PPCL | PSL l Karachi Kings | Team Thread | #KarachiJeeteyGa

[world cup captain]

There is no point in playing a batsman at number 9 - he'll run out of partners by the time he's at the crease or otherwise he will just get like a few balls to face (not the optimal use of resources I think).

I would still suggest something along the lines of this:

1) Amir
2) IPakistani
3) Da future knick
4) Babar
5) Watsupdoc
6) Rayyman
7) Ahmedharis
8) Jibran
9) thunderbolt
10) arshad
11) World Cup captain

Quetta's Ground Characteristics:
Bounce: High
Seam: High
Swing: High
Spin: Average
Deterioration: Low

Let's have swap Babar and Da Future, you and Rayyman.

Arshad Iqbal
iPakistani
Babar
Da_Future_Knick
Rayyman
Watsupdoc
Ahmedharis1
JibranAnsari
Thunderbolt14
Mohammad Amir
world cup captain

[world cup captain]

Going with Normal for home game against PZ. Another strong pace unit.

[Watsupdoc]

Quetta's Ground Characteristics:
Bounce: High
Seam: High
Swing: High
Spin: Average
Deterioration: Low

Let's have swap Babar and Da Future, you and Rayyman.

Arshad Iqbal
iPakistani
Babar
Da_Future_Knick
Rayyman
Watsupdoc
Ahmedharis1
JibranAnsari
Thunderbolt14
Mohammad Amir
world cup captain

Ok sounds good!

[Watsupdoc]

Going with Normal for home game against PZ. Another strong pace unit.

What are their spinners like?

[Watsupdoc]

@world cup captain - PZ spinners suck no? Might be worth going with a dry pitch then and play both Usama Mir and Smudger?

Or we can stick to normal pitch and stick to our pace bowling strength.

Your call.

[world cup captain]

Bowling attack I'm expecting to see from Peshawar.

Wahab	Fast	Left	Platinum
Madgenius	Fast	Left	Platinum
Shahidafridi123	Fast	Right	Diamond
Hamad_H	Leg Spinner	Right	Gold
Sunny	Fast Medium	Right	Gold

[Watsupdoc]

Bowling attack I'm expecting to see from Peshawar.

Wahab	Fast	Left	Platinum
Madgenius	Fast	Left	Platinum
Shahidafridi123	Fast	Right	Diamond
Hamad_H	Leg Spinner	Right	Gold
Sunny	Fast Medium	Right	Gold

Since your initial idea was to make our home games a fortress of fast bowlers, let's go with Normal skip and back ourselves.

[world cup captain]

Since your initial idea was to make our home games a fortress of fast bowlers, let's go with Normal skip and back ourselves.

No, you're spot on. Let's make it a dry pitch and play two spinners. They only have one decent spinner.

Ipakistani and I can sit out for the Peshawar game.

[Watsupdoc]

No, you're spot on. Let's make it a dry pitch and play two spinners. They only have one decent spinner.

Ipakistani and I can sit out for the Peshawar game.

Ok sounds good!

[Thunderbolt14]

Let’s drop me instead and keep world cup captain. Wcc has consistently been getting wicket and keeping run rate low. Especially on a dry pitch i will just be cannon fodder.

In the meanwhile I will try and look at my previous performances compared to other bowlers in the same match and figure out what the problem is (whether it is bowling arm, speed, or what). We can then see whether we can fix this during the mid-season break.

It’s in the best interest of the team

[Watsupdoc]

Let’s drop me instead and keep world cup captain. Wcc has consistently been getting wicket and keeping run rate low. Especially on a dry pitch i will just be cannon fodder.

In the meanwhile I will try and look at my previous performances compared to other bowlers in the same match and figure out what the problem is (whether it is bowling arm, speed, or what). We can then see whether we can fix this during the mid-season break.

It’s in the best interest of the team

On the other hand though you have higher skill points than World Cup captain and with both him and IPakistani out you will probably come on to bowl at a different time.

But yea form wise World Cup captain has been a lot more consistent so might indeed be worth playing him.

Let’s see what the skip decides.

[Watsupdoc]

Tough loss guys - really should have won that - onto the next one...

My suggestion for the next one on dry pitch:

1) Da_Future_Knick
2) Babar / Sharjeel
3) Rayyman
4) Jibran
5) Watsupdoc
6) Ahmedharis1
7) Amir
8) Arshad
9) Smudger
10) World cup captain
11) Usama Mir

[world cup captain]

@Watsupdoc @Thunderbolt14

I'm not sure about sitting Thunder out. The sim shouldn't be favoring certain players, rather it is based on numeric algorithms.

It's only a matter of time Thunder will start performing and given the higher contract, it's better if he plays instead of me.
@jeetu, is this correct?

[Watsupdoc]

@Watsupdoc @Thunderbolt14

I'm not sure about sitting Thunder out. The sim shouldn't be favoring certain players, rather it is based on numeric algorithms.

It's only a matter of time Thunder will start performing and given the higher contract, it's better if he plays instead of me.
@jeetu, is this correct?

I think form is taken into account as well, but yea it’s your call.

I think it might just work since you both are same type of bowlers and he’s slightly higher skilled.

[jeetu]

@Watsupdoc @Thunderbolt14

I'm not sure about sitting Thunder out. The sim shouldn't be favoring certain players, rather it is based on numeric algorithms.

It's only a matter of time Thunder will start performing and given the higher contract, it's better if he plays instead of me.
@jeetu, is this correct?

