Thursday, December 26

Tag: PAK

Match Preview – Australia vs Pakistan, Pakistan in Australia 2023/24, 3rd Test
2Jan By adminNo Comments
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Match Preview – Australia vs Pakistan, Pakistan in Australia 2023/24, 3rd Test

Big picture: Series gone, but Pakistan have WTC points to play forIt's David Warner week at the SCG, but there might be a competitive Test match in store in Sydney if the pitch and the weather play ball.Pakistan gave Australia a true scare in Melbourne and save for a handful of unforced errors in the field, and if you side with Mohammad Hafeez, some "inconsistent umpiring" and DRS calls, they could have pulled off a Christmas miracle and beaten the home side.As it were, though, the match and the series were lost. But that does not mean that Sydney be a dull dead rubber. Vital World Test Championship [WTC] points aside, the two sides have history here. Pakistan should have won in 2010. Not unlike Melbourne last week, they somehow shot themselves in the foot to lose the unlosable Test match...
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Match Preview – England vs Pakistan, ICC Cricket World Cup 2023/24, 44th Match
10Nov By adminNo Comments
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Match Preview – England vs Pakistan, ICC Cricket World Cup 2023/24, 44th Match

Big picture: Pakistan chasing the almost impossibleSo here we are: one last time in the group stages at Eden Gardens, and for both of these sides - almost certainly - one last time at this World Cup. As title defences go, it was an all-timer of a disaster for England, comparable not just with other cricketing fizzle-fests, but perhaps all sport: think France at the FIFA World Cup in 2002, or Lleyton Hewitt's first-round exit at Wimbledon the year later. England went nearly a month between their only two World Cup wins, with six defeats - many of them pastings - littering their campaign, one so poor it could yet knock them out of the 2025 Champions Trophy.England's brand of cricket has been high-risk-high-reward for about eight years now, and having enjoyed so much white-ball success with ...
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Match Preview – Australia vs Pakistan, ICC Cricket World Cup 2023/24, 18th Match
19Oct By adminNo Comments
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Match Preview – Australia vs Pakistan, ICC Cricket World Cup 2023/24, 18th Match

Big picture: Advantage whom?It's that strange time in the long group stage of the World Cup where the nebulous concept of momentum appears to matter more than a side's actual position on the points table. Pakistan are ahead of Australia every way you slice it - on points, on net run rate. But given Pakistan's penchant for panic the moment anything goes wrong, and Australia's ability to strike when they most need it, this is a contest between a team primed to make a charge, and one that can feel their opponent's breath on their necks. As any Pakistan supporter will tell you, the one team they don't want to play when they really need a win is the one in yellow.After hidings against India and South Africa, Australia demonstrated they weren't about to give up on their campaign with a whimper....
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Match Preview – Pakistan vs Sri Lanka, ICC Cricket World Cup 2023/24, 8th Match
9Oct By adminNo Comments
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Match Preview – Pakistan vs Sri Lanka, ICC Cricket World Cup 2023/24, 8th Match

Big pictureIt seems bizarre, given this is a World Cup game, but just three weeks ago Pakistan and Sri Lanka played an ODI that arguably mattered more. They battled it out to the final ball of a knockout match at the Asia Cup, with Sri Lanka stealing the win and booking a berth in the final. Hindsight might cast Tuesday's fixture in Hyderabad to be just as pivotal, but at the moment nothing feels so urgent, so drastic, as everything did in Colombo.Both sides have played one game in this World Cup. Neither made the strongest first impression, but Pakistan have two points, while Sri Lanka have bruises. The mitigating circumstance, of course, is that Pakistan played Netherlands and still looked shaky during certain passages of play, while Sri Lanka took on a South African batting juggernaut,...
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Match Preview – India vs Pakistan, Asia Cup 2023, 9th Match, Super Four
9Sep By adminNo Comments
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Match Preview – India vs Pakistan, Asia Cup 2023, 9th Match, Super Four

Big picture: Rain threat in ColomboThe tournament has moved to Colombo, with India and Pakistan looking to resume their rivalry after rain had held sway in Pallekele. The weather, however, continues to be a threat. It could be another wet day on September 10, with chances of precipitation up to 90%. The is a reserve day now for this game - the only match apart from the final to have that luxury - but the forecast once again is similarly bleak.India's match against Nepal too was affected by rain. If the weather clears up in Colombo, India will test out the readiness of KL Rahul and Jasprit Bumrah for the ODI World Cup.Rahul hasn't played in an ODI since March while Bumrah hasn't bowled in one since July. And in order to accommodate Rahul in the XI, India's team management might have to ben...
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Match Preview – India vs Pakistan, Asia Cup 2023, 3rd Match, Group A
1Sep By adminNo Comments
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Match Preview – India vs Pakistan, Asia Cup 2023, 3rd Match, Group A

Big picture: Face-to-face in ODIs after four yearsIf someone tells you there are bigger rivalries than India vs Pakistan at the 2023 Asia Cup, do not trust them.Of late, the Afghanistan vs Pakistan and Sri Lanka vs Bangladesh games might have been spicier on the field, and nastier off it, but the history - both cricketing and otherwise - and the quality of the players make India vs Pakistan arguably the biggest rivalry in world cricket. That they rarely face each other these days makes every match a highly anticipated one.And that is also one of the reasons why it's not easy to say who the favourites are for Saturday's game in Pallekele.The Asia Cup was supposed to mark the return of Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul. While Iyer has been declared fit, Rahul is yet to attain full fitness, and that...
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Match Preview – Sri Lanka vs Pakistan, Pakistan in Sri Lanka 2023, 1st Test
15Jul By adminNo Comments
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Match Preview – Sri Lanka vs Pakistan, Pakistan in Sri Lanka 2023, 1st Test

Big picture: Sri Lanka start as favouritesOn July 16, Sri Lanka played Pakistan in Galle in the first of two Test matches, with the second Test starting on the 24th, also in Galle. That statement is true for both 2022 and 2023.It's not clear why this series has been set up to perfectly mirror Pakistan's tour of Sri Lanka last year, but it provides the opportunity to evaluate each side's progress in the interceding 12 months. Sri Lanka begin as obvious favourites despite mixed results in the past 12 months primarily because of their level of familiarity with conditions; six of the hosts' last eight Test matches have come at this venue, and four of those games have resulted in wins for them. A relatively settled Test side who recognise their best red-ball squad, Sri Lanka went on to challen...
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