Reigning champions and ongoing 2026 T20 World Cup co-hosts Team India began the campaign as favorites to win the title again. Building on the immense promise and potential present in the team, the Men in Blue qualified for the Super 8s as an undefeated team. In the group stage, they defeated the United States, Pakistan, Namibia and the Netherlands to advance to the next round of the tournament.
The way Suryakumar Yadav has been performing since the beginning of the competition, he seems invincible. However, former England cricketer Moeen Ali and England spinner Adil Rashid have different opinions.
Which team can beat the in-form team India?
Acknowledging India’s dominance in the T20 World Cup 2025 group stage, Moeen Ali said on the Beard Before Wicket podcast, “The Men in Blue are not invisible, and they can test that in the Super 8 stage.” The former England cricketer bet on South Africa, who have a strong group of batsmen. The defending champions will take on the Proteas on the evening of February 22 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
Ali explained that he believes South Africa has the potential to defeat the team, which has some of the top batsmen of the format like Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Tilak Verma, captain himself Suryakumar Yadav, Shivam Dubey, Hardik Pandya, Rinku Singh and many others.
Speaking on the ‘Beard Before Wicket’ podcast, Ali said, “I think South Africa can come close. Their batting is very good. Batting-wise, they can chase anything.”
Another vote for South Africa
Adil Rashid’s tone in the debate was also similar. Like his compatriot, the English spinner also said that Team India can be defeated and West Indies has the power to do this. Rashid focused on the West Indies batting line-up in support of his comments. Despite mentioning the West Indies, he also supported Ali’s choice, which was South Africa.
“I think if West Indies chase the target they can do it. Because of the strength they have, they will feel comfortable chasing the target. India can put anything on the board. I also think South Africa can do it. It is not that they are unbeatable. They have a tough group,” said Adil Rashid.
IND vs SA T20 World Cup rivalry in numbers
It is worth noting that for the Super 8, all the teams of Group 1 have been unbeaten so far and four teams of Group 2 stood second in their respective groups. India has to face South Africa, West Indies and Zimbabwe in Super 8.
Since the inception of the T20 World Cup, from 2007 to 2024, India defeated South Africa five times in seven matches in the T20 World Cup tournament, while South Africa had lost only on two occasions in the history of the competition.
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