Sim works on ball to ball basis. For every ball odds are calculated. Higher skilled player tend to perform well. They might fail few games but in the end it evens out. Takes Watsupdoc for a case. He performed well in last match after failing in first few. Form doesn't work with cricket heroes. Pitch plays a huge role as well. On road , pancake even 95 skilled bowler will struggle to get wickets.

[Watsupdoc]

That settles it then - go for the higher skilled bowler

[Watsupdoc]

@world cup captain what’s the plan for the line-up? Don’t forget to post it.

[Thunderbolt14]

I appreciate your confidence in me

[world cup captain]

I appreciate your confidence in me

You're a diamond contract for now. Just remember that.

[Thunderbolt14]

Excellent win boys! Would like to thank my captain and senior mentor for backing me

[Watsupdoc]

Extraits from Watsupdoc's post match conference after the win against Peshawar Zalmi

"Yea, it was a great one. Was crucial to get this one after the loss against Quetta, which we really should have won. Well to done @Da_Future_Knick @world cup captain and @Thunderbolt14 for great performances and planning"

@world cup captain is a selfless skipper and always thinks about the team first and I think @Thunderbolt14 is in good hands and definitely a future leader."

(Speaking about Thunderbolt's form) "Well as they say form is temporary and call is permanent and that's what the lad showed today. He needs to continue with this aggressive attitude"

(Speaking about allegations of spot/match fixing) "What do you think? I know you are asking me the question but I am just asking you your opinion. You know how ridiculous it sounds right? @Square Drive is just a great friend who is going through a lean patch. I am sure he will be among the runs soon. In the meanwhile he needs to make use of all the experience and other things he has earned so far in the tournament."

(Speaking about which other team is looking strong) "I think @last_knight 's Multan Sultans is a team to watch out for. They have an intelligent skipper and their data analytics approach is innovative. I would like to set-up a meeting with him and learn from him his wisdom and impart some of mine (laughs). @Smbhayi 's Quetta is also looking strong, and the fixtures are also in their favor. If they play it smart they can easily reach the finals."

(Speaking about any bowler that he finds a threat) "Honestly, no one really. On under-prepared pitches any tom, dick and harry can perform. Though, I think @TrentDevil is flying too high and thinking he's some kind of big shot. Will need to be schooled soon and is on my radar."

"Yes, indeed Iqra has been very lucky for us and she is going to become our brand ambassador. She is soon going to sign the contract, so you will see her in nearly all of our match, at least the ones at home.

And no there is nothing going on between @Thunderbolt14 and her, What sort of question is that? They are just good friends."

"Would like to thank all the Karachi fans, they are ones who make the Franchise what it is"

[Thunderbolt14]

Excellent interview

[Thunderbolt14]

Also @world cup captain and @Watsupdoc I am thinking of giving Arshad Iqbal’s platinum contract to Usama Mir keeping in mind the conditions in Lahore and Multan. Will be useful if we maintain flat/dry pitches at home as well.

[Thunderbolt14]

BOWLING SCORECARD

Player Overs Mdns Runs Wkts E/R Wd NB AFM 4.0 0 56 0 14.00 1 0 TrentDevil 4.0 0 21 1 5.25 0 1 Zafar Gohar 4.0 0 38 1 9.50 0 0 Batman 4.0 0 30 1 7.50 1 0 Shadab Khan 4.0 0 27 2 6.75 0 2

Bowling figures of how Islamabad beat Multan in Multan. Dominated by spinners

[Watsupdoc]

Also @world cup captain and @Watsupdoc I am thinking of giving Arshad Iqbal’s platinum contract to Usama Mir keeping in mind the conditions in Lahore and Multan. Will be useful if we maintain flat/dry pitches at home as well.

However that will mean that we will need to play Usama in every single match. I think most grounds have conditions favoring fast bowlers, while Multan and Lahore are more balanced.

Don't think we should change our Platinum Intl. bowlers.

[Watsupdoc]

I do think however though that we should change Shafkath to a spinner or spin-bowling AR.

Maybe we need to change @Thunderbolt14 to medium fast or fast medium as well?

[Thunderbolt14]

BOWLING SCORECARD

Player	Overs	Mdns	Runs	Wkts	E/R	Wd	NB
imranq	4.0	0	45	0	11.25	0	1
Babu_Bhaiya	4.0	0	34	2	8.50	0	0
Invincible Gujjar	4.0	0	47	0	11.75	1	1
Imran Tahir	4.0	0	35	0	8.75	1	4
nextover666666	4.0	0	31	0	7.75	3	1

Scorecard of multan beating lahore in lahore.

[Thunderbolt14]

Bowling figures of how Islamabad beat Multan in Multan. Dominated by spinners

Zafar Gohar, Batman, and Shadab are spinners

Scorecard of multan beating lahore in lahore.

Imran tahir and next over6666 are spinners

[Thunderbolt14]

I do think however though that we should change Shafkath to a spinner or spin-bowling AR.

Maybe we need to change @Thunderbolt14 to medium fast or fast medium as well?

Agreed about Shafkath. We can drop Arshad for him in spinner-friendly conditions (once Arshad has been demoted).

Also are we sure speed matters? @jeetu sorry for so many questions but my bowling action is very difficult to read

[Watsupdoc]

Also what are your thoughts on changing Babar or Sharjeel for an A/R or another spinner?

Maybe we can also consider giving Ahmedharis1's diamond contract to a bowler or A/R?

Thoughts?

[Watsupdoc]

Agreed about Shafkath. We can drop Arshad for him in spinner-friendly conditions (once Arshad has been demoted).

