ICC announce World Cup 2019 warm-up fixtures, Pakistan to face Afghanistan and Bangladesh

[Abdullah719]

[hisham_ashraf]

The good thing is that Pakistan will play 5 ODI's Vs England just before the world cup so it doesn't matter if the warm ups are against the weakest teams of the tournament.The preparation leading to the world cup looks good.

[Abdullah719]

Also in April: 5 ODIs vs Australia

27th April: Tour match vs Kent
29th April: Tour match vs Northants
1st May: Tour match vs Leics
5th May: T20I vs England
8th May: ODI vs England
11th May: ODI vs England
14th May: ODI vs England
17th May: ODI vs England
19th May: ODI vs England
24th May: Warm-up vs Afghanistan
26th May: Warm-up vs Bangladesh

Pakistan's first World Cup match is on 31st May. Extremely busy schedule.

[latecut]

5 ODI against England is the best warm up before world cup.

[Boi]

Wouldn’t be surprised one bit if some key players get injured in the lead up. This is probably a funny case of having too many games just before the tournament. Should use an extended swuad for the Saud/Eng series and rotate players every game, especially the bowlers.

[Manager101]

I fear fatigue will further harm Pakistan chances considering the England tour until and unless the management decides to rotate players in each match of the series.

[Boi]

Wouldn’t be surprised one bit if some key players get injured in the lead up. This is probably a funny case of having too many games just before the tournament. Should use an extended swuad for the Saud/Eng series and rotate players every game, especially the bowlers.

Squad*, Aus/Eng*

[Manager101]

Squad*, Aus/Eng*

Nah, one of your previous word was correct i.e Saud. He is the only hope for Pakistan.

[Cpt. Rishwat]

Pakistan have been given far less testing warm up games than all the other major nations. If I was into conspiracy theories I would think that the organisers are trying to make sure Pakistan go into the WC under-prepared as possible. Every other nation has at least one tough game against a decent seam attack.

[Manager101]

Pakistan have been given far less testing warm up games than all the other major nations. If I was into conspiracy theories I would think that the organisers are trying to make sure Pakistan go into the WC under-prepared as possible. Every other nation has at least one tough game against a decent seam attack.

But we have a five matches series against England in the same month.

[Amjid Javed]

More than enough Warm up and ODI games before world cup so there should be no excuses if the team flops during world cup.

[Green Patriot]

The prep is a little too much.

I dont want key players getting injured right before the worldcup.

[moghul]

Afghanis and BD couldn't they give us better opposition to play practice games ?

[topspin]

Faheem Ashraf will be licking his lips against the Bangladesh bowlers, making full use of the 30m boundary on one side as he did in the CT warm up.

[Majid Khan]

It would be good if as a sticky thread on PP, can someone create a calendar or itenary of all Pakistan fixtures till the World Cup.

[Madplayer]

Good. Now Pakistani fans have an excuse. Not enough good practice

[Abdullah719]

It would be good if as a sticky thread on PP, can someone create a calendar or itenary of all Pakistan fixtures till the World Cup.

http://www.pakpassion.net/fixtures/p...-schedule.html

All confirmed fixtures are here. Five ODIs vs Australia don't have confirmed dates yet but are scheduled to be in April I think.

[Cpt. Rishwat]

But we have a five matches series against England in the same month.

Which is why I brought it to everyone's attention, so that could be clarified before the conspiracy theories got underway.

[Mirpur express]

Faheem Ashraf will be licking his lips against the Bangladesh bowlers, making full use of the 30m boundary on one side as he did in the CT warm up.

Faheem hater spotted lol give the guy a break 🤦🏽*♂️

[Amjid Javed]

Bangladesh and Afghans should have confidence going into world cup after winning the warm up games.

[PakPremi]

It would be good top nations do not play us before so they would not get to gauge our weaknesses/strengths, bar Aus and England as we playing them before the practice games.

[Abdul]

Afghanis and BD couldn't they give us better opposition to play practice games ?

