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Former Indian all-rounder and head coach Ravi Shastri was severly critical of defending champions England for their poor performances in the ICC Cricket World Cup, saying that the Three Lions wil have to play for pride and it would be a huge blow if they do not qualify for the ICC Champions Trophy to be held in 2025 after finishing out of top eight in the CWC.
The Indian pace duo of Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami led the demolition of England, beating the defending champions by 100 runs in their ICC Cricket World Cup match at Lucknow on Sunday. On commentary, Ravi took on England for their performances, pointing out how their matches finished too early. "England should be devastated - spectators, supporters. Because the first match which they lost, 17 overs were left in the game when New Zealand beat them. Against South Africa, they got all out in 20 overs. That game ended early. Then they were all out in 30 overs against Sri Lanka, where SL chased the target and finished the match in 25 overs. Today, they had lost 8 wickets inside 32 overs. You call yourselves World Champions? It means, if they are not sad over their performance, who will? If someone asks what is the difference between India and England, it is of 8 teams," said Ravi in the commentary during the match between England and India. "From here on, England will have to play for pride. The reason I am saying that is because right now they are at the bottom of the points table. And in the Champions Trophy which takes place in 2025, only the top 8 teams of the World Cup can qualify. So if England remain in the bottom two, imagine a team like them not playing an ICC tournament as big as the CT would be a huge blow," added Shastri. As per ESPNCricinfo, ICC announced on Sunday that top eight teams (including hosts Pakistan) will qualify for the next edition of the ICC Champions Trophy. In the match, England opted to bowl first after winning the toss. India put 229/9 in their 50 overs. Stars like Virat Kohli (0), Shubman Gill (9) and Shreyas Iyer (4) failed to score. But useful knocks from skipper Rohit Sharma (87 in 101 balls with 10 fours and three sixes), KL Rahul (39 in 58 balls, with three fours) and Suryakumar Yadav (49 in 47 balls, with four boundaries and a six) helped India go beyond the 200-run mark. David Willey (3/45) was the pick of the bowlers for England. Rashid and Chris Woakes (2/33) took two wickets. Mark Wood got one wicket. In the chase of 230, England was never really a threat except for Liam Livingstone (27), the only batter to cross 20 runs. Mohammed Shami (4/22) and Jasprit Bumrah (3/32) demolished the English batting line-up. Kuldeep Yadav (2/24) and Ravindra Jadeja (one wicket) also bowled really well. Rohit Sharma won the 'Player of the Match' for his gusty knock. With this, India is at the top with six wins in six matches and has 12 points. England is at the bottom with one win and five losses in six matches. (ANI)
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