Muralitharan says World Cup win would crown whole career
By Jon Bramley - BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (Reuters)
Sri Lanka's Muttiah Muralitharan is on the verge of becoming the most successful bowler in cricket history but said World Cup victory over Australia on Saturday would top all his achievements.
Despite being one of three surviving members of the Sri Lankan team which beat Australia in 1996 to lift the trophy, the master spinner said victory at the Kensington Oval would be all the more sweeter second time around at the age of 35.
"This could be the biggest moment in my life," he told a news conference on Thursday. "In '96, at the time I was very young and I didn't know much about it.
"Now I know what it takes to win a World Cup. Like so many others, this is my last World Cup so if we can win it would be the greatest moment in my life.
"Right now there are many individual records that I could get but that's individual. Team success is the most important thing."
Muralitharan has 674 test wickets and needs another 35 to pass Australian Shane Warne's mark of 708. He is also just 47 wickets short of Wasim Akram's one-day record of 502.
The Kandy-born off spinner is joint second behind fast bowler Glenn McGrath in the tournament list of wicket-takers with 23 victims.
McGrath, 37, has two more scalps than the Sri Lankan and his Australian countryman Shaun Tait going into his final match before retirement.
TOP FORM
Muralitharan , opener Sanath Jayasuriya and paceman Chaminda Vaas are the three remaining members of the Sri Lankan side which won the tournament 11 years ago and all have hit top form in the 2007 edition.
"It is good for the youngsters who follow cricket in Sri Lanka," Muralitharan continued. "They can watch what we do and maybe become the next players.
"It helps the country more than anything else. We have a bad (political) situation going on in our country and this would help us achieve something different."
Sri Lanka has suffered a two-decade civil war between the government and Tamil Tigers which has claimed around 68,000 lives and intensified in the past year.
Jayasuriya insisted the Sri Lankans would not be cowed by the powerful Australians, who go into the match with an 28-match unbeaten streak stretching back to the 1999 World Cup.
Although favourites Australia are bidding for an unprecedented hat-trick of World titles and have recorded emphatic victories in all 10 matches they have played so far in the Caribbean, Muralitharan remained unperturbed.
"That will not affect our tactics at all," he said. "We have our own plans for Australia."
'Just like a school cricketer'
By: Chloe Saltau - April 27, 2007
Mahela's semi-final knock was similar to which he played after his brother's tragic death as a teenager, recalls Ranatunga
BARBADOS : On the day Mahela Jayawardene inspirationally led his country into a World Cup final, the general of Sri Lankan cricket, Arjuna Ranatunga , recalled leading a teenaged Jayawardene back to the game after the tragic death of his brother, Dhishal .
Real chance
Ranatunga believes Sri Lanka have a very real chance of emulating the historic success of 1996 in Barbados on Saturday, and the captain of that groundbreaking side will be watching every ball from a television studio in London.
But his pride was accentuated on Tuesday night by the beautifully crafted 115 not out, one of the great World Cup innings, by the captain Jayawardene to outclass New Zealand by 81 runs in Jamaica.
I saw Mahela playing school cricket, and I knew he was blessed with talent, Ranatunga said on Wednesday.
Brother's death
He lost his brother to brain tumour when he was young, and he was not really interested in playing cricket.
But we dragged him in. He was very close to his brother. He said he was a better cricketer than he was but I didn't see him play.
I invited Mahela to come and play for my club (the Sinhalese Sports Club in Colombo). I opened with him until we could find him a spot in the middle-order. He could read the game so well, and I got him to captain our U-23 side.
Many years later, Jayawardene , 29, is one game away from repeating the achievement of his influential mentor, and goes into the final with 529 runs in the tournament so far.
The pair are very different characters: Ranatunga a strutting, Napoleonic and controversial figure who helped turn Sri Lanka into a world-beating force.
Jayawardene is a calm, classy batsman and self- assured leader, who along with former Australian all-rounder Tom Moody, has rebuilt the team around the three heroes of 96 Muttiah Muralitharan , Chaminda Vaas and Sanath Jayasuriya.
They are playing very good cricket, and I think they can go all the way, Ranatunga said.
