India would have won World Cup three times if I played under Virat Kohli's captaincy: S Sreesanth

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New Delhi, July 19: Former India seamer S Sreesanth is known for his outspoken attitude and the Kerala cricketer has claimed had he played under Virat Kohli's captaincy, Team India would have won three World Cups.

Sreesanth is widely remembered for his under-pressure catch of Pakistan's Misbah-ul-Haq that helped India win the inaugural edition of the T20 World Cup in 2007. The right-arm quick also played an important role in India's 2011 World Cup-winning campaign.

The pacer recently held a live chat with his fans as part of the new season of CricChat on the ShareChat Audio Chatroom, powered by Parimatch. In his chat with fans, Sreesanth reminisced about his days as an Indian cricketer and recounted some highlights from his career.

Team India hasn't won any World Cup after 2011 but the former cricketer claimed that he is confident that Virat Kohli will do something extraordinary in the upcoming showpiece events.

Talking about his coaching capabilities, the Kerala cricketer said, "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". Kohli, however, was appointed India's limited-overs captain in 2017 before Champions Trophy 2017, which the Men In Blue lost in the finals.

He stated that whoever he has guided including, Sanju Samson and Sachin Baby, has been doing great.

Sreesanth also recalled standing with Sachin Tendulkar carrying the World Cup and how the batting maestro turned emotional after finally realising his dream of lifting the world cup. "We won that World Cup for Sachin Tendulkar," he added.

Sreesanth created ripples with his pace and accuracy throughout his cricketing career. While explaining how he mastered the art of bowling the yorkers despite belonging to a small town, the former cricketer 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 fewer distractions. My coach taught me how to bowl yorkers with tennis balls. He even suggested that practice can make one perfect and to never think anything is difficult. If you ask (Jasprit) Bumrah, he'll say that it is easy too."

Sreesanth has also tried his hands at acting and has been a part of several TV shows, including Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa, Khatron Ke Khiladi, and Bigg Boss. In a brief appearance during the session, his wife Bhuvneshwari conveyed her gratitude to the cricketer-turned-actor for getting an opportunity to work with an incredible cast of actors in his recently released Tamil film, 'Kaathuvaakula Rendu Kaadhal.'

Suren Sundaram, a well-known Indian RJ, moderated the discussion and asked about Sreesanth's portrayal of Samantha Ruth Prabhu's partner onscreen, to which Bhuvneshwari answered, "What's mine is mine."

The former quick also expressed his gratitude for having worked in the Tamil film industry. "I am looking at myself as a junior artist who is getting to learn a lot in this field," he said.

During the session, Sreesanth also discussed the dark days when he wasn't sure if he'd be able to play the game again owing to life-threatening injuries. He also stated his thoughts on the lack of role models in Kerala and admitted that he too had a fair share of struggles for there wasn't anyone to guide him in the early stage of his career.

With his melodious tunes, the cricketer also inspired his fans to believe in themselves and keep a positive attitude toward achieving dreams.