Muttiah Muralitharan confirms retirement plans after World Cup
Legendary Sri Lankan off-spinner http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Muttiah-Muralitharan-c78157 has confirmed that the 2011 World Cup will be his last assignment, as he will retire from international cricket after the mega event which is scheduled to start from 19 February.
The 38-year-old veteran cricketer retired from Test cricket in July 2010. He completed the feat of picking up 800 wickets in Test cricket in his final match which he played against India.
Murali had announced that the match against India would be his last in Test cricket whether he reached 800 wickets or not. However, he did manage to become the first-ever cricketer in the history of Test cricket to take 800 wickets.
The veteran off-spinner continued to play limited-over cricket for his country, and has taken 517 wickets in 339 one-day internationals (ODIs).
He is the leading wicket-taker in both Test and ODI cricket. Murali will however, continue playing Twenty20 cricket in the Indian Premier League (IPL) even after the World Cup. He was signed by debutant side Kochi for the fourth edition of the cash-rich
tournament.
There is some cricket left for Sri Lanka before the start of the World Cup. The team will host a three-match ODI series against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/West-Indies-c760. The series was scheduled to be played last year but poor weather conditions forced both nations to postpone the series.
Both teams played a three-match Test series ahead of the ODIs and the series ended in a draw. All three matches of the series were rain-affected, and Sri Lankan captain Kumar Sangakkara stated that the series was the worst in his career.
Sri Lanka will be co-hosting the 2011 World Cup along with http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Bangladesh-c747, and the players will be looking forward to win the mega event and pay tribute to the veteran off-spinner.
Sri Lanka won the last World Cup held in subcontinent back in 1996. The team defeated the mighty Australian team in the final which was played at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore, Pakistan.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 will not be the hosts of this year’s World Cup though, as there were plenty of security concerns raised after the attack on the Sri Lankan team in Lahore.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/New-Zealand-c754.
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