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The 2011 World Cup is t biggststag or crickt. It will b playd

in t most dnsly populatd

land mass on t plant. India,

Sri Lanka and Banglads will

av t opportunity to arwll

som o t modrn grats. A

worldwid audinc in xcss o a

billion will tun in to salut ts mn.

Murali, Tndulkar, Kallis and Ponting. W may

nvr s tir lik again. Tndulkar wit 46 ODI

undrds and ovr 17,000 runs at a strik rat o

86.4 as alrady ascndd into Vdic olklor and

is worsippd lik no otr dity. T xpctation o

an adoring public is tat Tndulkar will dlivr India

a scond World Cup. Kallis and Ponting will also b

cntral to t ops o Sout Arica and Australia.

Sri Lanka will b willing Murali to summon t

last drops o is aging gnius. Murali rtird rom

Tst crickt last yar so could dvot all is

nrgis to t World Cup. h trains vr y day

lik a man possssd. his nrgy is unagging.

his ntusiasm undiminisd.

Murali rprsntd t Tamil popl but was

nvr a Tamil Tigr. his way was not o t gun. It

was mor o t lovr. By rmaining compassionat

and sking to carm ratr tan conront.

In tim Murali, along wit Sanat Jayasuriya,

tat uncomplaining man o Buddist srnity,

may wll b rcognisd or t sooting balm on

a country tormntd by t callousnss o t

privilgd and corruptd by sl-srving politicians.

Brian Lara playd som o is gratst innings

against Murali and in 2001 scord 688 runs in six

innings on tracks tat wr turning mor tan a

Catrin wl. In spit o Lara, Murali spun Sri

Lanka to a 3-0 sris win.

To Sri Lankans, Murali was a ro and otn

tir ntir crickt tam. Modst and not givn

to yprbol, unlss it was t xaggratddcption o is doosra. Warns orts a gainst

India in India mirror Muralis. Tr is no sam

in coming o scond bst to Dravid, Swag,

Tndulkar and Laxman.

Murali kpt Sri Lankan crickt aoat or nig on

15 yars. h mad batsmn fgt or vry run.

h gav t art o o-spinning a crdibility not

sn sinc Lakr and Prasanna. Murali dard to

b dirnt. Warn was tatr and Murali was

InsideCricket FEBRUARY / MARCH 201140 FEBRUARY / MARCH 2011

MagicMuralis

arewellto arms

Muttiah Muralitharan PR

Alrady rtird rom Tst crickt,t 2011 World Cup will b MuttiahMuralitharans last major intrnationaltournamnt. Vinay Verma rcts ona spcial carr

> photography MARK NOLAN /

8/7/2019 IC0211p040-043Murali

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Murali mastered physics. He had driftand outrageous turn. His smile was

infectious and his uncomplaining nature sawhim bowl more overs than anyone in history

Murali is bot mntor and willing srvant.

h as a captain in Kumar Sangakkara wo

wlcoms im wit unconcald ntusiasm

and unstinting prais. h said rcntly: Its a

joy to s im play. For us to av im in our

sid is a ug boost o confdnc.

Murali straddls t bowling world lik a

colossus. Wit 800 Tst wickts and 517

ODI wickts is is a rcord tat may nvr b

qualld. h containd, cajold, coaxd

and comptd. h was always smiling.

Somtims in joy. Somtims in rsignation.

Was crickt vr srvd by a man mor umbl?

Muralis visit to Australia in January 2005,

atr t tsunami ravagd is country, was

tstamnt to t mans nobility and compassion

or is countrymn. h was t driving orc

bind t matc gtting ofcial ICC status.

Ponting was tr and scord a winning

undrd. Stv Waug was t managr o

t World XI. T worlds lit cricktrs w r

gracious and unanimous wit tir tim. Murali

took t buckt around t MCG collcting

donations wic would rbuild parts o SriLanka, including is blovd ground at G all.

$17m was raisd or t Tsunami Rli Fund.

Murali would b t frst to admit tat Sri

Lankas ris as a crickting powr ows a lot to

many cricktrs. Murali was a sprigtly 24-yar-

old in 1996 wn Sri Lanka won t sixt World

Cup in Laor. his 10 ovrs or a misrly 31 put

t braks on Australias runaway start and w as

instrumntal in rstricting Mark Taylors sid to a

is co

S

How do you look back on the last

World Cup?

No-one expected us to get to the fnal in

2007 but we had a solid team and everyone

played a part. Thats what World Cups are

all about you have to start well and try to

keep that momentum going. We enjoyed

that but then unortunately Australia were

better; well maybe Gilly was better. To lose afnal like that, it still hurts, youll always be

disappointed, but ater a while you can also

think about all the good things we did in that

tournament. And weve played some really

good one-day cricket since, there are a lot

o new young aces around the team, so its

exciting times or us and we cant wait or

this tournament, especially playing at home.