As if Pakistan is any better than either of those teams.

[IMMY69]

I love the round robin format.
However, you have to be careful not to peak too soon..

[TalhaSyed]

Also in April: 5 ODIs vs Australia

27th April: Tour match vs Kent
29th April: Tour match vs Northants
1st May: Tour match vs Leics
5th May: T20I vs England
8th May: ODI vs England
11th May: ODI vs England
14th May: ODI vs England
17th May: ODI vs England
19th May: ODI vs England
24th May: Warm-up vs Afghanistan
26th May: Warm-up vs Bangladesh

Pakistan's first World Cup match is on 31st May. Extremely busy schedule.

Yup very hectic!

1st Feb - 6th Feb: Pak vs SA T20s
14th Feb - 17th Mar: PSL 2019
End of Mar/Start of Apr: 5 ODIs VS Aus (according to FTP - dates TBC)
27th Apr - 19th May: Tour matches, T20 & ODIs VS England
24th May - 26th May: WC Warm Up Games
31st May - 14th Jul: Pakistans CWC Winning campaign inshAllah



Need to manage the players - in particular the fast bowlers through all of this. Need to rotate the likes of Amir, Shaheen, Hassan, Shinwari, Junaid and even Faheem.

[MenInG]

Yup very hectic!

1st Feb - 6th Feb: Pak vs SA T20s
14th Feb - 17th Mar: PSL 2019
End of Mar/Start of Apr: 5 ODIs VS Aus (according to FTP - dates TBC)
27th Apr - 19th May: Tour matches, T20 & ODIs VS England
24th May - 26th May: WC Warm Up Games
31st May - 14th Jul: Pakistans CWC Winning campaign inshAllah



Need to manage the players - in particular the fast bowlers through all of this. Need to rotate the likes of Amir, Shaheen, Hassan, Shinwari, Junaid and even Faheem.

I notice you made an assumption there that Junaid will be in the squad.

[TalhaSyed]

I notice you made an assumption there that Junaid will be in the squad.

Yup - in my opinion it's a no brainer. A fully fit Junaid definitely needs to be in the squad for the Aus ODIs, Eng ODIs and the World Cup. He will give an extra option when rotating the pacers, and has performed pretty well in recent times.

[Banter]

Pakistan have been given far less testing warm up games than all the other major nations. If I was into conspiracy theories I would think that the organisers are trying to make sure Pakistan go into the WC under-prepared as possible. Every other nation has at least one tough game against a decent seam attack.

This victim mentality 'world is conspiring against us' mindset - instead of focusing on improving the obvious flaws, is a big stereotype when it comes to Pakistan.

Pakistan gets FIVE official ODIs in England against England right before the WC.

[TalhaSyed]

Afghanis and BD couldn't they give us better opposition to play practice games ?

We have 5 ODI's against the hosts and possibly one of the tournament favorites - giving us Bang & Afg makes sense.

[topspin]

Faheem hater spotted lol give the guy a break ����*♂️

Don't be so such a sensitive soul - if you followed the game you'll find there was a 30m boundary on one side, if that's what bothered you about the comment.

[Syed1]

Worst preparation ever.

[WhenSultansBowled]

Both BD and Afghanistan will bring their A game vs Pakistan.

What we must do is play proper batsmen.

It's gonna be a tough tourney but only Pakistan can knock out India; otherwise, it is India's world cup

[Varun]

Thank God there is no India v Sri Lanka.

[Nikhil_cric]

Pakistan have the best preparation possible for the CWC. You are playing 5 ODIS against ENG in ENG. What more do you need? lol

[rhony]

Pakistan's schedule reminds me of India's before 2015 WC. It's too much. Even if we ignore the possibility of injuries, there is a danger of mental fatigue. The way India tried to solve this was to take the tri series easy before the 2015 WC. They were pathetic in every game against AUS and Eng and come the world cup time, they flipped the switch on. Can Pakistan afford to do that? One needs to be fresh for a gruelling tournament like the WC.

