The schedule for the ICC Men’s World Cup 2023 was announced on Tuesday. This year, the World Cup will be played in India from October to November. Previous year’s finalists New Zealand and England will be clashing in the first match of the tournament, which will be played in Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium on October 5.
Sehwag and Muralitharan were present at the event
India’s campaign will begin three days later in Chennai against Australia, and then they will play Afghanistan in Delhi before taking on their biggest rivals, Pakistan, on October 15 in Ahmedabad. When the World Cup fixtures were announced at Mumbai’s St Regis Hotel, Former Indian batsman Virender Sehwag and Sri Lanka’s legendary bowler Muttiah Muralitharan, along with BCCI secretary Jay Shah, were also present at the event.
Murali was asked about 2011 final
During the event, Muralitharan was asked to share his thoughts on the 2011 final, when Sri Lanka faced India at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium. In that final, MS Dhoni, who was India’s skipper at the time, promoted himself in the batting line-up and came out to bat ahead of Yuvraj Singh, who was in great form. When Murali was asked about Dhoni’s decision, he said, “I was not surprised with that move,” and claimed that Yuvraj was not very comfortable against him and India didn’t want to lose any more wickets at that crucial stage of the match. Chasing a target of 275, India were 114 for three wickets, and then Dhoni came out to bat, which surprised many.
The legendary spinner stated that during his stint with the Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League, Dhoni spent a lot of time playing his deliveries in the nets, so he was more confident against him. Muralitharan said, “I knew Yuvraj Singh was not very comfortable playing against me, although he was the best middle-order player in the World Cup at the time. Dhoni knew how to play me very well because I bowled a lot to him in the nets while playing for CSK in the IPL. He didn’t want to give any wickets to me because, even though I was bowling well, I didn’t get any wickets during that event.
Dhoni played a match winning knock at the finals
During the World Cup final, Muralitharan bowled eight overs, giving 39 runs at an economy of less than 5 runs per over. On the other hand, Dhoni played a match-winning innings of 91 runs off 79 balls, which included eight fours and two sixes. That win was India’s last in the World Cup because after that, in 2015 and 2019’s editions, the Indian side got defeated in the semi-finals against Australia and New Zealand, respectively.
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