Australia lost its first match of World Cup 2023 against India by six wickets, and then lost their second match against South Africa by a massive margin of 134 runs.
After the second consecutive defeat, former Australian cricketer Michael Clarke said that the strategy of the team in the World Cup is beyond comprehension. “Australia has prepared terribly for the World Cup,” he said.
Calling it “incomprehensible” to field Josh Ingles instead of Alex Carey, Clarke asked if the latter was responsible for the defeat against India. “I don’t know what the positives are so far. How can you take Alex Carey to the World Cup? If you have taken it, then why did you drop him after one match?”
Firmly stating that he was not disrespecting Josh Ingles, Clarke said, “I don’t know him but I’ve heard he’s talented. Josh Ingles wasn’t good behind the wickets. He couldn’t even bat. I think Pat Cummins is better for captaincy.”
On the other hand, former captain Mark Taylor said that Australia’s strategy has not been aggressive, adding that the team is waiting for the opportunity and not trying to get the opportunity. “In Asian conditions, you have to kill to get the batsmen out. If your approach is defensive, think of saving boundaries, then so many boundaries will be scored.
Cricket fans are holding their breath in anticipation of the showdown between arch-rivals Pakistan and India, scheduled to be played on Saturday. The match is not just another game for fans, it’s an emotional rollercoaster.
Pakistan’s victory against India will not just be a surprise for Pakistani cricket fans, it will also be a double surprise for Pakistan’s captain Babar Azam as the day after the Pak-India match is his birthday. Pakistan’s victory could be the sweetest surprise for Babar Azam.
Remember that this arch-rival match will be played on October 14 and Babar Azam’s birthday is October 15.
Fast bowler Naseem Shah has been given a golden visa for Dubai, on which the strike bowler expressed his happiness and declared the Gulf city his second home.
Naseem Shah shared the news of receiving the golden visa on social media and wrote that it is a great honor to have received a golden visa for the country that he considers his second home.
Australia’s poor run continues at the World Cup with a massive defeat at the hands of South Africa on Thursday night.
Before the match, played at Lucknow’s Ratanshree Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium, Australian captain Pat Cummins won the toss and invited South Africa to bat first.
Opening batsman Quinton de Kock and captain Temba Bavuma started the innings for South Africa, with a solid partnership of 108 runs, but then Bavuma was caught out after scoring 35 runs off Glenn Maxwell in the 20th over.
De Kock was dismissed for 109 runs while Markram played an innings of 56 runs. Klaasen scored 29 runs, David Miller scored 17 runs and Marco Jensen scored 26 runs, thus South Africa scored 311 runs for the loss of seven wickets in the given 50 overs.
For Australia, Mitchell Starc, and Glenn Maxwell took 2, 2 while Hazlewood, Cummins, and Zampa took one wicket each.
The Australian top-order proved to be a wall of sand in the chase, with none of the batsmen being able to hold their own against the brilliant bowling of the African bowlers. Chasing a target of 312 runs, six Australian batsmen returned to the pavilion in short order.
Marence Labushin put up a little resistance in front of the South African bowlers, but he too was out on 46 runs. Mitchell Starc put up 27, captain Pete Cummins 22, and Zampa scored 11 runs, so the entire Australian team was bowled out for 177 runs in the 41st over.
On behalf of South Africa, Rabada dismissed three players by giving 33 runs in eight overs, while Marco Jensen, Keshav Maharaj and Tabriz Shamsi took two wickets each.
Reuters: Cricket fever has gripped Ahmedabad ahead of Saturday’s World Cup group stage clash between arch-rivals India and Pakistan and a visit to hospitals near the venue of the match in the western Indian city clearly shows the degree of excitement.
Quite a few of the hospitals have seen a sudden influx of patients booked in for check-ups involving a night’s stay to coincide with the most anticipated match of the World Cup.
Several doctors told local media the rush for check-up ‘packages’ was an ingenious way to find affordable accommodation as hotel costs have soared up to 20-fold ahead of the match.
“We have come across some cases of people coming to watch the India-Pakistan match also taking an appointment for health check-ups and staying in hospitals,” Tushar Patel, President of the Ahmedabad Medical Association, told Reuters.
The Ahmedabad Hospitals and Nursing Homes Association has discouraged its members from accommodating such fans. “We have asked our members not to entertain such requests. Hospitals are not meant for non-patients,” its president Bharat Gadhavi told Reuters.
THREE WARS
The Asian neighbors have fought three wars since becoming separate countries in 1947 and the relationship further soured after gunmen killed 166 people in Mumbai in 2008, which India blamed on a Pakistani militant group.
While bilateral cricket became a casualty of geopolitical realities, it also whetted the appetite for a clash between neighbours who play each other only in multi-team events.
India and Pakistan head into the showdown having both won their opening two matches at the tournament.
The first batch of tickets for Saturday’s game were sold out within an hour of going on sale in August, prompting the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to release another 14,000 earlier this month.
Ahmedabad resident Hemish Patel and his friends, after several days of failed attempts, grabbed four tickets, each costing 6,000 Indian rupees ($72.15).
“We logged into the site with multiple devices,” he said.
“We constantly kept on refreshing the site and were able to book within 10 minutes after the sale of tickets began.” Patel was one of the lucky few.
Tickets are fetching up to 25 times face value on resale and city police arrested four youths on Tuesday for selling fakes.
Airfare has surged up to four times and Indian railways will run a pair of super fast trains linking Mumbai and Ahmedabad.
PERFECT VENUE
The 134,000-capacity Narendra Modi Stadium, which hosted former US President Donald Trump in 2020 and Australia Prime Minister Anthony Albanese earlier this year, looks a perfect arena for cricket’s fiercest rivalry.
