Indian World Cup winner S Sreesanth hit back at the former New Zealand cricketer Simon Doull over his comments on the Indian team not playing a fearless brand of cricket in the game. The Men in Blue lost under pressure in the recent ICC tournaments’ knockout round, which drew a lot of criticism for their strategy.
The Men in Blue won their last ICC title in the 2013 Champions Title under the legendary MS Dhoni’s captaincy, but the team has been unable to win a single marquee event since then despite performing well in the league stages of the tournament and the Rohit Sharma-led side will have a huge chance to end their ICC title drought in the country.
Speaking to Sportskeeda, S Sreesanth responded to the comments of renowned cricket commentator Simon Doull over his take on the Indian team going into the World Cup. The former Indian pacer feels that New Zealand will have their answers once they play the Indian team in the mega event in his country and reckons that Blackscaps were fortunate to dismiss MS Dhoni in the Semifinals and questioned about their performance in the final of the 2019 World Cup against England.
“New Zealand is coming to India. They will get to know if India plays attacking cricket or not. We will thrash them. They got lucky in 2019 with MS Dhoni getting run out due to a direct hit. What did you do after playing the final? They made a team like England win the World Cup, who hadn’t won a 50-over World Cup until then”.
“New Zealand are never going to win. Yes, they might win in the future, but it will be embarrassing for them this time. If you get a chance to address the media, please think before you speak. If you are ready to give, you should be able to take it also,” S Sreesanth said.
MS Dhoni’s well-composed half-century in the semifinal helped India to recover from a top-order collapse. However, the run out of the Indian wicket-keeper batter in the penultimate over resulted in India’s loss in the game.
Indians Are Going To Have A Blast Against New Zealand – S Sreesanth
S Sreesanth believes that India will produce a thumping win over New Zealand in the forthcoming World Cup on home soil. He also stated that if the Indian players, particularly Virat Kohli, hear Simon Doull’s comments, the match will be more exciting because the players will be motivated to make a statement.
“I just want to tell Simon Doull that Indians are going to have a blast against New Zealand. New Zealand is going to learn a lot against India. Yes, there have been certain matches where they have done well against us, especially in ICC events. But those times have gone now. If any of these cricketers get to know what you said, and if Virat is made aware of it, it will be a lot of fun to watch that match,” S Sreesanth added.
Team India will be one of the favourites to win the World Championship in India, as they have a formidable unit to perform well in home conditions and the Rohit Sharma-led side will be high on confidence to win the championship on home soil after dominating win the Asia Cup 2023.
