MS Dhoni and Muttiah Muralitharan. (Photo Source: Twitter)
MS Dhoni promoting himself up the order in the 2011 ODI World Cup final is still one of the most talked about incidents in the history of the tournament. Notably, Yuvraj Singh was in exceptional form, and thus, the all-rounder was expected to join Gautam Gambhir after Virat Kohli lost his wicket to Tillakaratne Dilshan. However, to everyone’s surprise, Dhoni walked out to bat and played a phenomenal knock which eventually inscribed India’s name in the prestigious trophy.
Talking about the incident, Sri Lanka legend Mutthiah Muralitharan mentioned he was very much aware that the Indian skipper would come out to bat once one of the batters lose their wicket. He reminded me that Dhoni spent a lot of time playing him in Chennai Super Kings nets, and thus, he was aware of Murali’s technique, and promoted himself up in the order.
“I knew. The reason was that Yuvraj is not comfortable to play me. Yuvraj was the best player in the world cup at the time because at the middle order in the number four position (he did really well) and I knew (Dhoni will come up in the order) because I was bowling a lot to him in nets in Chennai because we were playing in the IPL. So, Dhoni knows how to play me very well.
“So, he thought when he (Virat Kohli) got out, Dhoni was promoting himself. I knew he would come because he knows how to play me very well,” Muralitharan said during the World Cup schedule launch.
It’s unfortunate for Sri Lanka to play the qualifiers: Muralitharan
Despite being the current Asian champions, Sri Lanka failed to earn direct qualification for the upcoming ODI World Cup. The Dasun Shanaka-led is currently playing the qualifiers in Zimbabwe, but as per Muralitharan, it is very unfortunate for them as they are already well-established in the cricketing world.
“It’s unfortunate for a country like us to play the qualifiers. We have not played well in the past two years. Still, I think Sri Lanka has very good talents and good spin bowlers and good bowling attack and good batters. Unfortunately, we haven’t played to our potential for the last four-five years. One successful Asia Cup we had but that is T20 cricket. T20 and 50-over cricket is totally different.
“We anyway have a good side. They are doing well in Zimbabwe. They will be champions of that tournament, definitely because of the way they are playing. In the world cup, we will be a threat to all the good teams because we are not going to be pushovers,” the 51-year-old said.