The city has been declared a ‘no-drone zone’ on Saturday, and 11,000 security personnel will be deployed for the high-profile match, Ahmedabad police commissioner GS Malik said.
#WATCH | Gujarat | On security arrangements for the India vs Pakistan ICC World Cup match scheduled for October 14, Ahmedabad Police Commissioner GS Malik says, “Ahmedabad Police has made a lot of arrangements. Besides the total arrangement for the match, we have extra… pic.twitter.com/9yt3XKBsXF
On their first tour of India since the 2016 T20 World Cup, Pakistan were accorded a warm welcome in Hyderabad, where they played their first two matches.
India have a perfect 7-0 record against Pakistan at ODI World Cups and while the rivalry assumes the Orwellian concept of serious sport — “war minus the shooting” — players from both sides share good relations.
During the Sri Lanka leg of the Asia Cup last month, Pakistan fast bowler Shaheen Afridi gave Jasprit Bumrah a gift for the Indian’s newborn baby and the video went viral.
Best moment of the day
Shaheen Afridi gets a gift for new dad Jasprit Bumrah ❤️
It will be a special occasion for Indian Liyakat Khan, whose daughter Samiya is married to Pakistan fast bowler Hasan Ali. “My wife went to Pakistan in 2021 when my daughter was expecting her first child. We will meet again … I can’t wait to hold my grandchild,” Khan told the Indian Express newspaper.
The Pakistan women’s cricket team, under the leadership of Nida Dar, has been selected for a tour of Bangladesh later this month. The Pakistani team will leave for Bangladesh on October 20, where they are scheduled to play six white-ball cricket matches, including three one-day internationals of the ICC Championship.
Bangladesh Cricket Board will announce the schedule of these matches later.
The Pakistani women’s team will participate in a six-day camp at Ghani Institute Lahore from October 14 and then leave for Bangladesh via Dubai on October 20.
During Wednesday’s World Cup 2023 match played between India and Afghanistan, India comprehensively won by eight wickets. Rohit Sharma was declared Man of the Match for his 131 runs. This match was played at the Arun Jaitely stadium.
A video has gone viral from the stadium in which a group of Indian fans are seen punching an individual who is holding an Afghan flag in his hand.
An Afghan fan, supporting Afghanistan cricket team was beaten up by a group of Indian fans during a cricket match in India. If they are doing this to an Afghan what will they do to a Pakistani? pic.twitter.com/t47oWHdCon
Pakistani Cricket team opener Abdullah Shafiq scored a century in Tuesday’s match against Sri Lanka. Now a video is going viral on social media in which Abdullah Shafiq is seen singing a song, ‘Tera yaqeen kiyun menay kiya nahin,’ while playing a guitar.
He posted this video on social media platform X on July 26, 2020.
Abdullah Shafique is now one of my favourite batters from Pakistan. Not because he sang an Emraan Hashmi song but yeah, he did sing an Emraan Hashmi song @imabd28@emraanhashmi ❤
Pakistan cricket team has departed from Hyderabad for Ahmedabad to play a match against India on October 14.
During the flight, Pakistani team members were offered a surprise cake by the flight crew, in celebration of their highest run chase record against Sri Lanka. The Pakistani team was given a grand welcome at the hotel on arrival at Ahmedabad, with players being presented with traditional shawls.
After the match against Sri Lanka, Mohammad Rizwan issued a statement on social media, stating, “This victory is for our brothers and sisters in Gaza,” along with a prayer emoji.
This was for our brothers and sisters in Gaza.
Happy to contribute in the win. Credits to the whole team and especially Abdullah Shafique and Hassan Ali for making it easier.
Extremely grateful to the people of Hyderabad for the amazing hospitality and support throughout.
Indian sports journalist Vikrant Gupta did not like Rizwan’s tweet and he questioned the ICC. Vikrant Gupta shared Rizwan’s statement on social media and wrote, “Isn’t cricketers banned from making political and religious statements during ICC events? I remember Mahendra Singh Dhoni was asked to remove the Army emblem from his gloves during the 2019 World Cup.”
He asked the ICC whether Rizwan was allowed to say what he did.
Is this allowed @ICC ? I remember Dhoni was asked to remove the Army insignia from his gloves during the World Cup 2019 Aren’t cricketers prohibited from making political and religious statements during ICC events? https://t.co/3k5uKf4mXH
ICC shut down his question with a simple reply: “It is outside the field of play and the jurisdiction of the ICC. It is up to the individual and their board how they want to use their individual platforms,” the ICC wrote.
The @ICC says it’s from outside the field of play, not within their domain. Up to the individual and his cricket board https://t.co/5nc5Fai8eX
It is also worth mentioning here that while many Indian users, including Indian journalists, criticized Rizwan, Pakistani fans appreciated Rizwan’s tweet..
Here are fan reactions on X:
don’t be a snitch. Nothing worse. Did his tweet really hurt you that much? Strange ♂️
Sir we respect you par har ksi ka apna opinion hota ha to ap ICC k abu na banein or na hi Rizi bhai k. Unhoon ne bhi kbi apki bat pe kha ha ke ye banda mra bary me ku tweet kr raha. Koi humanity b hoti ha insan me but asal bat ye ha wo ap me nai so kam se kam rakehin Shukria!
He came to the field he chased the target, make a ton and went home , he’s free there to do anything .. What about BCCI player jadeja participating and campaigning for parliament seat for his BJP wife while BCCI chairman is BJP’s top leader’s son? Is it allowed?
