Dhoni finishes off in style.. A magnificent strike into the crowd India lifts the World Cup after 28 years party begins in Mumbai and it’s an Indian Captain who has been absolutely magnificent in the night of the final..!!


These lines are etched into the memories of Every Indian Cricket Fan till eternity
Mahendra Singh Dhoni Wicketkeeper Batsmen from Ranchi.

As a tribute to the legend , Let’s go down the memory lane and visit few of his many match winning innings.

India vs Srilanka – Tri Series Final 2013

This indeed will be my best pick of all the Dhoni finishes, Queen’s park Oval chasing a target of 202 on a tricky pitch, India were right on top with Rohit Sharma building the innings from one end but the wickets kept falling at regular intervals on the other end, MS walks in at no. 6
and eventually Rohit was bowled by Herath , CSKleaving it all on the shoulders of the Captain who with the Tailenders managed to take the match to the penultimate over with Ishant surviving the blitz from Malinga and it all came down to Dhoni with 15 off the last over to be bowled by Shaminda Eranga.
Missing on the first delivery , Dhoni whacked off the next three deliveries out of the boundary 6(over long off) , 4(over point) and 6(over long off) and won the match almost single handedly.

India vs Australia – CB Series 2012

Chasing 270 at Adelaide Gambhir gave India a good start , Dhoni and Raina taking the match closer with Raina departing at 38 leaving Dhoni to score 13 off the final over along with R Ashwin who managed to get a single of the First two balls
With 12 needed off 4 balls Dhoni heaved a mighty six over long on , on the delivery of Clint Mc-kay who just watched in despair next two balls resulted in a four and two thanks to a no-ball , finishing it with ease.

India vs Zimbabwe – World Cup 2015

The Thala , Chinna thala combo came handy in a chase where India were reeling at
92/4 in the 23rd Over , Raina playing his natural game while reconstructing the Innings MS played second fiddle chasing 287 thanks to Brendon Taylor’s Hundered playing his farewell match. Dhoni scored a 85 not out along with Raina’s ton slogging at the later half and the duo finished the match quite easily.

Other Significant innings in IPL

KingsXI Punjab vs CSK

The Do or Die league match where 54 runs were required off the last 3 overs , Dhoni blistered Irfan in the last over making sure CSK reached the Playoffs.

Pune Supergiants vs Kings XI Punjab

Hitting Axar Patel for 23 runs off the last over was another one of the memorable finish by the Champion. He hit 6,4 and 6 of  Patel in the last over reminding the critics the power of MS Dhoni…!!!



Out of his many Second Innings finishes , Dhoni helped the team managing to get a respectable total in The First Innings by Consolidating with the Tailenders

India vs South Africa – 2nd ODI 2015

In the First Innings , India were at 104/5 with the Top Order failing badly Dhoni took charge and managed to take the score to 247 giving India a total to fight for.
The way Dhoni constructed his innings shows the immense self-confidence he possessed, ticking the scoreboard during mid overs and slogging in the last 5 overs truly signifies the talent he had and was once in a lifetime player for Team India. Dhoni managed to get 92 not out including 7 boundaries and 4 sixes , last one coming off on the delivery of Rabada in the last ball of the innings.

There are various other instances where he rebuild the innings on various occasions
One against Pakistan where India were 29/5, where Dhoni’s 113 helped India reach a score of 227 though India lost the match but Dhoni heroics kept India in hunt.

Not only with his bat his Wicketkeeping skills also turned matches in favour of India , The best of the lot being a One Run Victory over Bangladesh in the T-20 World Cup where he ran out Mustafizur Rehman, it was Dhoni’s sheer Brilliance and Match awareness when he took off one glove in order to prepare himself if there be any chance of a runout.

Even the DRS was termed as Dhoni Review System by the Cricketing pundits. Even in the fag end of his career where he was judged , questioned about his tactics , approach and inability to rotate strike while playing spin
Dhoni’s presence in the XI sort of completed the team.