[BDfanforever]

5 games against best ODI team is an overkill right before WC. If PAK lose all 5 games, it will completely shatter their confidence.

[Cpt. Rishwat]

This victim mentality 'world is conspiring against us' mindset - instead of focusing on improving the obvious flaws, is a big stereotype when it comes to Pakistan.

Pakistan gets FIVE official ODIs in England against England right before the WC.

Part of the reason I brought it up was to flush out those who would quickly trot out the 'victim mentality' spiel. As you can see, those Pakistanis who were aware of the England ODI tour quickly pointed this out which proves the stereotype is completely false and probably due to prejudice.

[Amjid Javed]

5 games against best ODI team is an overkill right before WC. If PAK lose all 5 games, it will completely shatter their confidence.

These ODIs are being played this as part of a split with the tests that were played last year. A beating by england or not its about adjusting to conditions before world cup.

[Cpt. Rishwat]

I think those ODIs against England will be invaluable, they will have as good a seam attack in English conditions as anyone. Should sort out the wheat from the chaff as far as the Pakistan top order is concerned. If they can't handle it, they aren't going to perform in the world cup anyway.

[topspin]

Worst preparation ever.

7 ODIs in England before the WC - 5 of those against the hosts but nahi gee this is "the worst preparation ever".

[KingKhanWC]

5 games against best ODI team is an overkill right before WC. If PAK lose all 5 games, it will completely shatter their confidence.

This is why it's good there will be two warm up games against minnows before the campaign starts

[Banter]

Part of the reason I brought it up was to flush out those who would quickly trot out the 'victim mentality' spiel. As you can see, those Pakistanis who were aware of the England ODI tour quickly pointed this out which proves the stereotype is completely false and probably due to prejudice.

Boy the irony.

[Majid Khan]

http://www.pakpassion.net/fixtures/p...-schedule.html

All confirmed fixtures are here. Five ODIs vs Australia don't have confirmed dates yet but are scheduled to be in April I think.

Thanks, just what I was looking for , so all in all there’s a lot of innings to watch Hafeez batting from now all the way to the World Cup final in July — looking forward to it

[saabir]

It's going to be good opportunity for Pakistan to test their preparation and to form a combination. One thing they must sure they adopt the rotation policy and need to have a good bench strength. Good thing about Pakistan team is they have a settled top 3 and if any of them get injured or unfit they have a very good player Shan Masood as backup . They are weak in middle order and lower order . They don't have any backup players in the middle order. Perhaps Umar Akmal should be selected as a backup for Hafeez and Mallik. umar has almost similar average and better strike rate than these 2. They don't have any power hitters in 7 and 8. They can utilize Imad who is a decent player but not power hitter and can give some confidence to Hassan Ali who can play the role of power hotter at 8. All in all Pakistan have a decent squad with good pace battery comprises of Shaheen, Hassan Ali, Shinwari, Junaid , Amir and Faheem. Shadab leads the spin department supported by Immad and Hafeez. Yasir shah shoukd be kept as a backup in case of non availability of Shadab.

[Boi]

Nah, one of your previous word was correct i.e Saud. He is the only hope for Pakistan.

haha yeah he’s definitely one who should be included in the group of players leading up to the World Cup.

[a_tahir]

haha yeah he’s definitely one who should be included in the group of players leading up to the World Cup.

But he's not even getting selected for the t20is. So is he even a part of the plans of the pcb.
He isn't even that good in the t20s. He's a pure odi/test player. Doesn't like (or can't hit) sixes. Has like only 10 in his whole list a career. That's like 2 sixes every 10 games.

If he doesn't do well in the psl, he might not even get selected.

[Abdullah]

Wouldn’t be surprised one bit if some key players get injured in the lead up. This is probably a funny case of having too many games just before the tournament. Should use an extended swuad for the Saud/Eng series and rotate players every game, especially the bowlers.

