ICC World Cup 2019: Dimuth Karunaratne Predicts The World Cup Winner

Sri Lanka bowed out of the ICC World Cup 2019 losing to India by seven wickets in the last match of the group stages at Headingley in Leeds. Following their loss, Sri Lanka skipper Dimuth Karunaratne predicts his neighbour India as the winner for the marquee tournament on July 14.

Karunaratne predicts the World Cup winner

India have looked dominant in the group stages barring the match against host England. They have won seven of the nine games while one was a complete washout. The Men in Blues have come out as a team, and the players have rallied behind each other so far in the World Cup. The players have chipped in with significant contributions whenever the team needed the most. While Rohit Sharma and skipper Virat Kohli have led the batting, it is Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, and Bhuvneshwar Kumar with the ball.

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Dimuth Karunaratne while addressing to the media after their last match, picked India to be the probable winner for the World Cup. Virat Kohli &  Co along with Australia, New Zealand, and host England have made it to the top-four. India will play the 2015 World Cup runners Kiwis in the first semifinal on July 9 at the Old Trafford. But Karunaratne feels the team which will perform better on the particular day will win the trophy.

“I think India has a better chance to win this World Cup, for me, from my point of view,” Karunaratne told reporters after the loss. And I think on that particular day if the other team can do better than the India team, they’re definitely going to win,” Karunaratne said.

Furthermore, Dimuth Karunaratne heaped praise on India’s domestic structure for ensuring a continuous flow of talent. He also urged Sri Lanka Cricket to work more on the domestic cricket and produce good players.

“I think India, they have a nice structure behind the India national team. I think they have the IPL (Indian Premier League),” said Karunaratne. They have good domestic teams and a good season. So those are the things they will keep building, keep producing the good players. So we expect the same from our administration,” Karunaratne concluded.