Also are we sure speed matters? @jeetu sorry for so many questions but my bowling action is very difficult to read

So far Arshad and Amir have been carted around as much as out and out fast bowlers lol

Honestly, I don't think we should change our Platinum bowlers - even with one gold and two regular spinners it will do the trick. So for both Arshad and Amir have worked very well.

New ball bowling is key though I feel.

[Thunderbolt14]

Don’t want to sacrifice on batting depth. In the games we have lost, we ran out of wickets too soon

Also, if we keep Arshad and Amir as platinum, what will the remaining bowling order look like?

It seems you are suggesting
Arshad (platinum)
Amir (platinum)
Smudger (gold)
Usama Mir (regular)
Shafkath (regular)

Versus

Amir (platinum)
Thunderbolt14 (diamond)
Usama Mir (platinum)
Smudger (gold)
Shafkath (regular)

I think second combination looks more deadly. I will also be given the new ball which I back myself on and my bowling arm can be changed to right hand to compliment Amir. Two regular bowlers together doing 8 overs is too much in my opinion.

This way we maintain a good new ball attack and bring in some really good spin into the fold.

[Thunderbolt14]

Shafkath and Usama Mir will be carted around otherwise. Especially if we make Shakath an AR

[Watsupdoc]

Don’t want to sacrifice on batting depth. In the games we have lost, we ran out of wickets too soon

Also, if we keep Arshad and Amir as platinum, what will the remaining bowling order look like?

It seems you are suggesting
Arshad (platinum)
Amir (platinum)
Smudger (gold)
Usama Mir (regular)
Shafkath (regular)

Versus

Amir (platinum)
Thunderbolt14 (diamond)
Usama Mir (platinum)
Smudger (gold)
Shafkath (regular)

I think second combination looks more deadly. I will also be given the new ball which I back myself on and my bowling arm can be changed to right hand to compliment Amir. Two regular bowlers together doing 8 overs is too much in my opinion.

This way we maintain a good new ball attack and bring in some really good spin into the fold.

You are focusing on 2 games out of 5.

Plus finals are likely to be on pacer friendly wickets grounds as well. Moreover our home ground is pacer friendly as well.

Plus I don’t think we need to play 3 spinners.

If you want to strengthen the spin bowling a bit more than I think best would be switch the contract between Ahmedharis1 and Smudger (with 2 plats and 1 diamond bat I think we already have enough depth)

The bowling would then look something like this:

Amir (90)
Arshad (90)
Thunderbolt (85)
Smudger (85)
World Cup captain (80) / Usama Mir (75)

I think our main weakness is in lack of A/Rs and probably change you to a fast-medium or right aren’t - as when both you and World Cup captain play we have too many left arm bowlers in the team.

[Watsupdoc]

Bowling figures of how Islamabad beat Multan in Multan. Dominated by spinners

In both of these games lower skilled spinners (shadab) and next over performed better

[jeetu]

Agreed about Shafkath. We can drop Arshad for him in spinner-friendly conditions (once Arshad has been demoted).

Also are we sure speed matters? @jeetu sorry for so many questions but my bowling action is very difficult to read

I don't mind questions , it only shows your interest.
Mediumfast/medium bowlers sometimes underperform. Never seen a difference between fastmedium and fast bowlers.

[Thunderbolt14]

I don't mind questions , it only shows your interest.
Mediumfast/medium bowlers sometimes underperform. Never seen a difference between fastmedium and fast bowlers.

@jeetu Is there any advantage at all to having a medium or medium-fast bowler such as better economy rate?

[Thunderbolt14]

You are focusing on 2 games out of 5.

Plus finals are likely to be on pacer friendly wickets grounds as well. Moreover our home ground is pacer friendly as well.

Plus I don’t think we need to play 3 spinners.

If you want to strengthen the spin bowling a bit more than I think best would be switch the contract between Ahmedharis1 and Smudger (with 2 plats and 1 diamond bat I think we already have enough depth)

The bowling would then look something like this:

Amir (90)
Arshad (90)
Thunderbolt (85)
Smudger (85)
World Cup captain (80) / Usama Mir (75)

I think our main weakness is in lack of A/Rs and probably change you to a fast-medium or right aren’t - as when both you and World Cup captain play we have too many left arm bowlers in the team.

Good points. Your lineup looks good, I would be willing to change to a righty fast-medium since this may be the missing link. We can also consider changing Arshad Iqbal from medium-fast to fast-medium. Thoughts @world cup captain?

[Watsupdoc]

Good points. Your lineup looks good, I would be willing to change to a righty fast-medium since this may be the missing link. We can also consider changing Arshad Iqbal from medium-fast to fast-medium. Thoughts @world cup captain?

I don’t think we can change Arshad Iqbal’s characteristics

If you change to right then maybe you don’t need to change from out and out fast bowler?

Cause then we’ll have right medium-fast (Arshad), left fast-medium (Amir), left fast (World cup cap), right fast (you)

[jeetu]

@jeetu Is there any advantage at all to having a medium or medium-fast bowler such as better economy rate?

I don't think so.

[Rayyman]

Got out to short pitch ball in all 5 matches

Yes I got a start today, but I need to convert them into longer innings as we head into the back end of the tournament.

Much needed win for us. Need to carry the momentum.



#KarachiJeeteGa

[world cup captain]

Sorry for the inactivity, been busy with college.

I've got an idea, but it's a bit left field.


1. Swap Thunderbolt's contract (diamond) with Doc (platinum). Thunderbolt batting will jump from 30 to 40. Bowling will jump from 85 to 95. We would have a more formidable attack and he could open the batting on spicy and normal pitches to slog.

Keep Thunderbolt to fast, Geil on Quetta has been very successful as a platinum left-arm fast bowler.

