Legendary wicket taker Muttiah Muralidaran contends England, Australia, India and Pakistan will make it to the semi finals of the Cricket World Cup scheduled to take place in India in October.
The Sri Lankan grabber of 800 scalps said his assesment is based on team strength and current form in an interview courtesy of the International Cricket Council (ICC) in the presence of retired Indian batsman Virender Sehwag who also expressed a similar declaration of potential champions in the 50-over format.
“I am also going for the same one, not because he (Sehwag) is saying. I also feel these are the very, very good sides.
You have to be honest with yourself and what you believe that teams are doing well at the moment. According to that you have to predict,” said Muralidaran in the video that was put out on the internet.
Muralidaran was praised by the moderator for being honest in his assesment instaed of trying to be “politically correct”.
But while Sehwag predicted an India versus England final, Muralidaran said he foresees a final contested by India and Australia. The retired Sri Lankan bowler also said the World Cup in India, held for the fourth time in the sub-continent, will be favourable to the spinners.
“I think spin will dominate with Adhil Rashid (England) and Rashid Khan (Afghanistan) and Ravindra Jadeja (India) can also be a contender,” said Muralidaran who is now a team mentor at the Indian Premier League (IPL).
While Muralidaran saw Virat Kohli (India), Babar Azam (Pakistan) and Joe Root (England) as having the potential to be leading run-makers at the upcoming World Cup, Sehwag predicted Australia’s David Warner to join Kohli and fellow Indian Rohit Sharma as the best batters on show.,
Eight teams, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, England, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Afghanistan have alreday qualified for the 10-nation World Cup at 10 venues across India.
Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe are likely to be the last two teams to qualify indirectly taking into account the qualifying tournament now being played in Zimbabwe.
The West Indies who are also with the lower rated teams now taking part in the qualifying round are in danger of missing out unable to post the required number of wins to be in the running.