Agreed. The batters should play all the games and rotate quicks and ARs

[Hasan123]

5 ODIs vs England is good preparation . I would rather be facing top teams.

[PakLFC]

Would have liked to see us face some tougher opponent.

[Shandarchowka]

Bangladesh and Afghanistan?! Seriously ICC? Has BCCI prepared the schedule or what? Why not schedule our matches against stronger teams like England and Australia?

[Markhor]

Pakistan players will be adjusted to English conditions by now. England have been their summer vacation for the last three years now

Bangladesh and Afghanistan?! Seriously ICC? Has BCCI prepared the schedule or what? Why not schedule our matches against stronger teams like England and Australia?

We're playing 5 ODIs against both Eng and Aus before the WC.

[a_tahir]

Can't believe people are actually saying that why are pakistan facing ban and afg for the warm up matches.

I would take 5 odis against arguably the favourite of the tournament any day of the week than play india and aus in the warmups.

[Pete Rose]

i have shafiq/azhar squeezing in to the squad due to injury.

[ARK Rafay]

It's good. 5 ODIs vs England and then 2 against lower ranked teams. Losing 5-0 against England won't shatter our confidence if we win the warm-ups

[moghul]

Worst preparation ever.

You must be kidding. This is by far the best prep for the WC, good job by PCB.

[Syed1]

i have shafiq/azhar squeezing in to the squad due to injury.

Time also ripe for Afridi to take back his retirement

[austerlitz]

Will be funny when they beat afg and bangladesh in warm up and then bottle it in the actual league games.

[Mainul]

Wouldn’t be surprised one bit if some key players get injured in the lead up. This is probably a funny case of having too many games just before the tournament. Should use an extended swuad for the Saud/Eng series and rotate players every game, especially the bowlers.

This fixture looks a crazy one indeed. Too much of a hectic schedule which can cause injury to main players.

[someone21]

Why play warmup with your international opponents? We dont see football WC teams playing warm up matches with their group teams.

This warm up should have been against county teams.

[Shutdown Corner]

Worst preparation ever.

Warm up games are meaningless. Last WC Zimbabwe crushed both SL and and NZ and PAK beat Bangladesh.

[mp812rediff]

Bangladesh and Afghanistan?! Seriously ICC? Has BCCI prepared the schedule or what? Why not schedule our matches against stronger teams like England and Australia?

Did not want confidence shattered before world cup. Btw even BD feel they should have got tougher opponents in practice match considering asia cup result last time 2 sides met

[waqar goraya]

i have shafiq/azhar squeezing in to the squad due to injury.

Beautiful thoughts

Two legends, Two classical test batsmen. One with the technique better than Barry Richards, other with the temperament as good as Dravid.

[sshakir411]

These warm ups are useless.

[Shandarchowka]

Did not want confidence shattered before world cup. Btw even BD feel they should have got tougher opponents in practice match considering asia cup result last time 2 sides met

Pakistan in England is a different proposition for any team. Bangladesh should feel lucky that they got match against us. We should field our 2nd XI and still beat them comfortably. I expect Afghanistan to give a tougher fight.

[Babbar]

Bangladesh should feel lucky that they got match against us. We should field our 2nd XI and still beat them comfortably. I expect Afghanistan to give a tougher fight.

Such arrogance despite being a minnow yourselves! This is the same disease Bangla fans too had till they came crashing down the earth molten mantle core.

There’s a saying ‘Talk less and carry a big stick.’ Try being humble once. It feels nice.

[Mamoon]

I don't see the problem. Pakistan is the only team that will get two play two matches against evenly matched opposition. All other teams are either playing a much stronger or a much weaker team in at least one of their games.

The only problem is that Pakistan will be battered and bruised because of the inevitable thrashing at the hands of England in the ODI series, so Afghanistan and Bangladesh will probably start as favourites.

[Dr_Bassim]

I don't see the problem. Pakistan is the only team that will get two play two matches against evenly matched opposition. All other teams are either playing a much stronger or a much weaker team in at least one of their games.