And finally in his own subtle way he signed off his International career….!!!
” From 1929hrs consider me as retired…!! “
Hats off to the Champ..!!

Hello to all the Cricket Fans out there…!!! After a Long long break of Almost four months due to COVID19 scare we are finally getting back into the action with The New Normal. Finding it hard to stay away from Cricket we now have something to cheer for and its the England Lions taking on the Carribbean Kings with the First Test Match Post COVID.

With the Last Test being played between Pakistan and Bangladesh in January this year there has been a halt to Test Cricket. With the Normalcy coming back,ICC has also allowed the Cricketing Nations to have bilateral series starting of which the two Test playing nations having glorious history in Test Cricket lock horns on Wednesday Morning in The Ageas Bowl, Southampton and will be played in closed doors, with no crowds allowed and will be the First Instance in 143 year History of Test Cricket.
Also Both the Teams would be having ‘Black Lives Matter ‘ emblem on their Kits supporting Black Lives Matter movement.

New Regulations

With the COVID scare not settling down completely there are few precautions which have to be taken by both the Teams and even the officials as provided by The England and Wales Cricket Board(ECB) with a 74 page booklet.

• Only The Two Captains and Match Referee will go out for the Toss, No Cameras and No Handshakes After.
• Umpires will carry their own bails and will stop play for cleaning breaks and to Sanitise the stumps.
• Digital Team sheets and Scorers won’t share Pens and Pencils.
• If the ball goes to the stand for six then squad players wearing gloves will throw it back
• Players Can’t share gloves,shirts,water bottles,bags or sweaters.
• Media to follow the signs for medical screening.

The Teams

England

In the Absence of their Permanent Captain Joe Root not playing the First Test due to Personal Reasons , Ben Stokes will lead the Team with Jos Buttler to be the Vice-captain.

The Middle Order looks pale on paper as England lacks on Experience with Dom Bess, Zak Crawley and Ollie Pope the three new faces to England’s cricket arena. Zak Crawley is expected to bat at Number 4 in absence of Joe Root.
While the Bowling attack looks quite settled barring a selection headache between Woods and Broad, the Captain might go with the Latter having seen the Loads of Experience he has in Red Ball Cricket.

Windies

Captain Jason Holder also have a power packed bowling attack with Shannon Gabriel’s fitness confirmed during the Warm-up Games will definitely boost them up with confidence along with Kemar Roach and Alzarri Joseph.
The Big man Rahkeem Cornwall will be the Off-Spinner.
Batting Line up is more or less settled as Shai Hope, Kraigg Brathwaite and Roston Chase will be the Backbone of the Middle order with Shamrah Brooks taking up the Fourth Spot.

The Prediction

While both the teams will be itching to go out to the middle and perform, Hosts will have the advantage of the Home conditions with the Dukes ball swinging both ways but if the Visitors some how manages to get away with the intial spree of English Pace Battery then the tables can be turned and with the Experience of Hope and Chase you never know what to expect from the Carribbeans.
I’ll put my money on The English Team because of the Stability their bowling attack has.
All Eyes will be on these two teams and we can expect a thrilling game of cricket in coming days.

The Typical England Weather might play a spoil sport in waiving off a few sessions but the pitch as expected might have some pace assisting Fast Bowlers can counter the rain effect.
Toss as always going to be crucial….so get down on your couch along with your Laptop and enjoy a typical English summer from home.
Stay Home Stay Safe..!!!

Five days of grit, patience and perseverance along with concentration blend together results in the purest form of Cricket that is

TEST CRICKET.

With the Announcement of the World Test Championship with teams playing home and away tests and the final to be played in The Mecca of Cricket there is a fizz which had started doing rounds and now with names and Jersey Number written on the t-shirt it brought a whole new paradigm shift in the style in which the Game is being played and that too it has lived up-to the expectations.

Three Games being played in last day or two has increased the excitement a lot more with absolute dead rubbers resulting in interesting matches out of which the Arch Rivalry between the mighty Australians and the new world champions England has by far emerged as a clear winner. Let’s have a look at them at the core level.

