2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup - India (UAE/Oman)

[Bigby Wolf]

Ditto.

Ditto +1.

 

[Bigby Wolf]

I want Pakistan to win this one but have an inner feeling that Australia will sneak through. England will choke too in the semis.

Same feeling here mate.

@wasteyouryouth the last one is just for you.

 

[wasteyouryouth]

To the haters and doubters. Let's be honest with ourselves. England deserves to win. A squad decimated by injury to the extent they couldn't beat South Africa who they dominated 12 months ago. This would be a true underdog story at this point. No team has ever won the hearts of so many and no team deserves to overcome the insurmountable odds stacked against them to achieve a glory that would warm the hearts of a country that is literally enduring a shortage of crisps!

Join me friends in supporting the greatest underdog story the world has ever seen.

#MorganIN

 

[Ashutosh.]

England is the best T20 team and Buttler is the best T20 batsman.

 

[SMMODS]

England is the best T20 team and Buttler is the best T20 batsman.

Take sleeping pills and sleep

 

[CerealKiller]

Hang on, guys. If India win the toss and bowl first, and then bowl out Namibia in 10 overs, and chase it down in 5 overs, they’ll have a few extra hours to get to the airport early.

 

[mohsinhbk]

Pakistan will win, it will be beneficial for them as many teams don't visit and they dont get many international games

 

[Punk_Sk8r]

Guys I'm confused by Google its showing two semi finals and a "super 12" match happening tomorrow, did BCCI convince ICC to have three way final?

EDIT: Also I'm calling Eng vs Aus final, it is fixed tournament to get hype for Ashes

 

[wasteyouryouth]

 

[Punk_Sk8r]

@wasteyouryouth that's cool to see all the players hanging out despite the loss on Scotlands part. Also why does Shaheen Afridi look like generic Cricket 2k4 player model and when will he stop doing that stupid celebration and come up with his own?

 

[NILAYSHAH60]

Ummm...... Let me predict what Kohli will say at the end of the match today...

"I think we just did our best and the results somehow didn't came our way. The start of the tournament was just unexpected for us. The conditions were more like bowl first and win but unfortunately we lost the tosses in the game against Pakistan and New Zealand and we were put in to bat first. This isn't something that was in our control.

The moment we lost the first 2 games we just had to win everything and maintain our NRR, so we just did that. We couldn't have done anything about the other results as they were not in our control and we have ourselves to blame to some extent for that. Anyways it was a great learning experience for us and hopefully we would do better the next time around."

 

[CerealKiller]

when will he stop doing that stupid celebration and come up with his own?

It's his own now.

 

[Skankhunt_42]

How quickly the match ends today guys? 30 overs? They have to prepare for high voltage PAYTM series next!

 

[Aislabie]

So I've been having a think about Namibia, and I think there are a few things that really bothered me about their team and approach in general.

1. They had no idea what their best batting order was. Players like Michael van Lingen, Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton and Zane Green do not a T20 top three make. If one is being charitable, you could call the three of them anchors or firefighters, but realistically they are neither. Their combined T20 international batting record is 292 runs @ 11.23 with a best of 26. None of them strikes at better than a run a ball. They are, on the evidence of these performances, non-batters.
2. They left their big hitters at home. Two of their three biggest hitters available are JP Kotze and in particular Niko Davin. They are both quite streaky, form-based players which isn't ideal but is really par for the course when you're selecting from such a small player pool. In such a situation, you make the best of what you have; if Niko Davin had opened all tournament and made one 30-ball 60 and five single-figure scores, you probably take that.
3. They didn't prepare their role players. Some players aren't in the team because they are the most talented player, some players are in the team because they can fill a role should the circumstance arise. Such is the case with Loftie-Eaton's leg-spin: he came into the tournament with a professional record of one wicket for 176 runs. He is a better bowler than that, but it is still a huge ask to expect someone clearly still learning their craft to come on and bowl a full spell against Afghanistan off the back of seven overs all tour (warm-ups included).
4. Black African players clearly not trusted. This isn't an easy one to fix with such a small player pool, but it was clear that Pikky Ya France and Ben Shikongo weren't trusted in high-pressure situations. That is understandable as neither is an especially polished cricketer (I am not suggesting for a second that Erasmus' lack of trust in them was because of the colour of their skin). However, with also-rans like Karl Birkenstock and Michael van Lingen in the side neither to bat nor to bowl, it seems essential that Namibia spend the time between now and the next World Cup giving playing opportunities to players of colour wherever possible. Players of colour around the national team include: Zhivago Groenewald (containing spinner), Tangeni Lungameni (left-arm seamer), Mauritius Ngupita (containing spinner), Ben Shikongo (high-pressure seam bowler), Tawanda Sithole (finger spinner), Pikky Ya France (containing spinner) and others, but of course grass-roots investment is far more important than any one individual.

With that in mind, were I a Namibian selector I would be looking to develop the entire player pool according to their roles in the team. But I also love picking XIs so I've done one of those as well:

1. Niko Davin - Powerplay hitter
2. Craig Williams - Powerplay hitter and anchor
3. JP Kotze - Powerplay hitter
4. Gerhard Erasmus - Anchor and firefighter
5. David Wiese - Boundary hitter and high-pressure bowler
6. JJ Smit - Boundary hitter and stock seamer
7. Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton - Boundary hitter and low-usage wrist-spinner (I really do think he has a lot of potential; needs more game time)
8. Jan Frylinck - Deceptive seam bowler
9. Zane Green - Gloveman
10. Ruben Trumpelmann - New ball seam bowler
11. Bernard Scholtz - Finger spin bowler

Of course, I have picked that XI with no real thought in mind for players' ethnic backgrounds. I would also be looking to rotate these players in and out of the side to develop a broader playing pool.

 

[WubbaLubbaDubDub]

Ok, so final game of the group stages today. Some thoughts on the tournament, @NILAYSHAH60, your prediction is almost close to be right, Australia have stepped up once again in World Cup mode. I feel really bad for South Africa who did everything correct and could not qualify. Sri Lanka were the second best Asian team in the tournament and I am super happy to see them grown. Pakistan and England have shown why they are the best limited overs sides. India have disappointed but it was bound to happen as that has been our trend in the last 5-8 years. Highly impressed by Namibia and Scotland with the spirits and confidence they showed. West Indies had tired legs in the team. They have superstars who either all play well or all flop. Unfortunately for them it was the later this world cup. Bangladesh has disappointed, a team deemed with so much talent has consistently failed in bigger tournaments.

The semi's are pretty interesting and I have a feeling Australia and New Zealand will repeat 2015. I know a lot of Indian fans now hate New Zealand because they have eliminated us from all the formats but that is what sports is correct? We have a new rival and its New Zealand. A good boy rival if I must say.

I will be rooting for New Zealand to lift the cup but if I am honest, England or Pakistan deserve it.

I would give this tournament a 3 out of 5 and this is not because India are out. The pitches, the crowd, the atmosphere just did not feel like a world cup tournament. I am looking forward to the tournament in Australia next year where the atmosphere, crowd and honestly organization will feel more like World Cup.