The only problem is that Pakistan will be battered and bruised because of the inevitable thrashing at the hands of England in the ODI series, so Afghanistan and Bangladesh will probably start as favourites.

First of all, I do not believe that Pakistan will lose 5-0 to England. Infact, I wouldn't be surprised if Pakistan manage to win the series 3-2 against England.

Secondly, Bangladesh in England is not the Bangladesh in Asian conditions. I'd give it 70 30 to Pakistan vs Bangladesh in England.

Third assumption of yours is the worst that Afghanistan is on some planet equivalent to Pakistan. Pakistan will smash Afghanistan 10 times out of 10 in any conditions.

That being said, Pakistan is getting adequate preparation in the same month against Australia and England, so weaker teams makes sense.

[Mamoon]

First of all, I do not believe that Pakistan will lose 5-0 to England. Infact, I wouldn't be surprised if Pakistan manage to win the series 3-2 against England.

Secondly, Bangladesh in England is not the Bangladesh in Asian conditions. I'd give it 70 30 to Pakistan vs Bangladesh in England.

Third assumption of yours is the worst that Afghanistan is on some planet equivalent to Pakistan. Pakistan will smash Afghanistan 10 times out of 10 in any conditions.

That being said, Pakistan is getting adequate preparation in the same month against Australia and England, so weaker teams makes sense.

You won't be surprised if Pakistan beats England 3-2 in England? Oh well, I admire your astonishing optimism.

As far as Bangladesh are concerned, it is time for Pakistani fans to drop their arrogance and give them their due. They are a solid ODI team. Since the whitewash in 2015, our fans peddled the narrative that we lost because our 2015 team was poor and Azhar was a dud captain, and if they were to play Pakistan under the inspiring leadership of Sarfraz against this so-called new and improved team, they will get smashed.

However, the truth was laid bare in the Asia Cup. Sarfraz and the new age fearless PSL cricketers were blown away. Now the narrative is that they can only compete with Pakistan in Asia, a narrative that will last till the time they actually go on to beat Pakistan overseas as well.

I think a Bangladesh vs Pakistan ODI series would be competitive anywhere in the world. They have a solid batting lineup and on flat wickets (basically 90% of ODI wickets) they stand a very good chance of beating Pakistan. Instead of 70-30, I would give Pakistan 55-45 outside Asia due to stronger pace attack.

As far as Afghanistan are concerned, I hope they get more and more matches because their spin attack is world class. They will definitely trouble teams in the World Cup if their batting lineup is able to post decent totals. If the Afghani sloggers and tuk tuks (their is no in-between for them yet) can post 250-260 odd against Pakistan, they can definitely push them to the limits like they did in the Asia Cup.

As we have seen with Kuldeep and Chahal, a wicket-taking spin duo in the middle-overs is a handful in any conditions.

All in all, calling Afghanistan and Bangladesh "weak" when Pakistan are themselves hovering just above minnow level is highly disrespectful. Both teams are fully capable of beating Pakistan and the whining of our fans will only be justified if we go onto smash both teams, which appears to be doubtful as far as I am concerned. I would still put my money on Pakistan in both games because of better pace attack, but I see them limping to the finish line.

[a_tahir]

You won't be surprised if Pakistan beats England 3-2 in England? Oh well, I admire your astonishing optimism.

As far as Bangladesh are concerned, it is time for Pakistani fans to drop their arrogance and give them their due. They are a solid ODI team. Since the whitewash in 2015, our fans peddled the narrative that we lost because our 2015 team was poor and Azhar was a dud captain, and if they were to play Pakistan under the inspiring leadership of Sarfraz against this so-called new and improved team, they will get smashed.

However, the truth was laid bare in the Asia Cup. Sarfraz and the new age fearless PSL cricketers were blown away. Now the narrative is that they can only compete with Pakistan in Asia, a narrative that will last till the time they actually go on to beat Pakistan overseas as well.