SriLanka Vs NewZealand

With the Rain gods totally prepared to play a spoil sport in the proceedings , the Home team won the Toss and chose to bat Dhananjaya de silva and the captain Dimuth Karunaratne managed to score a Fighting total of 244 where the former played a scintillating knock of 109 and the captain managed a gritty 65. With NewZealand not starting so impressively and down at 85-3 losing their prime batsmen things looked gleam but Latham and Watling with their mighty 154 and 105 respectively managed to post a total of 431-6(D) creating a lead of 187 but the match already was standing on it’s last day which was almost going to end up in a draw but the blackcaps bowlers had other plan with tight lines and spin web managed to get hold over the Lankan batting line up resulting in a mighty innings and 65 runs defeat for The Home team.

India Vs Windies

Kohli and his men after winning both white ball format came strongly into the red ball format as well but it was a different ball game altogether because within their first session reduced to 25-3 losing all the prime batsmen and soon were down to 93-4 with Rahul again throwing away the start. Now the responsibility lied on the shoulder of the Vice Captain and the man whose place in the team was questioned due to his performance in recent encounters and proved all the critics wrong and played a fine knock of 81 taking the total to 297 with handy contributions from Sir Jadeja and Hanuma Vihari then the all firing Indian bowling didn’t disappoint and their oldest gun fired in the best possible manner managing 5 scalps for a mere 43 runs.

In the second innings also India hadn’t had the best of the starts but the Captain and the Vice Captain applied themselves and managed to score on a slow low wicket with the later getting his 10th century and with Vihari managing to get 93 , missed out on a century by a mere 7 runs.

After that with almost one and a half days left in the game and expecting some fight from the Caribbean the match seemed to be some dead rubber but the No. one ODI bowler bludgeoned the Windies batting apart with Windies reeling at 50-9 obviously with no hopes left but Bumrah has made a statement with his bowling to other teams as well.

England Vs Australia

With high stakes of regaining the Urn and etching to perform better the Englishmen wanted to win the test after losing the First one. With opting to bowl and getting the Aussies at a mere 179 Courtesy their X-Factor Jofra Archer who ended taking 6-45, the hopes of retaining the urn looked bright but when the hosts came out to bat with the Weather favouring them as well England were expected to post a large total but what followed was the mockery of a batting line up falling like a pack of cards for a two digit team score 67.

The Aussies piled upon their lead with the Assistance of the First Concussion Player in test’s Marnus Labuschagne who scored a gritty 80 to take the lead to 358.

In return the Englishmen were off to a dismal start losing both their openers cheaply. With 15 runs on the scoreboard the Captain took the onus on him with Joe Denly taking the chase forward adding up 126 runs for the 3rd Wicket Partnership.

Who would have imagined that the Sunday morning in Headingley would result in a historic one. Aussies bowling first 4 overs as maidens piling on the pressure which resulted in The Wicket of the captain. Bairstow and Stokes took England to lunch without losing any wicket further.

After lunch England immediately lost Bairstow and with one following the other pattern England lost the plot and were reduced to 286-9 , with lone warrior Stokes standing at one end along with Jake Leach.

The Climax was set for Mr. Stokes who didn’t disappoint anyone and Single handedly took the chase closer. Two or I should say 3 decisive moments came in the fag end of the chase.

First where Captain Paine took an unnecessary or Wasted a DRS , where a laymen could have judged it well where it was pitching way down leg.

Second, reverse sweeping one of Lyon, Stokes thought he has hit it past the third man fielder and from the Non- striking end Jake leach took off lending himself in trouble but Lyon choked their and fumbled while collecting the ball, giving life to English Hopes.

Third, the last ball of the over Stokes swept the one pitching on Middle and leg and missed it ,with a huge appeal Umpire Joel Wilson turned it down whereas the replays suggested it was a goner but because of the wasted review Australians had no one but only themselves to be blamed.

