guys chased 370 against sri lanka.
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There’s a reason he’s called The Hitman. The coolest superhero name ever given to a cricketer.
 
Bhaijaan said:
There’s a reason he’s called The Hitman. The coolest superhero name ever given to a cricketer.
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I view Rohit in a higher regard to Kohli.

Kohli is overall the better batter no doubt and infact kohli's prime, he played consistently and that to atg level consistent innings which were match winning.

However rohit at his absolute best is unmatched, no one can bully 200+ scores like he can.

Kohli in prime is the overall better batter but rohit is my favourite Indian batter post Sachin and 2012 era
 
mominsaigol said:
I view Rohit in a higher regard to Kohli.

Kohli is overall the better batter no doubt and infact kohli's prime, he played consistently and that to atg level consistent innings which were match winning.

However rohit at his absolute best is unmatched, no one can bully 200+ scores like he can.

Kohli in prime is the overall better batter but rohit is my favourite Indian batter post Sachin and 2012 era
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Rohit Sharma is Gandalf
Virat Kohli is Saruman
 
Rana said:
I think Raturaj Gaikwad is India’s X factor player

Him and Rizwan for South Asia
Click to expand...
Even before opening the thread, I knew he would have mentioned Rizwan for Pak. OP should answer if he would want Rizwan as an opener in his T20I side.
 
RyanRyan10 said:
Even before opening the thread, I knew he would have mentioned Rizwan for Pak. OP should answer if he would want Rizwan as an opener in his T20I side.
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firstly I don’t rate cameo players as X factor.

X factor is a player for me who is someone you keep an eye out for as someone who can come up with a performance from nowhere and keep you in the game, raise their game depending on the crisis situation and fight till the end and don’t like losing.

Obviously Bumrah, Butler etc would fit the criteria but they are somoeone you expect a 100/100 every time. Usually their performance determines how the team does. However there is always that “X” that adds the spice to the team, like a garnish, that reflects the spirit of the team.

Thats what I think Rizwan for Pak is just like the other names I picked.

As I said about, 3-4 yrs back I would have blindly said Fakhar but now he is a 1 format player and even there he is hit or miss even though still dangerous.

Maybe in 2-3 yrs time Naseem will take that role but right now he is a little behind on tests.

Take Bangladesh for example- Shakib is their best player or Afghan where Rashid is their best player, they will score runs and pick wickets regardless of how their team does but guys like Litton and Gurbaz provide that factor that helps them finish games/fight/compete.

That is my theory.
 
Local.Dada said:
firstly I don’t rate cameo players as X factor.

X factor is a player for me who is someone you keep an eye out for as someone who can come up with a performance from nowhere and keep you in the game, raise their game depending on the crisis situation and fight till the end and don’t like losing.

Obviously Bumrah, Butler etc would fit the criteria but they are somoeone you expect a 100/100 every time. Usually their performance determines how the team does. However there is always that “X” that adds the spice to the team, like a garnish, that reflects the spirit of the team.

Thats what I think Rizwan for Pak is just like the other names I picked.

As I said about, 3-4 yrs back I would have blindly said Fakhar but now he is a 1 format player and even there he is hit or miss even though still dangerous.

Maybe in 2-3 yrs time Naseem will take that role but right now he is a little behind on tests.

Take Bangladesh for example- Shakib is their best player or Afghan where Rashid is their best player, they will score runs and pick wickets regardless of how their team does but guys like Litton and Gurbaz provide that factor that helps them finish games/fight/compete.

That is my theory.
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fair enough. But the quality of X factor picked by you also suggests the quality of a side. For ex: every team would love to have Head in their lineups but the same can't be said about Rizwan.
 
RyanRyan10 said:
fair enough. But the quality of X factor picked by you also suggests the quality of a side. For ex: every team would love to have Head in their lineups but the same can't be said about Rizwan.
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See that’s an unfair comparison. Every team would like a Travis Head. I would pick Head over Shubman Gill but does it make Gill a bad player or doesn’t belong in the Indian squad?

Rizwan works for the Pakistan side. He is consistent, allrounder (keeper + batsman), performs in all formats. You don’t expect Rizwan to singlehandedly make a game one-sided but let’s say if Pak bowlers do their job, he is the only guy that can ensure that the job will be done. No disrespect to Babar.
 