2. Change smudger from right arm to left arm for better variety.

3. Swap Ipakistani's contract with Rayyman. Ipakistani would essentially be a full batsman and bowler.

Our hypothetical line up



When we have to play a spinner, we can drop me.

I'm content with the spinners we have since our home ground is pace friendly. Like doc said, we will most likely have pacer friendly ground in the playoffs.

@Watsupdoc @Thunderbolt14

[Watsupdoc]

Sorry for the inactivity, been busy with college.

I've got an idea, but it's a bit left field.


1. Swap Thunderbolt's contract (diamond) with Doc (platinum). Thunderbolt batting will jump from 30 to 40. Bowling will jump from 85 to 95. We would have a more formidable attack and he could open the batting on spicy and normal pitches to slog.

Keep Thunderbolt to fast, Geil on Quetta has been very successful as a platinum left-arm fast bowler.

2. Change smudger from right arm to left arm for better variety.

3. Swap Ipakistani's contract with Rayyman. Ipakistani would essentially be a full batsman and bowler.

Our hypothetical line up



When we have to play a spinner, we can drop me.

I'm content with the spinners we have since our home ground is pace friendly. Like doc said, we will most likely have pacer friendly ground in the playoffs.

@Watsupdoc @Thunderbolt14

I don’t think we need to change things drastically. So far our squad has worked well and that’s the reason we are near the top of the table.

I also think you need to have at least one Platinum bat I think. So far in all our games really they have been the main difference with the bat.

But yea I don’t think it’s a bad idea of having Platinum bowler, but don’t count on their batting being very explosive

However I am not really in favor of bulking up the bowling with the highest contracts. It’s T20 and someone is bound to go for runs. And even very low skilled bowlers so far have performed really well - it’s kind of like a lottery lol. Only real chance is with new ball up front.

However with bat there is more of a chance of them performing (also depending on position in batting order).

A platinum AR does certainly bring more balance to the team but then again I think you need to have at least one platinum bat as well (either int or keep the ones we have).

However I would definitely be more in favor of playing 5 main bowlers. Playing 6 bowlers has worked but only rarely in the past.

I think our main weakness is the lack of ARs or one really good one. So I do like the idea of giving iPakistani the platinum contract. But maybe that’s the only change in terms of contract I would make.

Another option could be to trade Arshad Iqbal with a platinum int AR (problem is they are all spinners) and trade one normal platinum contract vs. Diamond of Thunderbolt.

But again won’t advice making a 180 turn since our squad has over all worked so far

[world cup captain]

I don’t think we need to change things drastically. So far our squad has worked well and that’s the reason we are near the top of the table.

I also think you need to have at least one Platinum bat I think. So far in all our games really they have been the main difference with the bat.

But yea I don’t think it’s a bad idea of having Platinum bowler, but don’t count on their batting being very explosive

However I am not really in favor of bulking up the bowling with the highest contracts. It’s T20 and someone is bound to go for runs. And even very low skilled bowlers so far have performed really well - it’s kind of like a lottery lol. Only real chance is with new ball up front.

However with bat there is more of a chance of them performing (also depending on position in batting order).

A platinum AR does certainly bring more balance to the team but then again I think you need to have at least one platinum bat as well (either int or keep the ones we have).

However I would definitely be more in favor of playing 5 main bowlers. Playing 6 bowlers has worked but only rarely in the past.

I think our main weakness is the lack of ARs or one really good one. So I do like the idea of giving iPakistani the platinum contract. But maybe that’s the only change in terms of contract I would make.

Another option could be to trade Arshad Iqbal with a platinum int AR (problem is they are all spinners) and trade one normal platinum contract vs. Diamond of Thunderbolt.

But again won’t advice making a 180 turn since our squad has over all worked so far

Ok, the first suggestion was left field as I said, but I rather give platinum to Ipakistani because the benefit is greater than giving it to thunderbolt.

And still turn smudger to left arm spinner, right?

[Watsupdoc]

Ok, the first suggestion was left field as I said, but I rather give platinum to Ipakistani because the benefit is greater than giving it to thunderbolt.

And still turn smudger to left arm spinner, right?

Will keep Smudger as right arm, they seem to be doing a bit better.

For example Zafar has been smashed in all his games lol.

[Watsupdoc]

Also would keep the platinum with me since I think the WKs have a higher aggression level.

Also on spin friendly wickets you might have to drop iPakistani to play 2 spinners, but I think that’s fine.

Also should we get a spin A/R instead of Babar / Sharjeel? Like get ifti? Or we can change shafkath to a spin A/R since he won’t play otherwise.

[Thunderbolt14]

Let's not tinker with Babar and Sharjeel since I feel they provide some good runs at the top and waste the new ball typically. At most we can change to a batting AR with a spin option but on a regular contract I think this would be something like 65 and they'd just be smacked around

[Thunderbolt14]

Also would keep the platinum with me since I think the WKs have a higher aggression level.

Also on spin friendly wickets you might have to drop iPakistani to play 2 spinners, but I think that’s fine.

Also should we get a spin A/R instead of Babar / Sharjeel? Like get ifti? Or we can change shafkath to a spin A/R since he won’t play otherwise.

Agreed, want to keep the platinum with the two batsmen. We have a good balance right now in my opinion, not too much was lacking. I was actually very happy with the initial combination (we're currently sitting at second in the table for god's sake!) but just thought an extra spin option would be useful. What if we made iPakistani a spinner? This way we wouldn't have to drop him for Usama Mir since he has a better contract, and will also help with batting depth if we play iPakistani against the new ball.