Hitting a wide one through the covers Stokes ensured a famous win over the Australians. One of the best one has ever seen in the Ashes.

Phew…!! What excitement and Nail biting finishes , we had an action pact weekend.

Just searching for the ones who told Test Cricket is boring and now has not much interest left. It still has it’s Charisma and Charm…!!! After all it’s a Gentleman game.😉

Who will be the the top four teams to qualify for the World Cup Semi-Finals ?? Exactly a month ago… The Answer by all Cricketing Pundits was it’s going to be India, Australia, England and the fight for the fourth place. Now we are done with 32 matches of the tournament and we see that the tournament favorites the most supple of them all England are left fighting the jitters that have sank in their campaign… Winning emphatically over the South Africans , being put down by Pakistan, They came back all guns blazing against the Bangladesh team crushing the Windies and scoring the Highest total of this world cup against Afghanistan a mamoth 397 proving their mark to all the fellow contenders sending out a clear message that It’s surely coming home this time everything fine and right for the Englishmen there comes a match which most of us would have thought How early could England finish it and take up their run-rate but the Old Guns had to fire some day, unfortunately for England it was the day where chasing a mere target of 233 against the Under Dogs Srilanka they fall apart with Malinga and Angelo Mathews both performing in the same match defeating England by 20 runs and throwing the tournament wide open after the Post match presentation England skipper Eoin Morgan was calm and composed refusing any sort of panic inside their camp thinking that they could easily make up to the semi’s by winning 2 out of the 3 matches left to play.

The Most Enthralling Rivalry after India Pakistan is the England Australia rivalry Hence the stage was set and to repeat the history again since they have not been able to defeat Aussies after the 1992 world cup even with the Toss flipping their side , choosing to Bowl under Overcast conditions with the likes of Wood ,Archer and Woakes they were unable to take a wicket till the score board ticked 123 , bowling more short of length or half volleys to the Aussie batsmen they clinged their way back into the game taking 2-3 wickets back to back and having a target of 286 in front of them to chase down.

With a batting order which was termed as the most destructive one in the tournament where the were merrily making 350’s and 400’s they bat deep till number 10, England fancied their chances of chasing it down quite easily but Aussies had other plans their left handed John Cena’s doppelganger Jason Behrendorff struck as early as the second delivery of the innings, England surely missed their regular opener Jason Roy first against Srilanka and now in the big game against Australia.

With Starc getting over the middle order the Englishmen were never in the game but still their only ray of hope left was Big Ben who was bamboozled by unarguably the ball of the tournament till now , A reverse swinging yorker by Mighty Mitchell Starc and hence they end losing by 64 runs which now quite has changed the equation for the semi’s.

Who would have imagined a month ago that Australia will be the first team to qualify for the Semi-final’s. Now 3 berths left with most probably India going to fill another one along with NewZealand who still are undefeated in the tournament. For England it’s do or die situation they have to win both of their games which is against India and NewZealand , tough times for them ahead..!!

Pakistan can now fancy their chances if they will all their matches with England losing any one of their matches along with Srilanka and Bangladesh also losing one.

Srilanka’s story is quite the same, their win against England have created a chance to reach the knock out stage , they also have to win all their remaining matches which will take them to 12 points.

Bangladesh on the other hand have to win both their remaining matches with wanting Srilanka to lose one of their match. Still everything will boil down to the Net Run Rate at the end of the league stage which finally will decide who goes through.

A very interesting week of the Cricket fever is about to grope the Cricket fans.

Just wait and watch…!!!

My Prediction for final four will be

Australia (already qualified), India , NewZealand and Pakistan ( This might be a surprise) let’s see…!!

Till then keep reading..

See ya..!!

We are already half way into the ODI Cricket’s Largest Carnival #CWC 2019. With first 4 teams currently placed in the Points table, expected to be clashing in the Semi-Finals with a change in their order till the end of the league matches.