Local.Dada said:
firstly I don’t rate cameo players as X factor.

X factor is a player for me who is someone you keep an eye out for as someone who can come up with a performance from nowhere and keep you in the game, raise their game depending on the crisis situation and fight till the end and don’t like losing.
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But Rizwan plays the same way and does not adjust according to match situation. His performance is lot more predictable and does not come out of nowhere.

Only Fakhar comes up with performances out of nowhere.
 
I'm not sure about other sides but our X Factors are Fakhar and if Shaheen can regain his form he really has Xfactor swinging the ball back in initial LOI spells.
 
Local.Dada said:
See that’s an unfair comparison. Every team would like a Travis Head. I would pick Head over Shubman Gill but does it make Gill a bad player or doesn’t belong in the Indian squad?

Rizwan works for the Pakistan side. He is consistent, allrounder (keeper + batsman), performs in all formats. You don’t expect Rizwan to singlehandedly make a game one-sided but let’s say if Pak bowlers do their job, he is the only guy that can ensure that the job will be done. No disrespect to Babar.
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Yes, he is consistent, but at a same level most of the times. He is not coming up with knocks to take the game away while batting first or winning the tough games while chasing. He is consitent with good contributions , but that's not really an X factor then. You are putting Buttler/Bumrah as good and consistent and using that to say they are not X factor. Rizwan is consistent with two tier below top tiers so how come Rizwan qualifies for an X factor.
 
Buffet said:
Yes, he is consistent, but at a same level most of the times. He is not coming up with knocks to take the game away while batting first or winning the tough games while chasing. He is consitent with good contributions , but that's not really an X factor then. You are putting Buttler/Bumrah as good and consistent and using that to say they are not X factor. Rizwan is consistent with two tier below top tiers so how come Rizwan qualifies for an X factor.
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Here is the thing right. Rizwan is consistent we all can agree. Is there a better bat than him, maybe.

Now add to the fact he is a keeper bat. Is he the best keeper in Pak- well based on the other keepers I see Sarfaraz, Azam Khan. I don’t recollect anyone else, the next names I can think of are Akmal bros. So based on that he is borderline Gilchrist with his relative athleticism.

So point 1 + 2, your perspective changes.

Now add to the fact that he can play all 3 formats and contribute. Now let’s say there is a bat who can hack a 30(12) in a T20 once in a while; would you make him an all format keeper? You would still need Rizwan. So why not play such “talents” around Rizwan? First rule of business- don’t touch something that is working.

Now let’s come to temperament. Is Sarfaraz a good-street smart capt.- absolutely. However sorry one of the most scratchiest bats I have ever seen and lethargic on field. Rizwan might be a level lower on quick thinking or shrewdness but he isn’t too far behind.

Does his job of playing mind games etc to get under the opposition skin with injury breaks etc .

That’s why he is X factor under the current situation for Pakistan.
 
DeadlyVenom said:
I'm not sure about other sides but our X Factors are Fakhar and if Shaheen can regain his form he really has Xfactor swinging the ball back in initial LOI spells.
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Shaheen back to his best appears to be impossible with whatever has happened in the last 12 months. Pakistan’s best chance to become a decent side would be to look past Shaheen.
 
Local.Dada said:
Now add to the fact he is a keeper bat. Is he the best keeper in Pak- well based on the other keepers I see Sarfaraz, Azam Khan. I don’t recollect anyone else, the next names I can think of are Akmal bros. So based on that he is borderline Gilchrist with his relative athleticism.

So point 1 + 2, your perspective changes.

Now add to the fact that he can play all 3 formats and contribute. Now let’s say there is a bat who can hack a 30(12) in a T20 once in a while; would you make him an all format keeper? You would still need Rizwan. So why not play such “talents” around Rizwan? First rule of business- don’t touch something that is working.
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I don't know where you are going with the arguemnts here. I am not saying that Pakistan has better options or better keepen batsmen or anything like that. I am not saying that don't play Rizwan.

All I am saying that Rizwan does not come across as a X factor using the same criterion you used to discard some other consistent contributors.
 
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