I think if we kept everything the same and made this small change, it will fix a lot of our (minor) problems and ensure that every single contract is played in every game. No contract changes.

Babar/Sharjeel (depending on opposition bowling arms)
@Smudger
@iPakistani / @world cup captain (depending on pitch type)
@Da_Future_Knick
@Rayyman
@Watsupdoc
@ahmadharis1
@JibranAnsari
Mohammad Amir
Arshad Iqbal
@Thunderbolt14

[Thunderbolt14]

Mid-season player type changes: iPakistani from right arm fast bowler to right arm leg spin.
Mid-season contract changes: none.

[Thunderbolt14]

Bowling attack will be 4/1 or 3/2 pace/spin depending on the pitch which is a reasonable balance. Let's not tinker with the winning combination otherwise.

[Watsupdoc]

What if we gave the diamond contract to IPakistani instead of Ahmedharis?

And kept everything else the same? IPakistani will then have the skill of 60/70.

I think we should keep IPakistani as pacer since spinners are more likely to come into play on dry wickets only and there we don’t need that much batting depth.

Otherwise we could turn him into a spin bowling AR and play 4 pace and 1 spin attack on pacer friendly wickets.

And on spin friendly go 2 spin / 3 pace or 3 spin / 3 pace.

But then if we turned him into a spinner - on pace friendly wickets will probably get tonked (like Hamad_H lol) when he comes on.

If we keep IPakistani as pacer than I think we should change shafkath to a spin bowl A/R ala shadab who has done well for Islamabad with low skill points.

@world cup captain @Thunderbolt14

Tough choices ahead for the captain and vice-captain - but Iqra Aziz is counting on you both

[Thunderbolt14]

What if we gave the diamond contract to IPakistani instead of Ahmedharis?

And kept everything else the same? IPakistani will then have the skill of 60/70.

I think we should keep IPakistani as pacer since spinners are more likely to come into play on dry wickets only and there we don’t need that much batting depth.

Let's say we keep him as pacer and even improve the diamond rating. Now we have 5 pacers in Arshad, Amir, myself, world cup captain and iPakistani. This means we would be going with either a 5/0 or 4/1 split with world cup captain sitting out in the 4/1 split and 80 being replaced with 70. To me this is too much of a change as world cup captain has been immensely economical and has even won us some games with key wickets to break the partnership. If instead we had 10 points less in iPakistani as a pacer, I would not be so confident. Also, we have suffered far too many batting collapses in our previous games to drop a diamond contract bat.

Otherwise we could turn him into a spin bowling AR and play 4 pace and 1 spin attack on pacer friendly wickets.

And on spin friendly go 2 spin / 3 pace or 3 spin / 3 pace.

But then if we turned him into a spinner - on pace friendly wickets will probably get tonked (like Hamad_H lol) when he comes on.

You misunderstand. To the contrary, we won't be playing iPakistani at all on pace friendly wickets. We would be playing Smudger as our one spinner, and world cup captain would come in for iPakistani. The bowling lineup will look like this:

Pace-friendly 4/1
Amir (90)
Arshad (90)
Thunderbolt (85)
World cup captain (80)
Smudger (80)

Spin-friendly 3/2
Amir (90)
Arshad (90)
Thunderbolt (85)
iPakistani (65) (spin) (instead of Usama Mir (75) which was what we did previously)
Smudger (80)

If we keep IPakistani as pacer than I think we should change shafkath to a spin bowl A/R ala shadab who has done well for Islamabad with low skill points.

Given everything I've said above, why not have a spin AR at 65 rather than 60? Also, just because Shadab worked for them doesn't mean it wasn't a fluke (especially given the exceedingly low bowling skill). You yourself mentioned Hamad_H.

[Thunderbolt14]

Also this debate feels like a regular PakPassion thread

[Thunderbolt14]

Pace-friendly games: Karachi, Karachi, Peshawar, Playoffs
Spin-friendly games: Lahore, Multan

Even in the pace-friendly games, I have doubts about replacing Smudger (80) with iPakistani (70, even assuming the case where we drop ahmadharis1 which in my opinion would be disastrous in a batting collapse). For example in Peshawar, the difference between pace/spin is simply good/average not high/low. Smudger has also done better at home as long as we guarantee a dry pitch. Therefore, iPakistani would never be played at all, and we would end up wasting the diamond contract (or the gold contract for that matter).

[Watsupdoc]

Also this debate feels like a regular PakPassion thread

Haha I agree

[Watsupdoc]

Let's say we keep him as pacer and even improve the diamond rating. Now we have 5 pacers in Arshad, Amir, myself, world cup captain and iPakistani. This means we would be going with either a 5/0 or 4/1 split with world cup captain sitting out in the 4/1 split and 80 being replaced with 70. To me this is too much of a change as world cup captain has been immensely economical and has even won us some games with key wickets to break the partnership. If instead we had 10 points less in iPakistani as a pacer, I would not be so confident. Also, we have suffered far too many batting collapses in our previous games to drop a diamond contract bat.

You misunderstand. To the contrary, we won't be playing iPakistani at all on pace friendly wickets. We would be playing Smudger as our one spinner, and world cup captain would come in for iPakistani. The bowling lineup will look like this:

Pace-friendly 4/1
Amir (90)
Arshad (90)
Thunderbolt (85)
World cup captain (80)
Smudger (80)

Spin-friendly 3/2
Amir (90)
Arshad (90)
Thunderbolt (85)
iPakistani (65) (spin) (instead of Usama Mir (75) which was what we did previously)
Smudger (80)



Given everything I've said above, why not have a spin AR at 65 rather than 60? Also, just because Shadab worked for them doesn't mean it wasn't a fluke (especially given the exceedingly low bowling skill). You yourself mentioned Hamad_H.

