Draft: Pane2ar Draft: Return of the Rabbits

Unlucky Dip Player #75: :wi: :ar: Oscar da Costa
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Nominated by
: RESERVE PLAYER
Received by: @icyman

Oscar da Costa was a swashbuckling strokeplayer before he died far too young. He would have thrived in the Twenty20 era that we now enjoy.

Icyman's XI so far:
:wi: :ar: Garry Sobers
:wi: :ar: Oscar da Costa
:ban: :wk: Mohammad Salim
:zim: :bwl: Blessing Mahwire
:nzf: :wk: Barry Milburn
 
Unlucky Dip Player #76: :pak: :bwl: Niaz Ahmed
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Nominated by: RESERVE PLAYER
Received by: @CerealKiller

Niaz Ahmed found himself playing in the Pakistan team not because he was dominant in domestic cricket, but because there was a genuine fear that if a player from East Pakistan was not selected, then what we now know as Bangladesh might erupt into separatist violence. Niaz did play, but it did not make the arrangement of East & West Pakistan any more tenable.

CerealKiller's XI so far:
:zim: :bat: Kevin Kasuza
:zim: :ar: Gary Crocker
:pak: :bwl: Niaz Ahmed
:zim: :bwl: Ujesh Ranchod
:ban: :bwl: Tapash Baisya
:eng: :x: Emile McMaster
 
Unlucky Dip Player #77: :eng: :ar: Chris Cowdrey
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Nominated by: RESERVE PLAYER
Received by: @Perfect Square

Chris Cowdrey would never have captained England had he not been Chris Cowdrey, but I've never captained England so who the hell am I to judge?

Perfect Square's XI so far:
:ind: :bat: Devang Gandhi
:eng: :ar: Chris Cowdrey
:zim: :bat: Glen Bruk-Jackson
:aus: :bat: Tom Groube
:saf: :bwl: Tshepo Moreki
:ind: :bwl: Vivek Razdan
 
Unlucky Dip Player #78: :nzf: :bat: Blair Hartland
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Nominated by
: RESERVE PLAYER
Received by: @icyman

The prototypical 1990s Kiwi opener, Blair Hartland wasn't a great player but he would absolutely do anything the team asked of him. Ultimately he did get dropped though as his scores just weren't great.

Icyman's XI so far:
:nzf: :bat: Blair Hartland
:wi: :ar: Garry Sobers
:wi: :ar: Oscar da Costa
:ban: :wk: Mohammad Salim
:zim: :bwl: Blessing Mahwire
:nzf: :wk: Barry Milburn
 
So, we now have all thirteen of our unlucky dips!

I will have now go through what everyone's teams look like so far, from best to worst. Teams have been seeded using my own proprietary super scientific method.

Seed 1: @Yash.
:ind: :bat: Vikram Rathour
:saf: :ar: Jacques Kallis
:wi: :bat: Ricardo Powell
:ind: :ar: Aashish Kapoor
:eng: :bwl: Josh Hull
:nzf: :bwl: Doug Freeman

This team is definitely the early front-runner. Despite the very nature of an unlucky dip, it has really very few weak links in it.

Seed 2: @Till Valhalla
:ind: :bat: Kenia Jayantilal
:wi: :bat: Travis Dowlin
:pak: :ar: Imran Khan
:eng: :wkb: Richard Blakey
:ire: :bwl: Fionn Hand
:wi: :bwl: George Gladstone Marais

There are a couple of players you're carrying in here, but there's also Imran Khan who makes up for the both of them. This has the makings of a devastating team.

Seed 3: @icyman
:nzf: :bat: Blair Hartland
:wi: :ar: Garry Sobers
:wi: :ar: Oscar da Costa
:ban: :wk: Mohammad Salim
:zim: :bwl: Blessing Mahwire
:nzf: :wk: Barry Milburn

It's a similar vibe to Seed 2: you're carrying a couple, but you also have Garry Sobers in your team. Does life get any better?

Seed 4: @Neptune
:eng: :bat: John Morris
:sri: :ar: Chamika Karunaratne
:ind: :bwl: Iqbal Siddiqui
:pak: :bwl: Usman Khan Shinwari
:pak: :bwl: Tabish Khan
:aus: :bwl: Pud Thurlow

Despite the comments of one visitor to the thread, I'd venture to say that there's no bad player in this team. However, there's also probably not any stand-out either, and it lacks a spinner.

Seed 5: @mohsin7827 (no Rob Key Bonus)
:pak: :ar: Asif Mujtaba
:zim: :wkb: Charles Coventry
:pak: :ar: Zafar Gohar
:ind: :ar: Baqa Jilani
:pak: :bat: Moeez Ghani
:eng: :wk: Arthur Dolphin

This team covers enough basis that your five recovery picks should fill it out really nicely into a proper all-round team. It would be so much better if Mujtaba had ever figured out Tests though.

