Murali speaks out
By Sa’adi Thawfeeq
2009 has not been a good year for the game’s greatest spin bowler Muthiah Muralitharan who at age of 37 is feeling the strain of being his country’s main spearhead for the past 18 years. In a frank interview with The Nation, Muralitharan talks about Sri Lanka’s 2011 World Cup chances, why Sri Lanka, once a feared team in one-day cricket is struggling to regain that status, about the politics that is affecting the game, and about his future.
Q: Our ODI performances since the 2007 World Cup have not been very encouraging why?
MM: This is a transitional period. After 2003 World Cup we had senior and capable players who stayed till the 2007 World Cup. Now the transitional period has come. I am not young, neither is Sanath (Jaysuriya). Vaasy (Chaminda Vaas) is gone. Three major players are virtually out of the side. I didn’t have a great 2009 because I had so many injuries. I played 16 ODI matches and took 22 wickets at 4.7 an over which is according to international standards a very good effort. But in Test cricket I played only 8 and got 26 wickets at an average of 45. My career average is 22 and it has dropped because I played on so many flat tracks. It’s not a great effort from me, my performances have gone down. That is one factor. Secondly, Sanath is not the same batsman he was. He is not upto the mark and not scoring as he should be. Vaas has climbed down a bit. From 2003-2007 these three players’ contribution to the team was a major one. With Mahela (Jayawardene) and Sanga (Kumar Sangakkara) there were five key players in the side. Now somebody has to fill in our shoes and it takes time. You have to wait patiently you cannot fill in quickly. The main thing is we are not patient enough.
Q: Do you think we have players to replace the ‘big three’ for the 2011 World Cup?
MM: In 2006 when we went to India under Marvan’s captaincy we got thrashed 2-0 in the Tests and 6-1 in the ODIs. We went to Australia and New Zealand and we didn’t do well. We started performing well in the VB series and in 2007 we built a strong team. The same thing can happen again if everyone is patient. If you try to do drastic changes to the team it won’t happen. The selectors have to be patient and the media has to support the team. We are playing the World Cup at home. The last time we played at home we won. All encouragement should be given to the players within this one year and we will be able to find the right combination for the World Cup. We have plenty of matches and you have to give the players the confidence.
We are in the process of team building looking towards the World Cup. Our objective is to win but at the same time the selectors have decided to try out a few youngsters to see whether they can cope up with international pressure. You’ve got to have the blend right - youngsters and experienced players. We have found a few so we have to continue and support the captain and the selectors and encourage them. Definitely we’ll have positive results.
Q: What’s happened to our fielding, why has it dropped down so drastically in the last few years?
MM: In the 2007 World Cup team we had good fielders like Upul Tharanga, Sanath, Mahela, Sanga as wicket-keeper, Chamara Silva and Russel Arnold. In the bowling department me, Vaasy and (Lasith) Malinga were safe fielders. We had a good fielding unit. Now if you take the team it is the other way around. Thilan (Samaraweera) and (Thilina) Kandamby are not very athletic. They are safe fielders but not brilliant and they are very good batsmen. Because of their fielding you can’t keep them out. Likewise, a few bowlers are not good athletes. That’s what’s happened to our fielding. They train and do everything but speed is something you cannot get. You have to be born with it. So we have to manage with what we have and somehow try to be a safe fielding side. We need to score runs and get wickets and try to win matches. We are not going to be the brilliant fielding side by 2011. If someone is saying we will be, they are not being honest to themselves. Today you cannot find a brilliant fielder who is also a batsman or a bowler. It will take generations of time to find one.
Q: Your thoughts on Kumar Sangakkara as captain, is he doing a good job?
MM: Unreasonable criticism has been made of his captaincy. Fair criticism is accepted. When Mahela captained against India and Pakistan and we lost and he was not scoring runs, the media put too much pressure on him. He was a wonderful captain for the two years he led the country. At the end of the day what happened? He said thank you and quit the captaincy. Luckily we had Sangakkara who can be a very good captain. Now the same criticism has started against him saying his decisions are not good. That’s very unfair. No sooner he took over he brought the team to the final of the T20 World Cup with a young side, won the one-day series in Pakistan, the Idea Cup final, won the Test series against Pakistan and New Zealand and we lost to India. It is too early for anyone to start criticising about his captaincy. He is a capable person but now he is being put under pressure. Once you put a lot of pressure on someone however strong he maybe, he will start thinking why should I take all this criticism when I can be in the team as a player. If Sanga goes who is going to captain? At the end of the day it’s the players who make the captain if they don’t perform the captain alone can’t win a match. I have played for about 20 years and I know.