Don't you think we need extra batting option on a pace friendly wicket? Because those are more likely to be Spicy for example.

On a dry wicket, which is more spinner friendly I don't think you need an extra option as it's also generally quite good for batting.

Yes on normal and in places like Lahore you might need a AR, but those conditions are balanced for both spin and pace I feel.

Also for Ahmedharis not saying to drop him but convert him to a gold batsman.

In essence basically on the pace friendly conditions line-up would look something like this:

1) 75 skill point bat (Int reg)
2) 80 skill point bat (gold)
3) 80 skill point bat (gold)
4) 85 skill point bat (diamond)
5) 95 skill point bat (plat)
6) 95 skill point bat (plat)
7) 60 bat / 70 ball (diamond - fast bowling AR)
8) 90 bowl skill
9) 90 bowl skill
10) 85 bowl skill
11) 80 bowl skill

All pace attack.

On more spin friendly grounds / wickets - we stick to what we have done orginally - In essence only skill point for ahmedharis would be different.

1) 75 skill point bat (Int reg)
2) 80 skill point bat (gold)
3) 80 skill point bat (gold)
4) 85 skill point bat (diamond)
5) 95 skill point bat (plat)
6) 95 skill point bat (plat)
7) 80 ball skill (spinner)
8) 90 bowl skill
9) 90 bowl skill
10) 85 bowl skill
11) 75 bowl skill (spinner)

[Watsupdoc]

With what you are suggesting - it means we will be 4/1 pace/spin attack on a spicy wicket. And on spin friendly ground as well we play iPakistani instead of Usama Mir (only 5 points skill difference) - if we switch the diamond / gold contract between ahmedharis and iPakistani.

[Thunderbolt14]

Don't you think we need extra batting option on a pace friendly wicket? Because those are more likely to be Spicy for example.

On a dry wicket, which is more spinner friendly I don't think you need an extra option as it's also generally quite good for batting.

Yes on normal and in places like Lahore you might need a AR, but those conditions are balanced for both spin and pace I feel.

Also for Ahmedharis not saying to drop him but convert him to a gold batsman.

In essence basically on the pace friendly conditions line-up would look something like this:

1) 75 skill point bat (Int reg)
2) 80 skill point bat (gold)
3) 80 skill point bat (gold)
4) 85 skill point bat (diamond)
5) 95 skill point bat (plat)
6) 95 skill point bat (plat)
7) 60 bat / 70 ball (diamond - fast bowling AR)
8) 90 bowl skill
9) 90 bowl skill
10) 85 bowl skill
11) 80 bowl skill

All pace attack.

On more spin friendly grounds / wickets - we stick to what we have done orginally - In essence only skill point for ahmedharis would be different.

1) 75 skill point bat (Int reg)
2) 80 skill point bat (gold)
3) 80 skill point bat (gold)
4) 85 skill point bat (diamond)
5) 95 skill point bat (plat)
6) 95 skill point bat (plat)
7) 80 ball skill (spinner)
8) 90 bowl skill
9) 90 bowl skill
10) 85 bowl skill
11) 75 bowl skill (spinner)

Hmm. I see what you mean. Your spin-friendly lineup looks perfect, wouldn't tinker with it, but with the pace-friendly games I am concerned about iPakistani getting tonked with 70 bowling skill when even I have previously been getting tonked at 85. This is my only concern and my assumption is that 70 pace is more likely to get tonked than Smudger's 80 spin.

If your answer to the above is no, 70 pace is not more likely to get tonked, then let's go with it. If your answer to the above is yes, would be better to play Smudger (which I strongly believe currently based on previous games) then I stick to my original plan. What do you think?

Also side-note. We should replace Arshad Iqbal with Chris Jordan (medium-fast to fast-medium) based on what Jeetu mentioned earlier

[Thunderbolt14]

Also, my assumption was that we will play Karachi as dry. If we go with the all-pace lineup, it would make more sense to play spicy so that the AR comes into play (otherwise iPakistani will likely not bat at all). We were doing well so far keeping 4/1 on a dry pitch which is what I want to maintain, don't want to risk changing to spicy

[Thunderbolt14]

The two visiting teams are IU and Quetta. Islamabad just got a new AR instead of Zafar Gohar who will come into play on a spicy wicket. I would prefer playing a dry wicket and make the AR useless, and top load our batting order with diamond, diamond, platinum platinum to maximize damage. Same goes for Quetta's platinum contract smbhayi who is also an AR.

To me, all the signs point toward making a dry wicket at home, and playing 4/1. This is also the winning combination previously.

[Thunderbolt14]

The two visiting teams are IU and Quetta. Islamabad just got a new AR instead of Zafar Gohar who will come into play on a spicy wicket. I would prefer playing a dry wicket and make the AR useless, and top load our batting order with diamond, diamond, platinum platinum to maximize damage. Same goes for Quetta's platinum contract smbhayi who is also an AR.

To me, all the signs point toward making a dry wicket at home, and playing 4/1. This is also the winning combination previously.

To do this, we will need to maintain ahmadharis1's diamond contract as it is vital to the strategy

[Watsupdoc]

To do this, we will need to maintain ahmadharis1's diamond contract as it is vital to the strategy

So far on dry we have played 3/2 combination (3 pace and 2 spin) and it has worked well.