Do you think you can win this time?

We defnitely eel we can win it. The younger

guys are maturing nicely, theyre bringing new

things to the table or us to think about, and

weve got experience as well which you need

in a World Cup. So i we have a good mixture,

and I think we are looking strong.

Tell us about Muralis impact on the side?

Its amazing. The guy is always very involved

in the team and hes someone we really need

at the moment. But at the same time, we

know the day will come when we have to play

without him. Were lucky that hes still very

keen to play in the World Cup, and its great

to have such a great player around in terms

o both our perormance and as someone orthe younger guys to look up to.

What about Kumar Sangakkara? Were

there any issues when he became captain?

The last our years hes just got himsel into

a nice groove in all orms o the game and

hes just kept improving. Hes a guy who

works really, really hard on his game and

at the moment theres no stopping him. At

the age that we are [33], were still looking

to improve our batting. Kumar is doing that

and we had no hesitation in giving him the

captaincy as well hes a deep thinker on

the game and he works really well with the

younger guys. Nothing has changed in terms

o how the guys are eeling [since he took

over the captaincy], everything has be

brilliant, and its going to be a big Wo

or him. He was a big part o the last o

my vice-captain and now its turned a

Im his vice-captain or this one. We

good mates so theres no issues with

Who should we look out for amon

Sri Lankas up and comers?Angelo Mathews is the standout o our

players coming through. Hes somebod

never had in our side in the past a ge

allrounder who can change the game w

the bat or the ball. So hes a very impo

player or us; we need him in the team

that middle order can have the right ba

There are a ew other guys as well Je

Mendis, the leg-spinning batsman, he

around or a long time but in the last y

shown everyone that h es capable o h

international cricket. Then theres [Cha

Kapugedera who weve seen a bit o he

there, but he probably hasnt quite com

they way we wanted him to, but hopeu

World Cup will be the one or him.

Refections and predictionsAdam Burnett talks to Sri Lanka star Mahela Jayawardene about what could havebeen in 2007, and what we should expect rom his side this time around

InsideCricket FEBRUARY / MARCH 201142 FEBRUARY / MARCH 2011

industry. Rudi Kortzn, rcntly rtird, says

you ad to av air on your cst to surviv

Warn. h rmarkd tat Warn xpctd

to tak a wickt vry dlivry, adding: not

witout rason.

Murali, on occasion, was also known to grab

is at rom t umpir. But it was not rom

ptulanc. It was disappointmnt tat ad

aild to gt an advantag or Sri Lanka. But

bor t start o is nxt ovr was smiling

and ad is arm around t umpirs souldr.

Murali could not b witout a smil or long. It

was is signatur.

Warn ad cmistry and Murali mastrd

pysics. h ad drit and ad outragous

turn. Abov all ad an ncyclopdicmmory. h knw is opponnts and nvr

undrstimatd tm. h ad rspct or crickt

and cricktrs. his smil was inctious and is

uncomplaining natur saw im bowl mor ovrs

tan anyon in t istory o t gam.

blow par 241. Aravinda d Silva was t man o

t matc wit is unbatn 107 and Sri L anka

av bn on t ris sinc.

Muralis lgacy is tat Sri Lankan crickt

can now dar to dram. In Sangakkara ty

av an rudit and worldly-wis captain

wo lads rom t ront. his dput y Mala

Jayawardn was appy to rlinquis t

captaincy or t gratr good.

Murali rtird rom Tst crickt bcaus did

not want to tak a spot rom a young spinnr. In

Ajanta Mndis ty av a young man wo is still

dfning t boundaris o is crat. h invntd

t ickd carrom ball and is on to watc.

Murali would av inspird Anglo Matws,

wo is t allroundr tat Sri Lanka crav.

Matws will b a ky man in Sri Lankas qust

or tir scond World Cup. I tings go to plan,

a om smi-fnal in Colombo would b a rality.

Murali is quitly confdnt and knows tat

in Tillakaratn Dilsan, Jayawardn and

Sangakkara, ty av t batting frpowr. h

will b saving is body so can b at is bst

wn t businss nd o t World Cup arrivs.

Sri Lanka ar in wat appars t strongr

group along wit Australia, Pakistan and

Nw Zaland. Ty would av takn a lot o

confdnc rom bating Australia in Australia a

w monts back. Ty sould progrss to tquartr-fnal knockout stag. Tis is wr t

big matc xprinc o Murali will count.

A billion popl will b cring India to lit

t tropy. Tis will b Tndulkars last World

Cup and t tam is dsprat to s im o a

winnr. I India sould altr, t billion w ill b

cring or Sri Lanka as tir scond avourit.

It would b a ftting arwll to Sri Lankas Spin

King and no on would b mor dsrving.