Sanga took over at a crucial time when Mahela stepped down. He’s had a good three months but he has his ups and downs in his captaincy which is usual. He’s had a tough Indian tour. He also must have the confidence on the players who play under him. At the moment he is trying out different players to get the right combination and juggling around with them. Until he gets it right we’ll start losing matches. At the end of the day if we can get 2-3 players set for the World Cup then we have a good chance. Until then you have to be patient with him and give him the confidence rather than put his confidence down.
Q: Have you enjoyed your role as vice-captain to Sangakkara?
MM: I took the job because at the time there wasn’t anybody to do it. Nobody was certain of a place so I agreed to take it. If somebody is there to take over the vice-captaincy I am glad to hand it over to him. I just want to be a player, support the team and win. Even before the 2011 World Cup if there is someone better than me I don’t mind giving my place to him. I enjoy cricket as a player, vice-captaincy is not something that I’ve really given serious thought to. I concentrate more on my game.
Q: Your views on ODI cricket is it going forwards or backwards?
MM: ODI cricket has changed a lot because of the power play. Our bowlers have not adjusted to it properly. They have to work out how to contain especially in the power play. Because the wickets are so good in India the bowlers suffered a little bit than in any other part of the world. Teams keep the batting power play till the end to maximise a lot and sometimes it backfires. It is left to the two batsmen in the middle to decide when to take the power play. They are in the best position to know how the situation of the game is.
Q: What chances have Sri Lanka of winning World Cup 2011?
MM: We have a very good chance. We have to get into the quarter-finals which we can. After that it is a knockout. The best way of qualifying is not to clash with India then all the quarters and semis will be played in Sri Lanka. The only thing is the officials have to prepare wickets a little bit drier and suitable for spin and batting then we have a good chance. Our spin attack is good so we can win.
We don’t know who is going to play in the World Cup. There are opportunities for a player like Chamara Silva who is a brilliant fielder but he has to get runs. We have to wait and see and pick the right combination at the right time. We should not panic. At the last World Cup India panicked and they kept on changing their team. They couldn’t even qualify for the next stage. We shouldn’t do the same thing.
Q: What has happened to Ajantha Mendis he is no longer the potent force in world cricket?
MM: You can’t judge a bowler in one or two years you have to give him a span of 4-5 years and allow him to mature. Nobody picked Ajantha at the beginning and he bamboozled everyone. He came into the limelight very early. When I came on the scene no one knew me. It was only after 200 Test wickets and six years of international cricket that people started talking about me. During my time there wasn’t so much exposure to the media that way I was not pushed into the limelight too early I was able to learn quietly. For Ajantha the learning curve is going to be difficult because the pressure on him is also high. He has done so much in so little time that expectations are very high. When that happens it is too much pressure to take and it is very difficult to perform. That’s what’s happened to him. Whenever he comes to bowl they expect him to take wickets. It is affecting him. We have to handle him very carefully. You have to treat him as a normal bowler where he takes wickets on and off and on his day he takes big wickets, then he will come good. Technically you can’t teach him because he bowls in so many different ways. He can get advice from many people but at the end of the day he has to realise what went wrong and how to improve to get better. He is not a bad bowler but he has dropped his form. He is only 24 or 25 and he will come good if we persist with him and handle him carefully.
Q: Your future plans?
MM: My plan is to play in the two Tests against West Indies and take 800 wickets. Even if I don’t achieve it, it doesn’t matter because I have already made up my mind. One-day cricket I want to play till the 2011 World Cup but I must see how things go. How important I am going to be for the team I don’t want to be selfish and want to play. If they think I can still deliver I will play otherwise I am happy to quit because I have plenty of offers to play from counties and from Chennai. I must see how my body can take it. My body cannot afford Test cricket anymore because I have bowled thousands of overs and I can feel it. I just can’t force myself to play. T20 is four overs and I am not playing for my country, one-day cricket you bowl only 10 overs so I can manage.
Q: How do you want to be remembered?
MM: I think I’ve had the greatest career of any cricketer. Maybe Don Bradman would have had a better one. I have both bowling records in Test and ODIs only Sachin Tendulkar can compare with that in batting. I have taken 67 times five-for and 46 times four-for which means out of 130 Tests I have failed only in a handful maybe 3-5 percent. In one-day cricket I have taken 500 wickets in 320 matches, average 22 and an economy rate of 3.9. I never thought of records it was built in my system - school cricket, club cricket and international cricket. God had given me that gift. The only thing in my character if I have to say something whether it is right or wrong I will say it to the face. I don’t say things behind. Ninety percent of people like me for that and the balance 10 percent don’t. If I realise I was wrong I will say sorry to him. I don’t have any enemies. I want to be remembered as a good person who played very hard and brought a lot of success to the country. I have achieved more than any other cricketer and I like to retire gracefully and enjoy life with my family.
Extracted from
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