It will be tough for Sri Lanka to win four games in-a-row - Muralitharan

ICC brand ambassador for its social cause with Unicef, Muttiah Muralitharan said that it will be tough for Sri Lanka to win four matches out of four to qualify for a place in the Cricket World Cup semi-finals.

Speaking to the media yesterday, the champion spinner, a member of the 1996 World Cup winning outfit said, “We have to take one game at a time. We can’t be thinking of getting into the semi-finals because the other teams are well ahead of us. We have to stay in the game. If we win all four, we will definitely get through but it will be very tough to win four out of four. If we win three with a run rate there is a chance.”   

“They have to think about only the next game and how they are going to perform. Do their small bits collectively, and in the end the win will come to you, but you have to wait patiently. Unfortunately for Sri Lanka, the leading bowlers are injured. They started slowly but they played well batting wise. Bowling wise they didn’t perform as much as we expected. However, the last two games especially the win against England will boost them. England is one of the best sides, so beating them comfortably in Bangalore will lift their game against Afghanistan. It is going to be a tough battle for both teams.”

Sri Lanka, currently lying fifth with four points, have their game against Afghanistan today followed by matches against India, Bangladesh and New Zealand.

Muralitharan was in awe of Afghanistan and billed them a dark horse halfway into the tournament. “They have one of the best bowling attacks, the four spinners are unbelievable because they are different. Farooqi and the fast bowlers are also very skilled and they have been picked in IPL teams. Batting-wise they have a powerful batting line-up because they just play very attacking cricket. That’s the style we played in 1996 when we won the World Cup.”