I think 70 pace is less likely to get tonked than 80 spinner on pacer friendly wicket, but yea you never know with this sim

In a nut-shell from what I gather what you are saying is that we don't really change anything, apart from maybe bringing in Chris Jordan instead of Arshad Iqbal.

I also think our team actually is really well balanced at the moment, but all we lack is a decent AR option for more bowler friendly wickets. That's why I think it's wise to give diamond to the AR from a batsman but yes than we'll be wasting a diamond contract on more batting friendly wickets.

With whatever decision we make, I think we'll have to compromise on something.

Also maybe we are not using the Platinum bats in an optimum way, we have so far always put them together, whereas maybe we should put them apart in the batting order to maximize the potential?

[Watsupdoc]

@Thunderbolt14 what about if we don’t care about ARs even low skilled ones seem to be doing the job on bowling friendly wickets and we do this:

Sway Rayyman’s contract and yours. You become Platinum and Rayyman diamond.

Swap Rayyman and World Cup captain contract (former becomes gold and WC captain becomes diamond)

Swap Arshad Iqbal and Babar Azam’s contract (former becomes regular and latter becomes platinum)

Change IPakistani to pure bowler (gold)

Change shafkath to fast bowling A/R (reg)

So on pacer friendly wickets our line-up would look like this:

1) 95 skill bat
2) 90 skill bat
3) 85 skill bat (ahmed)
4) 85 skill bat (future knick)
5) 80 skill bat (rayyman)
6) 80 skill bat (Jibran)
7) 40 skill bat / 95 skill bowl (thunderbolt)
8) 35 skill bat / 90 skill bowl Amir
9) 30 skill bat / 85 skill bowl (WC captain)
10) 25 skill bat / 80 skill bowl (IPakistani)
11) 25 skill bat / 80 skill bowl (Smudger) or 50 skill bat / 60 skill bowl (shafkath) or 20 skill bat / 75 skill bowl (Arshad)

With this our bowling becomes slightly strong (and tail as well with you at 40 skill bat), batting is still pretty strong. But our AR becomes even weaker and that’s the compromise we would be making.

[world cup captain]

Match 6:

At Multan, this is the line up we're looking to face.

95
90
85
80
80
65/65 (Pure AR/Medium Fast)
65/55 (Bat AR/Offspinner)
40/95 (Fast)
30/85 (Fast Medium)
35/90 (Leg spin)
25/80 (Fast)

They bat very deep a have a decent bowling line up. Given their skill point distribution and ground attributes, I expect a normal/dry pitch. In their 2 home games, they've gone with normal pitches.

With such opposition, I would go with a 3+2 pace attack.


Match 7:

Home game against Islamabad and below is their only real line up. Their attack isn't very potent so I would go with a spicy pitch with a 4+1 or 5/0 combo.

95
95
90
90
80
65/55 (LegSpin)
55/65 (OffSpin)
30/85 (Fast)
25/80 (Medium Fast)
30/85 (Fast)
30/85 (Legspin)

Match 8:

At Lahore, they've gone with a dry pitch and look set to do the same again. Here we'll probably play 3+2.

95
85
90
85
85
70/80 (Leg Spin)
65/55 (Off Spin)
25/80 (Fast Medium)
25/80 (Legspin)
25/80 (Chinaman)
35/90 (Fast)

Match 9

Home game against Quetta who is very pace heavy potentially going with even more pace dependent. Pancake pitch and go with 4+1.

They are implementing changes so no lineup.

Match 10

At Peshawar

They are implementing changes so no lineup but a heavy batting unit. Bowling is decent, so would go with I expect a normal pitch with a 4+1 combo.


Given the rest of the matches, we need 2 spinners (Smudger and Usama Mir). If we swap Rayyman and Ipakistani's contract, we will get this line up.


95
85
85
80
80
75
75/75 (Pure AR/Offspinner)
35/90 (Fast Medium)
35/90 (Fast Medium)
30/85 (Fast)
25/80 (Fast)/(Legspinner)

We get 7 full batsmen and a strong bowling attack.

[world cup captain]

@Thunderbolt14 what about if we don’t care about ARs even low skilled ones seem to be doing the job on bowling friendly wickets and we do this:

Sway Rayyman’s contract and yours. You become Platinum and Rayyman diamond.

Swap Rayyman and World Cup captain contract (former becomes gold and WC captain becomes diamond)

Swap Arshad Iqbal and Babar Azam’s contract (former becomes regular and latter becomes platinum)

Change IPakistani to pure bowler (gold)

Change shafkath to fast bowling A/R (reg)

So on pacer friendly wickets our line-up would look like this:

1) 95 skill bat
2) 90 skill bat
3) 85 skill bat (ahmed)
4) 85 skill bat (future knick)
5) 80 skill bat (rayyman)
6) 80 skill bat (Jibran)
7) 40 skill bat / 95 skill bowl (thunderbolt)
8) 35 skill bat / 90 skill bowl Amir
9) 30 skill bat / 85 skill bowl (WC captain)
10) 25 skill bat / 80 skill bowl (IPakistani)
11) 25 skill bat / 80 skill bowl (Smudger) or 50 skill bat / 60 skill bowl (shafkath) or 20 skill bat / 75 skill bowl (Arshad)

With this our bowling becomes slightly strong (and tail as well with you at 40 skill bat), batting is still pretty strong. But our AR becomes even weaker and that’s the compromise we would be making.

This line up is pretty stacked. Quetta mainly plays specialists and they're doing great. I'm not opposed to an AR but anything less than 75 ratings is going to payoff 1/4.

Islu had a fluke run with Shadab and I would be very surprised if that continues in the second half.

