Former India captain MS Dhoni‘s resolution to bat forward of an in-form Yuvraj Singh within the 2011 ODI World Cup remaining towards Sri Lanka turned out to be a game-changer. Knowing the Muttiah Muralitharan problem that awaited the Indian group, Dhoni informed the then-India coach Gary Kirsten that he plans to advertise himself within the batting order. The relaxation, as they are saying, is historical past. More than a decade after the ultimate, Muralitharan has opened up on the episode, sharing his opinion on why Dhoni did what he did that day.

In a chat through the ODI World Cup 2023 schedule announcement present, the Sri Lanka legend revealed that he already knew Dhoni would promote himself over Yuvraj Singh due to the expertise he had taking part in towards him within the Indian Premier League. For the unversed, Dhoni and Muralitharan have been teammates at Chennai Super Kings at one stage.

“I knew because Yuvraj (Singh) was not very comfortable playing me, although he was the best player in World Cup at that time, middle-order number four position. I knew because I was bowling a lot against him (Dhoni) in the nets in Chennai while playing in the IPL.

“So Dhoni knew how you can play me very properly. So I assumed he did not need to give any wickets to me as a result of I used to be wicketless regardless of bowling properly,” the iconic spinner revealed.

Having faced Muralitharan a number of times in the nets, Dhoni was best accustomed to tackle the tricky spinner’s challenge.

“There was lots of dew at the moment and we could not spin the ball a lot. Gambhir was there on the different finish, so after we acquired the wicket, undoubtedly I knew he’ll come as a result of he is aware of how you can play me very properly as I’ve performed for Chennai (Super Kings),” Murali further revealed.