Those 4 teams namely , are England,Australia, NewZealand and India (in order of their present position in the points table) as most of the cricketing pundits predicted. Still early days in the competition where there can be some changes especially for the Fourth contender because NewZealand has 5 matches to play that too with all the big teams.

But The top two teams , who being the Most Favorite right from the start of the tournament were England and India which brings us to throw some light on today’s agenda. While we closely observe both the teams they have got great openers, great one down batsmen, top finishers,top class bowlers which are effective both at the start and at the death overs.

Still there’s one reason which these teams have managed well is the management of senior players which I feel is felt by many other teams in the tournament.

Starting with SriLanka ,Pakistan,Windies,Bangladesh and South-Africa because these teams have those match winners the Old Guns which used to win matches for their teams.

Now then who are these players, will go one by one to analyse better

SriLanka–

One of the most dominating teams of all times coming from such a small country which had given many great players are now reeling somewhere in the bottom of the table, with 5 matches played till now with 2 of them resulting in washouts, one winning against Afghanistan and losing other two, their Salient players Lasith Malinga and Angelo Mathews have not clicked in the World Cup so far with the later managed to get 9 runs in 3 games scoring two ducks and The Slinga Malinga managed to get 4 wickets out of which 3 wickets coming against Afghanistan, with an economy of about 7 runs in over. Mathews is not bowling due to shoulder injury.

Pakistan-

Tagged as most Unpredictable this team has Shoaib Malik and Mohammad Hafeez where Malik managed to get 8 runs in 3 matches and the later managed to 71 runs in 3 matches as he showed glimpse of his batting against England but they have highly affected Pakistan in their ground feilding not able to save those valuable runs.

South-Africa-

With already on the verge of getting a ticket back to home their team suffered a big blow right after their second game into the tournament knowing that their ace bowler Dale Steyn was ruled out of the tournament. With another important player JP Duminy managing to get 11 runs in two important matches against India and England whereas Hashim Amla managed to score 25 runs in 3 matches scoring 40 odd against Afghanistan.

Windies-

Starting off very promisingly in the tournament they crushed Pakistan but since then showing some glimpse in bits in between but failed to cross the line they have thier vows with The Universe Boss not getting along in full flow….He amazed everyone against Bangladesh by not scoring a single run and got out playing 13 deliveries and his Strike rate remained a matter of concern.

Bangladesh-

With their senior players like Shakib dominating the tournament so far.. he’s one of the contender for Man of the Tournament but one player Masrafe Mortaza, who with his captaincy skills and Team Management has been a great performer so far but with his bowling hasn’t managed to make an impact with Bangladesh not having a hit the deck hard sort of bowler they are missing someone like Rubel Hossain and Taskin Ahmed. Masrafe has had very average stats with speed being somewhere between 125-130kph which certainly not troubling the batsmen these days.

These teams might certainly need some revival at some point in time but they really will have to think a bit faster.

With Senior Players Adding experience to the team should not result into a liability.

With teams like India who have the Best cricketing mind like MS Dhoni utilising him very smartly with change in his batting position sending Pandya up the order and if the situation permits he goes up at no. 5 also England managing Liam Plunkett in the same way using him where he can be lethal both with the bat and bowl.

The Other teams will have to tighten up their screws and somehow manage to get back to winning ways or else it will be to late for some of their Going-to-be-legend players as they want to give themselves a Farewell to remember….

“Raillu kattas (A Punjabi word which means a common player) rarely performs under pressure…” an excerpt from a series of tweets before the D-Day by The Wazir-e-Azam of Pakistan Imran Khan this pretty much sums up the story for Pakistan in a much hyped encounter that resulted in a deflated balloon.

With over 800,000 ticket applications and likely to get 1.5 billion viewership the stakes were high with the Toss flipped in favour of Pakistan then the National Anthems which gave goosebumps and a different feeling all together for the fans , then entered a new pair to open with all the questioning going around of how this gap is going to get filled, KL Rahul had different intentions it looked as if he was there to settle in there being very watchful during the Initial overs with an experienced yet composed Rohit Sharma barring the scare of Mohammad Amir during the Initial overs.

