The Super 8 test now awaits for India after finishing the T20 World Cup group-stage matches of them. In the next stage of T20 World Cup 2026, the tournament will be far more powerful for India against the likes of runner-up of 2024 South Africa, Zimbabwe and the West Indies. As defending champions, India have stayed true to their reputation, take apart their rivals so far. With overall appearance of India in T20 World Cup 2026, Ravichandran Ashwin is impressed but added that even when they were below par, they still managed to get the desired results.
Ravichandran Ashwin told on Ash ki Baat “Surya played a very diligent knock. For the acceleration point, Dube, Hardik, and Rinku were there. They knew they could catch up on the scoring rate. But India weren’t extremely good today (vs Netherlands) with bat, not extremely efficient. But it is such a solid team that even on their ordinary day, they can put you away. They were below par, not at their best. But still, with Varun Chakravarthy bowling so well, the Netherlands could not pick him. Jasprit Bumrah got swing in the powerplay and bowled yorkers too,”
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Style of play in the T20 format of Tilak Varma highlighted by Ravichandran Ashwin, mentioning how it is not always necessary to go for the big shots in T20 cricket.
Ashwin told “Tilak Varma is coming back after an injury. We talk about power and strength, but sweet spot and timing are the basic essence of batting. Tilak is not a big power hitter. For him, timing and finding the sweet spot are most important. Please remember, you can play like Vaibhav (Suryavanshi), but you can also play like Tilak, who relies on timing and picks the gaps,”
Australia and New Zealand were granted automatic qualification as they are co-hosts of the 2028 event. As per qualification criteria, all Super Eights teams- including New Zealand, along with Australia-now have their places fixed for the 2028 tournament.
