“I feel that now India handles the pressure that is why they win whereas Pakistan have a burden that they haven’t won against India. In the 1990s, they were good at dealing with pressure but after 2000, India soaked it better,” Sehwag said during the launch event of the World Cup schedule in Mumbai on Tuesday.
Clearing the air over a high-pressure situation during the India-Pakistan match, Sehwag said that it is unfair to say that there is no pressure.
“If any player says that they don’t feel pressure, I don’t think it’s right. We used to say it too but at the end of the day, we know it’s an India versus Pakistan game and emotions run high,” Sehwag added.
Sehwag said players from countries like England and Australia tend to do well if the wickets are good but the same players struggle against spin.
“A player from the subcontinent has a better idea (of playing spin) than someone coming from outside,” he said, adding that India and Pakistan could end up playing a final before the final if they meet in the semifinals.
Sri Lankan spin legend Muttiah Muralitharan said since the World Cup is in the subcontinent, spinners will have a big role to play and agreed with Sehwag that India, England, Australia and Pakistan could be the favourites for the semifinals.
“I am looking forward to the India-England match, that will be a tough match. England is playing really well at the moment. India is one of the favourites in my mind because they are playing at home and they know the conditions really well. They know how to win in India,” said Muralitharan, adding that Adil Rashid would be his pick as the most successful bowler in the competition.
“The subcontinent teams will be favoured by the wickets, a lot of good spinners are there. Afghanistan’s batting is not that great but their spin attack is tremendous. India and Sri Lanka have good spin attacks.
“In the subcontinent, I always believe there is a chance of two teams from the subcontinent coming into the finals, with the exception of 1987 when England and Australia came (in the final). Other than that, last time two best teams came into the final and the best team won in 2011,” he added.
Muralitharan added that a team from the subcontinent “has more chances” of winning the final since the tournament is being held here, which was seconded by Sehwag during the panel discussion.
The spin legend acknowledged that Sri Lanka’s current outfit — taking part in the CWC Qualifiers in Zimbabwe — are not favourites to win the World Cup title but added that they would pose a stern challenge to their opponents.
“It is unfortunate for a country like us to be playing the qualifiers,” said Muralitharan.
“But I think Sri Lanka has a very good talent, they have good spin bowlers and good batsmen. Unfortunately we have not played up to our potential for the last 4-5 years. We had a successful Asia Cup but that is T20 cricket. T20 and 50 overs cricket is totally different.
“They are doing well in Zimbabwe at the moment. We will be a threat to all the good teams, we are not going to be pushovers. But winning the tournament, I have doubts because there are much better teams but you never know, in 1996 nobody counted us. Still, anything can happen. To win this cup, you need a little bit of luck,” said Muralitharan.
(With PTI inputs)