In-depth analysis:-

Good tight lines by the X-Factor Mohammad Amir at the start of the innings but something uncertain happened with him getting warned twice by On field Umpire Bruce Oxenford for running on the pitch(DANGER AREA) which the replays suggest Amir was aggressively lazy in his follow through which sort of disturbed his momentum.

The Score was 46-0 in 9 overs,first ball of the 10th over Rohit Sharma hits a ball from Wahab Riaz to deep mid wicket , calls for two with danger at the striker’s end where Rohit Sharma was gone for all money , Fakhar Zaman threw the ball at the Non-striker’s end and a chance gone begging when Rohit was at a mere score of 32.

Again with the Luck favouring Mr. Sharma in the 11th over this time was Shadab Khan, a wavered throw to the keeper and he was saved.

With 12 Overs in the game and Pakistan had there 5th bowler into the attack that shows how sceptical Pakistan was about their approach. But what it did was unstelled their main spin bowler as he gave 14 odd in his first over.

One of the Captivating moment came in the 27th over of the game where the 2nd ball of Hassan Ali’s over went on for a Six over covers which enlightened the memories of the Great Sachin Tendulkar when he clobbered one of Shoaib Akhtar during 2003 World cup.

With an opening stand of 136 then came the first breakthrough for Pakistan from Wahab Riaz who changed his coming round the wicket after being officially warned for the 2nd time for running on the pitch.

After that came the Indian Captain Virat Kohli who sort of played the role of a sheet anchor with Rohit playing the Aggressor role. Last ball of the 30th Over marked another Century added to the tally of Vice Captain who was all in readiness for his 4th double Hundered but unfortunately got out trying to play a scoop over fine leg caught by Wahab Riaz on the bowling of Hassan Ali , who in the end resulted giving most runs by a Pakistani bowler in a word cup fixture.

Hardik Pandya played a brisk knock of 26 in 19 balls got out playing the Helicopter shot over long on, laying way for the inventor MS Dhoni who did manage to add 1 run to the total that sort of jammed the indian juggernaut who was aiming nothing less than a 350 regard some good death bowling by the Pakistani bowlers especially Mohammad Amir.

With Rain coming into the spotlight for some time with 20 balls to spare.

With an hour of play washed due to rain Indian Batting unit came back to add more to their total but the wicket of Virat Kohli in the 48th over walking through on a sharp bouncer by Amir whereas the Replays suggested there was No Contact with the Bat after that Kohli was seen disappointed as he looked upon his bat and heard a creak sound from his bat.

With nothing much left for the inexperienced Shankar and Kedhar Jadhav with the bat India managed to get 336 on the board, posting a mammoth target of 337.

In reply Pakistan was watchful during there start where in the 3rd over of Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s spell he pulled off his Hamstring and went off which was a big blow as he was in his first spell only but it came as a blessing in disguise for the 3-D Vijay Shankar who in his very first ball of his world cup got Imam-Ul-Haq LBW with an inswinger.

But then there ship was steadied by Fakhar and a promising Babar Azam with a partnership of 104 runs which created a bit of unrestlessness in the Indian Camp where there was no Bhuvi to bowl anymore.

But then in the 24th Over a jaffa from Kuldeep Yadav got the better of Babar after which Fakhar also got out in the very next over of Kuldeep with a nothing shot.

Then the Pakistani contingent fell like a Pack of Cards with Hafeez and Shoaib Malik getting out on consecutive balls by Hardik Pandya.

Sarfaraz also chopped one on to his stumps becoming the 2nd scalp of Shankar then the Rain Gods came again with Pakistan reeling at 166-6 after 35 overs.

With the play started again only to complete the mere formalities Pakistan got a Monstrous target of 136 in 5overs where they managed to get 212 after the 40 overs

With Indian comfortably winning by 89 runs.

The Conclusion:-

As Anticipated it has all the elements only till first few overs and a might fight by Babar and Fakhar but all in all it ended up being an One sided Encounter revealing the same story of Pakistan getting deflated in crunch games.

