Legendary spinner Muttiah Muralidaran believes that the hosts India, along with Australia and England are the favourites to win the upcoming ODI World Cup 2023, which is slated to begin on October 5. He added that any other team could jump in the race at any time and make it interesting and could very well win the prestigious cup.
The former cricketer also reminded that luck plays a massive role in all the mega tournaments. He reminded that in the 2019 edition, New Zealand were the favourites to win the trophy, but luck favoured England as the Eoin Morgan-led side went on to win their first-ever ODI World Cup.
“So, I would say India, England, Australia, and the fourth team can be anyone. These three have more chances. But you never know; cricket is all about luck. As seen in the last World Cup, we thought that New Zealand would win and England won the trophy with luck favouring them,” Muralidaran was quoted as saying by India Today.
The 51-year-old also believes that the sub-continent teams are going to get some form of advantage as they are well accustomed to spin-friendly conditions.
“Definitely, the teams from the subcontinent will get an advantage because of the spin-friendly wickets and their batters are used to playing spin,” the former cricketer added.
Muralidaran opens up about his upcoming biopic
Muralidaran became the latest cricketer to have his biopic made. Talking about that, the Kandy-born cricketer stated that he is happy and pretty excited about it and also thanked the makers for making a film based on him. Muralitharan also clarified that he read the screenplay of the movie and made sure that there’s no masala in it but only true facts.
“I am very excited and happy. Thanks to everyone who has made it possible. I don’t want to give a spoiler, but it is not completely based on my cricket career. It is 20 percent cricket and 80 percent a human story. It’s about the obstacles that I faced in life and how I overcame it,” he added.