Could Muralitharan’s farewell distract the Sri Lankan side?
The game of cricket has been blessed with huge stars that not only make a name for themselves, but change the international game itself. The likes of Don Bradman, Gary Sobers, Brian Lara, Steve Waugh and others have given audiences across the world moments of sheer magic. And when the time has come for them to hang their boots, they have caused much grief to many of their fans.
Currently, Sri Lanka faces a similar conundrum, as http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Muttiah-Muralitharan-c78157 had decided to retire from the five-day format after the first Test against India in Galle. Murali has taken 792 wickets in his career so far, the most by any bowler in the history of cricket. He has been the most threatening bowler for Sri Lanka for 18 years now. With records like these, Sri Lanka would be lucky to find an immediate replacement for the spin wizard.
But the Lankans have to consider another issue. It is often easy to misplace the fact that there is a Test match in progress and be lost in the moment, as had happened during Steve Waugh’s swansong series.
Sri Lanka wants to stay focussed
This important fact reiterated by the Sri Lankan captain Kumar Sangakkara who has urged his team mates to remain focused on the task ahead. He believes that a win against India in the first Test would be a perfect farewell gift which the Sri Lankan team could give to the retiring Muralitharan and to achieve that, it would be important that the side does its best to concentrate on the task on hand.
The Indian bowling is an obvious issue. However, with the Lankan bowling seeming as strong as it is, they look like they could create a problem or two for the Indian batting.
Lasith Malinga makes a comeback to the Test side after almost two-and-a-half years. Malinga has been in tremendous form in both ODIs and Twenty20s of late. The efforts he has put in to recuperate from the knee injury he faced against England in December 2007 have been much applauded by his captain and his performances in the recently concluded Asia Cup were outstanding.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750, making him a favourite to come in as Murali’s replacement in Colombo for the remaining two games. He also has the backing of his captain who has complete faith in Mendis’ abilities. The captain holds Mendis in a high regard as a spinner and believes that he can trouble any batting line up in the world.
Sangakkara was also very practical when asked about the retirement of Muralitharan. According to him, cricket was a sport that epitomises the ‘show must go on’ adage, a lot. Also, with the bowling line-up that he has at his disposal, Sangakkara believes that the Sri Lankan side can cope with the retirement of Murali and move on with their game without him.
Speaking of Muralitharan, Sangakkara also commended him for his commitment and determination. Murali had faced a horrid time in http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746 when his bowling action had been under scrutiny and he was called for chucking. He had to go through rigorous testing and had to bowl with a cast in his hand to prove that he was not guilty of throwing.
Despite all of this, he came out stronger.
Murali goes into his final Test with 792 Test match wickets and if he goes on to get those eight wickets, he will become the only bowler to scalp 800 in Tests. Yet, he has declared that reaching the 800 mark isn't his main priority.
Sangakkara, on the other hand, said that he believed that if Murali managed to reach that record in this match, then http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sri-Lanka-c758 would probably go on to win the game.
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