WHAT NEXT:-

FOR PAKISTAN

With four games to go they have to win all of them with there next with South Africa they have to up their Ante and have to play reasonably well and with a positive approach.

FOR INDIA

A bit of worry with Bhuvi not able to play next 3 games with Shikhar already sitting out Shami will have a chance to prove himself and next fixture against Afghanistan… India find themselves looking to confirm their semifinal birth….!!

With that time to say goodbye will come with analysis of other games as well….!!!

Keep reading…!!

Signing off

Milan Sharma

Well well well with the rain gods winning 3 out of the 19 matches that have been played in the Marquee event so far there comes a match for which the cricket fans will be glued to there T.V sets.

The stage is set for a super Sunday and of course the Father’s Day as well two team goes head to head with each other.

Well there’s one team which is very poised and look balanced on paper and the Other the most Unpredictable of them all. Yes..!!! its INDIA VS PAKISTAN…!!! 16th june when the national anthems being played it’s two teams playing an international 50 over cricket match.

Now then, Is it the most anticipated clash…!! Where India winning both of there matches convincingly while the match with NewZealand washed out and Pakistan submitting themselves to Windies and a great comeback win over the world cup favorites England then submitting themselves to The Mighty Australians..!!!

ODDS IN FAVOUR FOR PAKISTAN:-
It might be because of the Unpredictablity of Pakistan. An Overcast day at Manchester winning the toss, allowing the Indian Team to bat first bringing back the memories of the CT 2017 final where that first spell of Mohammad Amir slaying the hopes of Indian Fans with Wahab Riaz(The last moment selection) bringing in back with there inswing to almost all the RIGHT HANDERS in the Indian Side mind you there’s no Shikhar Dhawan and with KL Rahul to open first time,they have there chances. Getting 2-3 wickets upfront penetrating into the middle order which by far has not been tested and Kedar Jadhav coming out of Injury had not faced a ball yet. With the firepower of four pacers namely Amir,Wahab,Hasan Ali and Shaheen Afridi it can be troublesome for the Indian batting line up….!!!

Now coming to there batting doesn’t seem to be promising where the Openers not getting along to have big parternships, Fakhar Zaman getting out being impatient and Imam-Ul-Haq getting out straying down the leg side for 3 consecutive times in as many matches which boils down to Babar Azam who has class, elegance and potential to become Pakistan’s all time great but then again throwing it away on crucial times. With The Prof Mohammed Hafeez not clicking barring the match against England getting out to a Gentle loosener from Maxwell and Shoaib Malik not even seen in the scorecard even once they have to get it right on the D-Day..!! Asif Ali needs to click as well with Imad Wasim can be a good alternate to him provided he bowls spin and bats well deep can be seen as a change..!!

ODDS IN FAVOUR FOR INDIA:-

With No Shikhar Dhawan in the side India’s batting order seems to be a bit disturbed because the set pair is not there and which again pressurize the Indian Captain Virat Kohli if there’s a wicket in the Powerplay and if any wicket falls who is it going to be whether it’s the Experienced Dinesh Karthik or the 3-D Vijay Shankar will have to wait and watch. We might see a promotion for the All time great M.S Dhoni at 4. With the likes of Pandya and Kedar finishing it off.

As far as the bowling is concerned India is well balanced with the likes of Bhuvneshwar and No. 1 ODI Bowler Jasprit Bumrah and we might see Mohammad Shami getting a game with the overcast conditions as mentioned by The Captain.

Yuzvendra Chahal the leg spinner with Hardik Pandya and Vijay Shankar (if he plays) an added stephany to the Indian Bowling convoy can prove fortuitous.

MY PREDICTION:-

It’s the toss that will be Crucial but for me It’s TEAM INDIA who are going to be the favorites with more balance and experience under there belt.

Let’s hope for a good game of cricket on Sunday and not a one sided encounter…!!

See ya…!!!

Milan Sharma