Muralitharan in awe of Afghanistan; ‘surprised’ by Netherlands’ efficiency in World Cup

In a match that’s been largely disadvantaged of thrilling finishes, the Men’s World Cup has thrown up many stunning outcomes, with Afghanistan, Netherlands and Sri Lanka main the pack. Muttiah Muralitharan, the legendary spinner, has insisted the smaller nations have confirmed their value on the World Cup.

“Netherlands is the only one without Test status this time around. Afghanistan, with the talent they have, they can win the World Cup. That kind of a side they have, so that is not a surprise for anyone,” Muralitharan, who’s an ICC model ambassador for its social trigger with Unicef, mentioned right here on Sunday.

“But the surprise was Netherlands because beating big teams in conditions much different than they are used to is creditable. They play in bouncy tracks and seaming, swinging tracks. Here it becomes a little flat and still beating the bigger sides, it means something special. I would like to say that if you can add more associate nations, it will be great for the tournament.”

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Muralitharan, a member of the 1996 World Cup-winning outfit, was in awe of Afghanistan and billed them a darkish horse midway into the match.

“They have one of the best bowling attacks, four spinners are unbelievable spinners because they are different. Farooqi and the fast bowlers are also very skilled and they have been picked in IPL teams,” Muralitharan mentioned.

“Batting-wise they have a powerful batting line-up because they just play very attacking cricket. That’s the style that we played in 1996 when we won the World Cup.”