India among best bets in World Cup: Srikkanth

NEW DELHI, April 5: Former Indian captain Krishnamachari Srikkanth feels that India are among the best bets for winning the World Cup, in spite of their poor performance against Pakistan recently. Srikkanth, who was a part of Kapil’s Devils’ in 1983, picks up Australia and South Africa as the favourites along with India.

Speaking after the unveiling of the ICC World Cup here, Srikkanth refused to compare the side selected for the World Cup yesterday and the team of ’83. “We did not give ourselves even a ghost of a chance, but after we beat West Indies in the very first match, Kapil Dev told us that if we can defeat them once, we can do it again,” he remembered.

The former opener did acknowledge that Sachin Tendulkar, Mohammad Azharuddin, Sourav Ganguly and the bowlers are quite used to the conditions in England. “Let sachin be fit and it will be quite different,” he said, adding that in England Ganguly, Jadeja and Tendulkar too should shine with the ball.

Srikkanth was joined by a host of singers and Bollywood stars during the unveiling ceremony. The World cup will travel across 25 cities in India.