“Knew MS Dhoni Would Bat Ahead Because…”: Muttiah Muralitharan On 2011 World Cup Closing | Cricket Information

Former India captain MS Dhoni’s determination to bat forward of an in-form Yuvraj Singh within the 2011 ODI World Cup last towards Sri Lanka turned out to be a game-changer. Figuring out the Muttiah Muralitharan problem that awaited the Indian crew, Dhoni advised the then-India coach Gary Kirsten that he plans to advertise himself within the batting order. The remaining, as they are saying, is historical past. Greater than a decade after the ultimate, Muralitharan has opened up on the episode, sharing his opinion on why Dhoni did what he did that day.

In a chat through the ODI World Cup 2023 schedule announcement present, the Sri Lanka legend revealed that he already knew Dhoni would promote himself over Yuvraj Singh due to the expertise he had taking part in towards him within the Indian Premier League. For the unversed, Dhoni and Muralitharan had been teammates at Chennai Tremendous Kings at one stage.

“I knew because Yuvraj (Singh) was not very comfortable playing me, although he was the best player in World Cup at that time, middle-order number four position. I knew because I was bowling a lot against him (Dhoni) in the nets in Chennai while playing in the IPL.

“So Dhoni knew play me very effectively. So I assumed he did not need to give any wickets to me as a result of I used to be wicketless regardless of bowling effectively,” the iconic spinner revealed.

Having faced Muralitharan a number of times in the nets, Dhoni was best accustomed to tackle the tricky spinner’s challenge.

“There was a number of dew at the moment and we could not spin the ball a lot. Gambhir was there on the different finish, so once we obtained the wicket, positively I knew he’ll come as a result of he is aware of play me very effectively as I’ve performed for Chennai (Tremendous Kings),” Murali further revealed.