Muttiah Muralidaran, a former Sri Lanka spinner, believes the Sri Lankan team is capable of delivering a few upsets if they make it to the Super 12s stage of the tournament. During the qualification stage of the competition, Namibia, the Netherlands, and Ireland will have to be defeated.
IPL 2021: When it comes to the T20 World Cup, Sri Lanka has a strong track record. They have three final appearances under their belts, one of which they won in 2014. However, Sri Lankan cricket has been on the decline in recent years, which alarms the great spinner.
Wanindu Hasaranga
However, Wanindu Hasaranga, Akila Dananjaya, and Dhananjaya de Silva are among the team’s spinners, according to Muralidaran. However, the veteran cricketer slammed the team’s batting lineup.
The batters were exposed in their most recent international assignment, a 3-0 thrashing against South Africa.
“The spinners are very good, whereas the batting is a little bit weaker, but if they can step up and manage decent totals, then the bowlers can defend them. If they make it through, I think they will upset a few teams.” Muralidaran said
Muralidaran remained confident in the team’s ability to play well at the tournament and get through the qualifying round. He also mentioned how bad Sri Lankan cricket has been in recent years.
“From a Sri Lankan perspective, the team will have to go through qualifying in the first round. The team has gone down in the last five or six years and it’s the first time in our history that it has happened to us. Frankly speaking, we were not good enough, and have not played good enough cricket which is why we are in this position. But the team has capable players who can reach the Super 12s and have an impact, but first they have to qualify.” Muralidaran added
Sri Lanka’s T20 World Cup campaign will begin on October 18 in Oman with a match against Namibia in the qualification phase (Monday).
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