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Ya. Read on it. Seems like a formality has to be done.

Followed the warm up games today. I dare say India looks the most balanced. Only concern is form of Kohli at 3 and Hardik at 6. If Hardik isn't gonna bowl we should play Kishan in his place as he is a proper bat and in great form too.

Also Bhuvi isn't anywhere near his best. We will be better off playing Shardul in his place.

I agree. If Pandya is not bowling, the left-handed Ishan Kishan is a much better bet.

But there is a feeler Ishan is not best suited for middle order. It has to be Sky or Shreyas iyer.

They should really give lot of games to Shardul and Deepak chahar, to see how it goes. But can’t be done now but for future.

Still if Hardik gets to form he will be a great finisher and if he can bowl a couple of overs in key matches, we should persist with him.

Ishan did very well for MI batting at 4 in 2020 IPL. SKY will definitely play. However I am sure Hardik will play pakistan game even if he won't bowl as his stats against Pakistan are quite good.

I have enjoyed the start of World cup so far. Associates have been good. Bangladesh is in trouble against Oman tonight whose bowling has been quite impressive but ground catching has been poor. Must win for Bangladesh otherwise they are our of world cup.

What a start to the T20I world cup today!
Match 1
South Africa choked in the very first game with a low score of 118 but they were brilliant in the field and did give the Aussies some nervous moments, though Australia managed to squeeze through.

Match 2
West Indies batting display was pathetic and folded up for 55 :Frustrati
Their bowling and fielding was good and they did manage to get 4 English wickets. Though England had a chance to finish off the game inside the powerplay 6 overs, they took 8.2 overs in the end.

Now looking forward to the big game of Mauka Mauka tomorrow, India-Pakistan clap:

I hope India Pakistan match is not played on the same pitch that hosted England westindies match, it was a bowlers paradise. Would prefer a batting pitch to enjoy the game. What matters most is India winning.
Jai Hind..:Cheering:

Anyone else bothered by how many ads there are? I'm watching on Hotstar and the stream cuts to an ad immediately after every wicket, not even showing you the replay. There's a lot of commentary that gets missed as well and it only cuts back to the cricket when the bowler is halway through his run up. It's bizzare how bad it is. For a country that has the highest number of cricket fans and spectators, it's very disappointing.

Infact that’s probably the reason we have so many Ads. The platform knows viewership would be insane and hence squeeze in as many ads as possible maximising revenue. :)

Can’t wait for tomorrow’s indo-pak clash. Hope we win and mauka mauka continues :D

You get an Ad in between overs as well. There are these pop up’s that keep coming and they cover the score line. This is if you’re viewing the match on your mobile.

It’s a pain. A real pain. And I don’t think the media cares. It’ll only get worse over time and we will have to endure this.

I think gone are those days where we use to fear Pakistan's bowling attack. Today, we are much equal to their bowling strength. On paper both teams look quite similar however matches arent played on paper.

Whichever team could perform under pressure today will come out as winners. It is going to be a very close match and you never know ICC may want another Super Over between these arch rivals for better viewership.

I hope Virat fires today and we pick the best XI with both Ashwin & Jaddu playing. Bhuvi is out of form so Shami & Bhumrah are certain.

My XI would be:

R Sharma
I Kishan
KL Rahul
V Kohli
SKY
Pant
S Thakur
R Jadeja
R Ashwin
M Shami
J Bhumrah

There should be Pandya, instead of Kishan, if Hardik is fit to bat and field.

They can drop Kohli too, if India is going to bat first, he is out of form and usually doesn’t know how to read the pitch and set a right target.

Even I wish Team India drops Kohli and plays either Shreyas Iyer or even Hardik Pandya in his place. But that is something which is not going to happen till this World Cup atleast. Once he has relinquished his captaincy, high probability that his form wont keep him in the playing XI for long.

Ishan Kishan is in a form of his life and has done brilliant when asked to open. Just like KL Rahul, we must take advantage of current form to have a quick fire start.

Hardik Pandya isnt at his best. His weakness for Short Balls outside off stump is known to all. Australians literally made him look like an ordinary batter by bowling short of a line outside off stump. His cross batted shots wont always connect. He isnt bowling so not really an all rounder any more. Purely as a Batter, Ishan Kishan makes more sense.

Kohli and later Rohit during the second warm up game already gave hints on the team composition, so those who are expecting Ishan to play and Kohli to sit out (seriously ? he's the captain!) are day dreaming.

The planned team composition seems to be 5 top order batsmen - Rahul, Rohit, Kohli, Surya, Pant.
Hardik will play as the 6th batsman (most likely won't bowl)
5 bowlers - 3+2 or vice versa combination of pacers and spinners depending on the pitch and opposition. Sixth bowler duties if needed could be between Rohit, Kohli and Surya.

*Ishan will play if Surya is not in good form or if Pant is injured/given a break.

I'm not too confident about Hardik playing purely as a batsman - take pace off the ball and he struggles to connect the ball!

Are you expecting Kohli to drop himself out of the game today ?

Windies were beyond terrible. Can't even blame pitch for the rubbish shots. England looked shaky to even chase that small total. I don't see both of these teams making the finals.

SA vs Australia was close but again not fun. This world cup will be won by whose spinners bowl the best and whose batting can stand against the spin of opposition.

Coming to today matches.
SL vs Bangladesh is at Sharjah. Expect a 130-140 score with spin again getting the best of everyone. I think SL should win it cos of superior bowling attack.

India vs Pak
I always see this at some place with lots of people. But due to karvachauth will have to see at home only. Our record against Pakistan is 100% in World cups and I expect it to continue today.

Team-
Rohit
Kl Rahul
Kohli
Sky
Pant
Hardik
Jadeja
Ashwin
Bhuvi
Shami
Bumrah

This will be the order. Few changes like Varun for Ashwin or Thakur for Bhuvi can be made as we don't know till last moment how the pitch is and what kohli/Shastri are thinking.

I am amused at people wanting to drop Kohli who is statstically the best player in our team and the best record in world cups for us. Anyways, that's an opinion which differs. Also, Ishan is our back up opener and Iyer is in reserves so both of them won't make it to the 11 until injuries.

The only threat from Pakistan bowling line up is Shaheen Shah afridi. He has great left arm pace and swings it upfront which traditionally our top order struggles with. If we see him off then it's much easier.

Btw, I agree with everyone. Hardik without bowling isn't a good option. His weakness against short ball and outside off at death overs is now exploited by everyone. Even Ishan at his place would have been better. But, Kohli and Shastri are backing Hardik as pure batter so he will play. So, let's hope he comes good.

Even with the form Kohli is in, he is much better than these two. In fact, Kohli and Iyer play the same role in the team but Hardik has a different role altogether. You cant replace Kohli / Iyer with Hardik or vice versa.