[Watsupdoc]

This line up is pretty stacked. Quetta mainly plays specialists and they're doing great. I'm not opposed to an AR but anything less than 75 ratings is going to payoff 1/4.

Islu had a fluke run with Shadab and I would be very surprised if that continues in the second half.

It’s up to you skip. I am also more in favor of specialist as well.

Quetta has had Smbhayi as a platinum AR but they have been lucky to play most games at home on bowling friendly pitches where the highly skilled AR is more useful.

To be honest it’s T20 so at some point at least one bowler is going to go for plenty in every match (no matter the skill point) - unless it’s a spicy wicket for example.

[Thunderbolt14]

@Thunderbolt14 what about if we don’t care about ARs even low skilled ones seem to be doing the job on bowling friendly wickets and we do this:

Sway Rayyman’s contract and yours. You become Platinum and Rayyman diamond.

Swap Rayyman and World Cup captain contract (former becomes gold and WC captain becomes diamond)

Swap Arshad Iqbal and Babar Azam’s contract (former becomes regular and latter becomes platinum)

Change IPakistani to pure bowler (gold)

Change shafkath to fast bowling A/R (reg)

So on pacer friendly wickets our line-up would look like this:

1) 95 skill bat
2) 90 skill bat
3) 85 skill bat (ahmed)
4) 85 skill bat (future knick)
5) 80 skill bat (rayyman)
6) 80 skill bat (Jibran)
7) 40 skill bat / 95 skill bowl (thunderbolt)
8) 35 skill bat / 90 skill bowl Amir
9) 30 skill bat / 85 skill bowl (WC captain)
10) 25 skill bat / 80 skill bowl (IPakistani)
11) 25 skill bat / 80 skill bowl (Smudger) or 50 skill bat / 60 skill bowl (shafkath) or 20 skill bat / 75 skill bowl (Arshad)

With this our bowling becomes slightly strong (and tail as well with you at 40 skill bat), batting is still pretty strong. But our AR becomes even weaker and that’s the compromise we would be making.

Wow I really really like this lineup. Agreed with @world cup captain that I prefer specialists. What would we play on spinner pitches? Mir instead of iPakistani? If you ask me, this is fantastic, let’s go with this

[Watsupdoc]

Wow I really really like this lineup. Agreed with @world cup captain that I prefer specialists. What would we play on spinner pitches? Mir instead of iPakistani? If you ask me, this is fantastic, let’s go with this

Yup on spinners pitch Mir would play instead of IPakistani

Yea I feel this is the optimum use of skill points and contracts

[world cup captain]

Swapping Rayyman’s Platinum contract and Thunderbolt's diamond contract.

Swapping WCC's gold contract and Rayyman's diamond contract.

Swapping Arshad Iqbal's platinum contract and Babar Azam’s regular contract.

Changing Ipakistani to Right Arm Fast Medium bowler (gold)

Changing shafkath to Left Arm Fast bowling A/R (reg)

[Watsupdoc]

Swapping Rayyman’s Platinum contract and Thunderbolt's diamond contract.

Swapping WCC's gold contract and Rayyman's diamond contract.

Swapping Arshad Iqbal's platinum contract and Babar Azam’s regular contract.

Changing Ipakistani to Right Arm Fast Medium bowler (gold)

Changing shafkath to Left Arm Fast bowling A/R (reg)

Sounds good!

With this we don’t need Sharjeel since he will never feature in the line-up. So we can also look to get Imad or Ifti as int regular to give us more options.

[world cup captain]

Sounds good!

With this we don’t need Sharjeel since he will never feature in the line-up. So we can also look to get Imad or Ifti as int regular to give us more options.

We don't any more changes available.

[Watsupdoc]

We don't any more changes available.

I think we can do player swaps but not more contract swaps.

[Watsupdoc]

We don't any more changes available.

Ok you are right we can only swap international platinum

So we are stuck with Sharjeel then

[Thunderbolt14]

Everything looks good, but question about the new ball. Is it left-left now with me and Amir? A little concerned about this since it allows opposition to top-load with lefties. There will also now be a right-right combination in the middle order. Used to be left-right-left-right

[Watsupdoc]

Everything looks good, but question about the new ball. Is it left-left now with me and Amir? A little concerned about this since it allows opposition to top-load with lefties. There will also now be a right-right combination in the middle order. Used to be left-right-left-right

We could change you to right arm fast then but I don't think it really matters that much to be honest. Although Hasnain has been deadly for Quetta

[Thunderbolt14]

Instead of changing shakhath we should change either my bowling arm or amir’s. If we get the edit in quickly @world cup captain it might change the complexion of some of our games. Also i would recommend changing iPakistani to left arm as well

[Watsupdoc]

Instead of changing shakhath we should change either my bowling arm or amir’s.

We can make as many player type changes as we want. So we can change you to right arm and world cup captain to left arm.

[Thunderbolt14]

We could change you to right arm fast then but I don't think it really matters that much to be honest. Although Hasnain has been deadly for Quetta

Jeetu explicitly mentioned it does, we want to take wickets up front and it’s easier to do that with a right-left combination

[Thunderbolt14]

We can make as many player type changes as we want. So we can change you to right arm and world cup captain to left arm.

Didn’t realize there’s no limit. Sounds perfect

[Watsupdoc]

Didn’t realize there’s no limit. Sounds perfect

I was wrong - read the first post not mid-season one lol

We are only allowed two player type changes.

The only other way to have right / left new ball pair is to scratch previous contract swaps.

And have Rayyman swap contract with wc captain (so skip becomes platinum)

And have Babar swap contract with Arshad

Meaning you will remain with Diamond