Muttiah Muralitharan Picks This Team Ahead Of Sri Lanka As His Favourite To Win The World Cup

Sri Lankan spin legend Muttiah Muralitharan who also played in the 2011 ICC World Cup Final against India, has picked his favourites to win the World Cup.

Muralitharan didn’t pick his country Sri Lanka as the favourites to win the World Cup but he chose India as the favourites this time to win the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023. In 2011, India defeated Sri Lanka in the finals to lift the World Cup.

Muttiah Muralitharan who is in the country to promote his biopic, has talked about India’s chances of winning the World Cup because of the home advantage.

He also mentioned Sri Lanka as one of the dark horses in this World Cup. Muttiah Muralitharan was also a part of Sri Lanka’s World Cup-winning campaign in 1996.

He also talked about the downfall of Sri Lanka Cricket from being the runner-up in back-to-back World Cups in 2007 and 2011 to being dependent on Qualifiers to qualify for the World Cup.

“India has a better chance than any other team because of the conditions. Also, they are a good side and the fan support will be a morale booster. Also, England is playing well, and Australia always do well in World Cups. And then there are the dark horses like Sri Lanka, South Africa, New Zealand, and Pakistan,” said Muttiah Muralitharan about India’s chances of winning the World Cup.

Muttiah Muralitharan Gives The Key Ingredient For Success In The World Cup

“To win a World Cup, a team must be united,” he said. He referred to his no-ball for chucking controversy during the Melbourne test in 1995 and stated that this event united the Sri Lankan team which resulted in further success of the Sri Lankan side. Sri Lanka went on to win the World Cup in 1996 where they defeated Australia in the finals.

The current Sri Lankan team has been struggling with form, they recently lost the Asia Cup final against India where they were bowled out for just 50 runs. Muttiah Muralitharan believes that the reason for this decline of the team is the absence of high-calibre players who are developed in their game.

Sri Lanka has indeed been suffering since 2015 after all the marquee players like Kumara Sangakkara, Tilakratne Dilshan and Mahela Jayawardene retired from the team and since then Sri Lanka has failed to give players of that calibre who can consistently perform and win matches.