It's a final at a final - Sri Lankan spin wizard Muttiah Muralitharan will be playing his penultimate international game at the World Cup final in Mumbai on Saturday - provided he's fit that is. Murali has been plagued with injuries through the tournament and currently has a troublesome knee and a hamstring. Though when it comes to Murali, everyone knows that injuries are not enough to keep him away from such a big occasion.
Opposition captain MS Dhoni summed it up best when quizzed on whether Murali would play and India's plans against him: "It does affect us but is beyond our control.and as a team we prepare for the whole opposition. Muralitharan is very special individual; he has been part of CSK for the past 3 yrs. He's a very good character to have in the dressing room, an equally good opponent who plays a fair cricket, believes in himself and is always entertaining. I think he will definitely play the game unless he's on one leg."
Muralitharan has 534 ODI wickets over a span of 18 years and was also part of Sri Lanka's World Cup winning squad in 1996.
Sri Lankan captain Kumar Sangakkara paid tribute to not just the skill of the magician but also the person behind the ball. "He's a big match player and if he's fit, he will take the field. In our dressing room, it's hard to shut Murali up whatever his mood is. He's pretty upbeat. He's always talking and laughing and today's been no different. It's great to have him in the side and it'd be great to have him play the World Cup final. Whatever happens tomorrow, we want to play for him and play for each other", said Sangakkara.
No comments:
Post a Comment