I think a Bangladesh vs Pakistan ODI series would be competitive anywhere in the world. They have a solid batting lineup and on flat wickets (basically 90% of ODI wickets) they stand a very good chance of beating Pakistan. Instead of 70-30, I would give Pakistan 55-45 outside Asia due to stronger pace attack.

As far as Afghanistan are concerned, I hope they get more and more matches because their spin attack is world class. They will definitely trouble teams in the World Cup if their batting lineup is able to post decent totals. If the Afghani sloggers and tuk tuks (their is no in-between for them yet) can post 250-260 odd against Pakistan, they can definitely push them to the limits like they did in the Asia Cup.

As we have seen with Kuldeep and Chahal, a wicket-taking spin duo in the middle-overs is a handful in any conditions.

All in all, calling Afghanistan and Bangladesh "weak" when Pakistan are themselves hovering just above minnow level is highly disrespectful. Both teams are fully capable of beating Pakistan and the whining of our fans will only be justified if we go onto smash both teams, which appears to be doubtful as far as I am concerned. I would still put my money on Pakistan in both games because of better pace attack, but I see them limping to the finish line.

In the asia cup match, they scored only 239.
That should have been easily chased. But it was just not a good day. A third class bowler like mustifizur got 4 wickets. I would expect pakistan to chase that 9 times out of 10 especially against bangladesh

[Mamoon]

In the asia cup match, they scored only 239.
That should have been easily chased. But it was just not a good day. A third class bowler like mustifizur got 4 wickets. I would expect pakistan to chase that 9 times out of 10 especially against bangladesh

That "third class" bowler would walk into our lineup in all formats. Pakistan cricket is in free-fall, but the arrogance of the fans is showing no signs of fading away.

[moghul]

You won't be surprised if Pakistan beats England 3-2 in England? Oh well, I admire your astonishing optimism.

As far as Bangladesh are concerned, it is time for Pakistani fans to drop their arrogance and give them their due. They are a solid ODI team. Since the whitewash in 2015, our fans peddled the narrative that we lost because our 2015 team was poor and Azhar was a dud captain, and if they were to play Pakistan under the inspiring leadership of Sarfraz against this so-called new and improved team, they will get smashed.

However, the truth was laid bare in the Asia Cup. Sarfraz and the new age fearless PSL cricketers were blown away. Now the narrative is that they can only compete with Pakistan in Asia, a narrative that will last till the time they actually go on to beat Pakistan overseas as well.

I think a Bangladesh vs Pakistan ODI series would be competitive anywhere in the world. They have a solid batting lineup and on flat wickets (basically 90% of ODI wickets) they stand a very good chance of beating Pakistan. Instead of 70-30, I would give Pakistan 55-45 outside Asia due to stronger pace attack.

As far as Afghanistan are concerned, I hope they get more and more matches because their spin attack is world class. They will definitely trouble teams in the World Cup if their batting lineup is able to post decent totals. If the Afghani sloggers and tuk tuks (their is no in-between for them yet) can post 250-260 odd against Pakistan, they can definitely push them to the limits like they did in the Asia Cup.

As we have seen with Kuldeep and Chahal, a wicket-taking spin duo in the middle-overs is a handful in any conditions.

All in all, calling Afghanistan and Bangladesh "weak" when Pakistan are themselves hovering just above minnow level is highly disrespectful. Both teams are fully capable of beating Pakistan and the whining of our fans will only be justified if we go onto smash both teams, which appears to be doubtful as far as I am concerned. I would still put my money on Pakistan in both games because of better pace attack, but I see them limping to the finish line.

Current BD team would not win a 3 match series against Afghanistan and Afghanistan would lose a 3 match series against my old club in Lahore P&T Gymkhana .

[Sher Khan]

That "third class" bowler would walk into our lineup in all formats. Pakistan cricket is in free-fall, but the arrogance of the fans is showing no signs of fading away.

No way bro, mustafizur would not make it into any side apart from Bangladesh and Zimbabwe. He has been brutally worked out by batsmen, as he is only a one trick pony with his offcutters. I think he will be history after the 2019 wc.