Pakistan can survive without Usman Tariq, but they cannot afford to be careless with the spin balance he leaves behind. The new captain Sahibzada Farhan, inherits a team that dropped seven of its World Cup players and the leading wicket-taker from that tournament. Tariq took 18 T20I wickets at 11.16, the best average among the […]
Pakistan can survive without Usman Tariq, but they cannot afford to be careless with the spin balance he leaves behind. The new captain Sahibzada Farhan, inherits a team that dropped seven of its World Cup players and the leading wicket-taker from that tournament. Tariq took 18 T20I wickets at 11.16, the best average among the […]
KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer and Ruturaj Gaikwad all sit ahead of Naman Dhir for the middle slots, and his route in is a role rather than a ranking. He has batted once in ODIs, making 30 off 21 balls in the third West Indies match, but his off-spin hands India a sixth bowling option the […]
India’s best answer to Shimron Hetmyer is Kuldeep Yadav, though that is a judgment rather than a statistic. Hetmyer’s pace of scoring leaves bowlers little time to adjust. Hetmyer hit a record 19 sixes at the T20 World Cup and rejoined West Indies for the T20I leg in India. Head-to-head data on India’s bowlers is […]
Abhishek Sharma and Ishan Kishan carry the biggest question, while Sanju Samson has already lost his wicket to Akeal Hosein. Hosein reaches the five-match T20I series in India on 99 caps, with a plan built on data rather than history. His left-arm spin has met few of India’s top order often, so this piece tests […]
India’s calendar asks for up to 17 matches in 57 days, but that is a ceiling, not a plan. Between 6 October and 1 December, India play five T20Is against West Indies, then 12 matches in New Zealand. Only the T20I squad is confirmed, so full workloads cannot yet be counted. The schedule demands careful […]
Liam Scott is the best-placed candidate because he offers the most useful blend of seam bowling and batting in the touring group. The 25-year-old has no Test cap, and rivals who do sit ahead of him. Australia A are in Puducherry preparing for the five-Test series that begins in Nagpur on 21 January 2027. His […]
Kohli needs 484 runs at the 2027 tournament to pass Tendulkar’s all-time total, and he has said it will be his last for India. He trails by 483 now. Kohli already owns the single-tournament record with 765 runs from 2023, while Tendulkar’s 2,278 across six tournaments remains the benchmark. At his career rate of 48.5 […]
Hope’s unbeaten 162 from 143 balls beat India because West Indies attacked a pace attack that leaked 7.5 an over, not because they cracked the spinners. They chased 352 at New Chandigarh on 3 October, their highest successful ODI chase. Hope kept wicket for 50 overs, then opened and batted through the whole innings. The […]
The best pace trio for Durban is Marco Jansen, Dane Paterson and Kagiso Rabada, as long as Rabada convinces the medical staff he is ready. Picking them gives South Africa a leader with the new ball, a left-armer for variety and one bowler who squeezes the scoring at the other end, a blend that suits […]
Virat Kohli is the most dangerous of the three because he combines the biggest run total with the strongest record whenever India chase a target. KL Rahul scores faster and is a strong second as a finisher, while Rohit Sharma has two hundreds from 12 matches. Across the home ODIs played since the 2023 World […]
The tougher path runs through Group B, and it has little to do with individual star power. Every team there, from South Africa and New Zealand to England, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, rates at least 83 on the ICC ODI table, so there are no free points on offer. India’s side of the draw carries […]