Ravi Shastri picks England as favourites?: England will be facing Pakistan in their second Super 8 match on Tuesday, 24th February, at 7:00 PM IST, at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, Pallekele. The two sides had different starts to the Super 8 round of the competition. The Three Lions have had a dream start as they defended a low score of 145 against Sri Lanka.
On the other hand Pakistan’s first game against New Zealand was washed out, without a ball being bowled. The Men in Green did not have the best of the games against stronger opposition India as they were bundled out for 114 runs. England have a strong squad and they are well assessed with the conditions of Sri Lanka as well.
‘They’re going to get stronger’- Ravi Shastri
Ahead of the game former India head coach, Ravi Shastri has talked about England getting better with time though not having the best of the starts in the T20 World Cup 2026, almost losing to Nepal and lost against West Indies, however, since then they have taken foot forward and got better.
Ravi Shastri while speaking on ICC’s Instagram channel said, “They’re going to get stronger, you know, England will get stronger because they’ve got some good spinners there.”
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“It’s Adil Rashid, who we all know has a past experience, Liam Dawson and Will Jacks. Will Jacks is just flying under the radar. He’s a dangerous player, low down the order. He can improvise, play shots and is more than handy with the ball.”
Overconfidence hurt Sri Lanka against England?
Ravi Shastri also pointed out the fact that co-hosts Sri Lanka became overconfident while chasing a low score of 146, on a pitch that had help from the spinners. The Three Lions got early wickets and dismissed in-form Pathum Nissanka back in the pavilion early.
Shastri said, “I think Sri Lanka was stumped in their own conditions. You know, they took it lightly at 140. You know, the shot selection was pretty ordinary in power play. They lost those wickets and never recovered after that.”
‘When you lose three or four wickets in the power play, it’s very hard to recover’- Ravi Shastri
Ravi Shastri also took a dig at the India vs South Africa game as he said the game was unpredictable, with the same kind of situation the Proteas were in against the co-hosts India and they recovered from there and posted a good total of 187 and bundled India out for just 111 runs.
Ravi Shastri concluded, saying, “So, you know, it’s a funny game. When you lose three or four wickets in the power play, it’s very hard to recover. Even if you’re chasing, not a great score. So that’s why when you look at it the other way around, I thought South Africa were fantastic. 20/3, recover from there and then win the game was very, very good.”
England will look to continue their winning momentum and take a step forward to the semi-final spot. While Salman Ali Agha’s side will look to win the game because a loss would drown them under shallow waters as the qualification could be difficult after the first match being washed out.
Also Read: Anil Kumble challenges India’s intent, points to West Indies as the benchmark
