Muttiah Muralitharan plans shock retirement
July 6, 2010 06:41 pm
Sri Lankan cricket legend Muttiah Muralitharan is planning to retire within the next few days, the BBC Sinhala Service can exclusively reveal.
A source close to the player said: “He is definitely contemplating it. He is discussing it with Sri Lanka Cricket and the selectors and it will be a joint decision with them.”
Muralitharan, 38, an off-spin bowler with a unique action, has a world record 792 wickets in 132 Test appearances for his country.
Although he is hoping to call it a day in all forms of international cricket, it remains to be seen whether the selectors or skipper Kumar Sangakkara will try to persuade him to continue playing, at least until next year’s World Cup, which Sri Lanka are co-hosting.
Muralitharan is the greatest bowler Sri Lanka has ever produced, and one of the finest players to grace the game of cricket.
In addition to his feats in the Test arena, he has also played 337 one-day internationals, taking 515 wickets.
He has courted controversy in the past with some umpires, as well as former international players, questioning the legality of his bent-arm bowling action. The International Cricket Council has looked into the mechanics of how he bowls, but has cleared him from wrongdoing.
Former Australian Prime Minister John Howard once called Muralitharan a “chucker”. He later apologised.
Last year, Muralitharan said he intended focus on playing one-day cricket until the 2011 World Cup, and would thereafter concentrate exclusively on Twenty20 cricket. Injuries and age have been creeping up on Muralitharan, who has not been able to produce the match-winning performances that were once routine.
The BBC understands he feels the time is right for him to end his playing career, at least at international level, feeling his body cannot hold out much longer.
Unlike batsman Sanath Jayasuriya, still playing at 41, Muralitharan does not want to force the selectors to drop him, preferring to bow out under his own terms. It remains unclear whether he intends to continue playing domestic Twenty20 cricket, which includes an agreement to turn out for Chennai Super Kings in the lucrative Indian Premier League.
A brilliantly economical spell of 1-17 in his four overs helped Chennai win this year’s IPL final against Mumbai. – (BBC)
