Muralitharan itching to have a go at Australia before his exit

Muttiah Muralitharan and Australia go back a long way. It’s a relationship that started off on a terribly acrimonious note 16 years ago, when the legendary off-spinner was called for chucking for the first time Down Under. Over the years, it kept getting worse, with even the Australian Prime Minister openly questioning the world’s highest Test and ODI wicket taker’s action.

Of late, though, it has only got better. To the extent that the Aussies were keen on flying down the Lankan great to impart a lesson or two to their budding tweakers, a possibility that would seem like a joke when the tensions were at their worst between the two parties.

With Muralitharan in the final twilight of a glorious career, all bad blood seems to be a thing of the past... but there is still something about Australia that fires up the old fox. Before he walks away from the limelight, Murali would love to make the Aussies dance to his tune for one last time. And his words before Sri Lanka’s big game against Australia on Saturday night at the Premadasa radiated as much. The 38-year-old is in no mood to take Australia’s no-more-invincibles status for granted. For him, the challenge won’t be easy, but it will have to be won.

“Australia have won in all conditions. They have won the last three World Cups in a row. They are still the No 1 side in one-day cricket. They are the team everybody wants to beat,” he cautioned on Thursday after the Lankans sweated it out for three hours at the P Sara Oval to brace up for the bout.

The Aussies have looked inadequate against spin, both in the warm-up games and in the opener against Zimbabwe. Murali, however, doesn’t think that the Aussies look under-cooked against a turning ball, and lack experience. “Whether it is spin or pace, the Aussies play it well and are experienced. They have players who have been there for eight-nine years in the team,” he points out.

Sri Lanka won their first-ever ODI series against Australia last year Down Under. Shouldn’t that be a major confidence booster? “That win was memorable and we can take heart from it, but this is a new game, and that result counts for nothing.”

The newly-laid Premadasa pitch too should reduce the Aussie fears, he assures. “It is not a typically Sri Lankan wicket, the batsmen can hit the ball around. It will basically be 50-50. The wicket takes a bit of spin, but remains good for batting,” he says.

The spin king then tried to lessen the hype around the clash. “We are just taking it just as another game. Our main objective is to qualify for the quarterfinals.”

In between, he wanted to treat this as “just another game”. “Everyone in the team is upbeat. We are anxious to beat them,” he said. When an Aussie journalist asked him if he would have loved to have more left-handers amidst Ricky Ponting & Co, he flashed a cheeky smile, before saying: “It doesn’t matter. I love bowling to the right-handers more than the left-handers.”

The match, going by Murali’s words, won’t be able to match the abnormally high-scoring epics that India is witnessing. “In Sri Lanka, if you are really batting well, you can score more than 300. But in Indian conditions, smaller grounds and faster outfields mean 350 is achievable.”

Murali conveyed his displeasure about the “stupid” spot-fixing allegations against a couple of players in the Lankan team and “the need to play well rather be emotional about this being my final World Cup,” but he was open to the idea of helping spinners in any part of the world in the future, even Australia. “If anyone wants my expertise, I will definitely help. It is something God has given me. And it is something that I can pass on to other people.”

Before doing all that, he surely wants one more ‘parting’ crack at the Aussies, Times of India reports.