Virendra Sehwag takes dig at Muttiah Muralitharan for his top-four prediction for 2023 ODI World Cup
Muttiah Muralitharan and Virendra Sehwag (Source – Twitter)
Former India batter Virendra Sehwag had a hilarious response to the legendary Sri Lankan spinner Muttiah Muralitharan after he picked his top-four teams to qualify for the semi-finals of the upcoming ODI World Cup in India. Muralitharan didn’t pick his own country to qualify for the top four of the upcoming Marquee event as his picks were India, Australia, England and Pakistan.
Muralitharan made his prediction after the Apex Cricket Council announced the fixture for the World Cup. After he picked his top four teams, Sehwag quickly jumped and jokingly asked him to lie a bit saying that he can also pick Sri Lanka for the top four. “At least you can lie a bit and add Sri Lanka,” Sehwag was quoted as saying by Sports Tiger.
Notably, Sri Lanka haven’t been able to directly qualify for the big event in India as they are currently a part of the ongoing World Cup 2023 Qualifiers in Zimbabwe. However, they still have a chance to make their appearance in the marquee event as they have won three out of three matches played so far.
The schedule for ODI World Cup 2023 announced
The schedule for the 2023 ODI World Cup has already been announced by the Apex Cricket Council in June on Tuesday. The opening match of the tournament will be played between the finalists of the previous edition, where the defending champions England will take on New Zealand at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, while the hosts India will kickstart their campaign against Australia at the M.A Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on October 8th. The most anticipated encounter of the tournament between India and Pakistan is scheduled to be played on October 15th in Ahmedabad.
Semi-final 1 of World Cup 2023 will be played at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on November 15th, while the second semi-final is scheduled to be held at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on November 16th. The final will take place on November 19th at the largest cricket stadium in the world; Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. This will be the first time that India will fully host the World Cup in their country. Earlier, India co-hosted the tournament with the neighbouring countries in 1987, 1996 and 2011.
