Former India pacer Sreesanth (left) and Virat Kohli. (File) S Sreesanth, who has been part of India’s two World Cup winning teams, has said that India would have won at least three World Cups, if he had played under Virat Kohli’s captaincy.
Under the leadership of Kohli, India have faltered at different ICC tournaments beginning with the 2017 Champions Trophy, 2019 ODI World Cup, and the 2021 World Test Championship. After tasting defeat against arch-rivals Pakistan in 2017, India have failed twice to beat New Zealand — in the 2019 semi-final and in 2021 final.
“If I would have been a part of the team under Virat’s captaincy, India would have won the World Cup in 2015, 2019 & 2021,” said Sreesanth in a ShareChat Audio Chatroom on Tuesday.
Sreesanth recalled standing with Sachin Tendulkar carrying the World Cup and how Tendulkar became emotional about these victories and his dreams of seeing India winning. “We won that World Cup for Sachin Tendulkar.”
Sreesanth’s seam, the grimace at release, the headband, the misbehaving hair, the desire to revel in the post-delivery moment at the batsman’s discomfiture. A kid’s urge, that. At times, it would seem that desire almost overwhelmed the required discipline before the release of the ball; he can lose the plot as much as stun with something spectacular. The inconsistency wasn’t surprising.
Sreesanth explained how he mastered the trick. He said: “It is important to visualize while playing and small regions do not make any difference. Rather it is better to learn such tricks here, given there are a few distractions. My coach taught me how to throw Yorkers with tennis balls”, said Sreesanth, who ended up with 87 wickets from 27 Tests.
He even suggested that practice can make one perfect and to never think anything is difficult. “If you ask Bumrah, he’ll say that it is easy too.
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