England are currently facing New Zealand in the Super 8 Group 2 encounter at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo. The Three Lions have already qualified for the semi-finals of the 2026 T20 World Cup. Before the match, former England all-rounder Moeen Ali predicted the best combined XI with current spinner Adil Rashid.
This is a video that was shot in the middle of the 2026 T20 World Cup, as Adil Rashid is currently playing for the Three Lions in the tournament. Moeen Ali and Rashid chose former England captain Jos Buttler and current World Cup-winning captain Rohit Sharma as their openers. He then selected former India captain Virat Kohli as his number 3 batsman.
Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid chose five Indian players in the clutch eleven.
In the middle order, he chose former India all-rounder and two-time World Cup Player of the Tournament award winner Yuvraj Singh. He chose South Africa’s explosive batsman David Miller at number five, followed by England’s Test captain and all-rounder Ben Stokes at number six. He chose multiple ICC trophy-winning captain MS Dhoni as his wicketkeeper-batsman.
At number eight he chose West Indies all-rounder Dwayne Bravo. This time, another international player from West Indies, Sunil Narine, was selected as the team’s frontline spinner at number 9. Then, with the two fast bowlers who were picked by the English cricketers, Sri Lankan legend Lasith Malinga and star India fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah.
Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid’s combined clutch XI (via Beard Before Wicket Podcast) – Jos Buttler, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, David Miller, Ben Stokes, MS Dhoni, Dwayne Bravo, Sunil Narine, Lasith Malinga, Jasprit Bumrah.
Adil Rashid has been brilliant for England
Adil Rashid is the joint-highest wicket-taker for England so far, with 11 wickets in seven matches at an average of 14.80 and an economy rate of 8.19, with best figures of 3/36. He has used all his experience of bowling in India as he has varied his pace according to the conditions.
In the video, he also talked about South Africa’s strong performance in the tournament and whether Aiden Markram’s team will win the T20 World Cup this time. Since the Proteas are the only team to remain unbeaten in the competition so far, they achieved a spectacular win over the West Indies in their last game and qualified for the semi-finals.
I expected South Africa to win – Moeen Ali
Moeen Ali said, “I think it was always going to be difficult, especially because South Africa are playing good cricket with the ball at the moment. It will always be a challenge. Yes, it’s one of those games. I think they are playing very well, South Africa. To be honest, I was expecting South Africa to win. West Indies did really well to get that score.”
“Yeah, Shepherd and Holder played really well. Otherwise, they were gone. They were almost all out. But at the same time, they still lost badly. So now the run rate is… No, I don’t think it makes a difference. No, I don’t think… But it’s easier now, I think, because obviously there’s a game going on right now, as we speak, I think.”
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