Ravi Shastri picks England as favourite?: England will take on Pakistan in their second Super 8 match on Tuesday, February 24 at 7:00 pm at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, Pallekele. The two sides had different starts in the Super 8 round of the competition. The Three Lions had a dream start as they defended a low score of 145 against Sri Lanka.
On the other hand, Pakistan’s first match against New Zealand was lost to rain without even a single ball being bowled. The Men in Green did not have a good game against strong rivals India as they were bundled out for 114 runs. England have a strong team and they are well aware of the conditions in Sri Lanka.
‘They are going to get stronger’- Ravi Shastri
Before the game, former India head coach, Ravi Shastri has talked about England getting better with time, although they did not have a good start in the T20 World Cup 2026, almost losing to Nepal and losing against West Indies, however, they have grown and improved since then.
“They are going to be strong, you know, England are going to be strong because they have some good spinners,” Ravi Shastri said while speaking on ICC’s Instagram channel.
Here is the video
“It’s Adil Rashid, who we all know has seasoned experience, Liam Dawson and Will Jacks. Will Jacks is just flying under the radar. He is a dangerous player, lower down the order. He can improvise, play shots and is very useful with the ball.”
Overconfidence against England harming Sri Lanka?
Ravi Shastri also pointed to the fact that co-hosts Sri Lanka had become overconfident while chasing a low score of 146 on a pitch that favored spinners. The Three Lions got early wickets and sent the in-form Pathum Nissanka back to the pavilion early.
“I think Sri Lanka were stumped in their own conditions. You know, they took it for granted at 140. You know, the shot selection in the power play was very normal. They lost those wickets and never recovered after that,” Shastri said.
‘When you lose three or four wickets in the power play, it is very difficult to recover from it’- Ravi Shastri
Ravi Shastri also took a dig at the India vs South Africa match and said that the game was unpredictable, a similar situation was faced by the Proteas against co-hosts India and they recovered from there to score a good score of 187 and bowl out India for just 111 runs.
Ravi Shastri concluded, “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, it’s not a good score. So when you look at it from another way, I thought South Africa was brilliant. 20/3, to recover from there and then win the game was very, very good.”
England would like to continue their winning streak and take a step towards the semi-finals. While Salman Ali Aga’s team will look to win the game as a defeat will put them in shallow water as qualification could be difficult after the first match was washed out due to rain.
Also read: Anil Kumble challenged India’s intentions, called West Indies the benchmark.