Seed 6: @ddrap14
:saf: :wkb: AB de Villiers
:nzf: :ar: Scott Kuggeleijn
:ind: :bwl: Tinu Yohannan
:saf: :bat: William Solomon
:pak: :bwl: Mohammad Sami
:saf: :bwl: Flooi du Toit

This team has some absolute stinkers in it, but it also has AB de Villiers and that makes up for a lot. And despite his poor record, Mohammad Sami should fill his boots against some of this opposition.

Seed 7: @Supreme General
:wi: :bat: Stuart Williams
:eng: :ar: Scott Borthwick
:wi: :bat: Dwayne Smith
:nzf: :wk: Lee Germon
:saf: :bat: Robert Stewart
:ind: :bwl: David Johnson

This is going to be a bit of an enigmatic one: both Williams and Dwayne Smith in one batting order is a legitimate recipe for disaster, but maybe Lee Germon could captain the best out of them?

Seed 8: @ahmedleo414
:nzf: :ar: Sonny Moloney
:ban: :bat: Akram Khan
:afg: :ar: Karim Janat
:nzf: :bwl: Brooke Walker
:eng: :bwl: Ian Salisbury
:aus: :bat: Harry Musgrove

There's not much to split these last three teams, but for me this just takes bottom spot thanks to the hideous overlap of having both Brooke Walker and Ian Salisbury filling the same role twice. This team probably can be fixed though.

Seed 9: @Perfect Square (no Rob Key Bonus)
:ind: :bat: Devang Gandhi
:eng: :ar: Chris Cowdrey
:zim: :bat: Glen Bruk-Jackson
:aus: :bat: Tom Groube
:saf: :bwl: Tshepo Moreki
:ind: :bwl: Vivek Razdan

This team started off so well with a proper opener in Devang Gandhi, but it just went off the rails. Now you've filled five of your bottom six batting spots, but only two of them are proper bowlers. And you don't have a keeper yet. It's going to be awkward.

Seed 10: @Aravind.
:aus: :bat: Roy Park
:pak: :ar: Abdul Hafeez Kardar
:ind: :wk: Khershed Meherhomji
:aus: :bat: Roland Pope
:ind: :bwl: Yograj Singh
:nzf: :wk: Trevor McMahon

Speaking of teams with no batting or bowling, this one genuinely sucks. Out of these six, Park and Kardar are your key players, but at least you won't need to find a keeper.

Seed 11: @Aislabie
6. :pak: :ar: Shadab Khan
7. :saf: :bat: Percy Twentyman-Jones
8. :ind: :bat: Rajagopalan Shyamsunder
9. :aus: :bwl: Dave Gilbert
10. :eng: :bat: Charles Coventry
11. :pak: :wk: Asma Farzand

I have three specialist bats in my team with a best score of 52 between them in first-class cricket. Shadab is my best player by a fair way, and it'd be a push to describe him as a proper Test player given how little red ball cricket he has ever played.

Seed 12: @Paranoid Kendroid
:wi: :bat: Jeremy Solozano
:ind: :wk: Vijay Rajindernath
:sri: :bwl: Roger Wijesuriya
:eng: :bwl: Simon Kerrigan
:ban: :bwl: Rubel Hossain
:saf: :bwl: Billy Frank

Dude, your team sucks. At least it has a proper keeper in it, even if he will get a nosebleed batting at seven. It's not much, but it is at least something.

Seed 13: @CerealKiller
:zim: :bat: Kevin Kasuza
:zim: :ar: Gary Crocker
:pak: :bwl: Niaz Ahmed
:zim: :bwl: Ujesh Ranchod
:ban: :bwl: Tapash Baisya
:eng: :x: Emile McMaster

This team has nothing.
 
Unlucky Dip Player #51: :eng: :bwl:Ian Salisbury
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Nominated by: @Aislabie
Received by: @ahmedleo414

The perfect teammate for Brooke Walker, I'm sure we can all agree!

Ahmedleo's XI so far:
:afg: :ar: Karim Janat
:nzf: :bwl: Brooke Walker
:eng: :bwl: Ian Salisbury
You say Josh Hull is England’s most baffling selection… for a debutant maybe. Otherwise caps 2-15 of Ian Salisbury’s test career win by a mile.

A leg “spinner” with an off stump line and a googly that was easier to read than a Jennifer Red Hat book (yes I’m that old)
 
My bowling needs much more strengthening than my batting, and Mike Procter is the perfect choice.

CerealKiller's XI (7/50 caps)

:zim: :bat: Kevin Kasuza
:eng: :x: Emile McMaster
3.
4.
5.
6.
:saf: :ar: Mike Procter
:zim: :ar: Gary Crocker
:pak: :bwl: Niaz Ahmed
:zim: :bwl: Ujesh Ranchod
:ban: :bwl: Tapash Baisya

@Paranoid Kendroid
 
Also, a very interesting approach to have McMaster as a new ball watchman. It'll pay off if we end up running this with Cricket Captain
It was either that, or Crocker at 7. At least he gets out of the way early now.
 

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