Mahela's day
The day belonged to Jayawardene , who hadn't chased the captaincy. I've become mentally much stronger. The captaincy has helped, and Tom has definitely pushed me to the limits.
He's not happy when I'm cruising. In fact, he's not happy when anyone's cruising.
Sri Lanka will meet Australia, their 1996 final opponents at Kensington Oval in Barbados on Saturday.
The author is The Age's chief cricket writer in Australia. |
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Sri Lanka factbox
Reuters | Friday, 27 April 2007
BRIDGETOWN : Factbox on the Sri Lanka cricket team, who will face Australia in the cricket World Cup final here on Sunday morning (NZ time):
Captain: Mahela Jayawardene
Coach: Tom Moody
Squad: Mahela Jayawardene , Russel Arnold, Marvan Atapattu , Malinga Bandara , Tillakaratne Dilshan , Dilhara Fernando, Sanath Jayasuriya, Nuwan Kulasekara , Farveez Maharoof , Lasith Malinga , Muttiah Muralitharan , Kumar Sangakkara , Chamara Silva, Upul Tharanga , Chaminda Vaas .
World Cup record: 1975 first round; 1979 first round; 1983 first round; 1987 first round; 1992 first round; 1996 champions; 1999 first round; 2003 semi-finalists.
Overall playing record: Played: 527, Won: 241, Lost: 263, Tied: 3, No result: 20.
Highest innings total: 443-9 v Netherlands, Amstelveen, 2006
Lowest innings total: 55 v West Indies, Sharjah , 1986
Most appearances: 389 Sanath Jayasuriya
Highest individual score: 189 Sanath Jayasuriya
Leading run-scorer: 11,942 Sanath Jayasuriya
Best bowling: 8-19 Chaminda Vaas v Zimbabwe, 2001
Leading wicket-taker: 455 Muttiah Muralitharan
Highest partnership: 286 (1st) Sanath Jayasuriya and Upul Tharanga v England, Leeds, 2006
Most catches by a fielder: 122 Mahela Jayawardene
Most dismissals by a wicketkeeper: 229 Kumar Sangakkara
Road to Final:
Group Stage:
Defeated Bermuda by 243 runs.
Defeated Bangladesh by 198 runs (D/L method).
Defeated India by 69 runs.
Super Eights:
Lost to South Africa by one wicket.
Defeated West Indies by 113 runs.
Defeated England by two runs.
Defeated New Zealand by six wickets.
Lost to Australia by seven wickets.
Defeated Ireland by eight wickets.
Semi-final:
Defeated New Zealand by 81 runs
Sri Lankans told to fight fire with fire
COLOMBO : Sri Lanka's mild-mannered cricketers should be more aggressive if they want to beat the Australians in Saturday's World Cup final, former Sri Lankan opening batsman Sidath Wettimuny said. Sri Lankans need to show aggression in all departments of the game, Wettimuny , Sri Lanka's star opening batsman in its early years of Test cricket, told AFP on Thursday. Wettimuny , the one-time chairman of the team selection panel, said the Australians bat far down the order and that the Sri Lankans should look to attack them right through. They must look for wickets than go on the defensive. They are a very powerful batting side so there is no point in trying to contain them, Wettimuny said. The Sri Lankans stand to benefit from the return of their full-strength bowling attack. Chaminda Vaas and Muttiah Muralitharan , who were controversially rested in the Super Eights game in Grenada, which the Australians comfortably won, are back. So is slinger Lasith Malinga , who was out through injury. Wettimuny said the return of Sri Lanka's main bowling weapons could be a reason for skipper Mahela Jayawardena to bat first should he win the toss. I am a firm believer in batting first in the one day game under any circumstances, Wettimuny said. Sri Lanka chose to bat first against New Zealand in the semi-final and put in a solid performance. The Australians are yet to lose a match in World Cup cricket since their tie in the 1999 version's semi-final with South Africa. Their unbeaten run has extended to 22 games. Sri Lankans definitely have a chance of winning, provided they bat and bowl aggressively as the Australians do, Wettimuny said.
Afp
Murali hopes victory will bring peace
MUTTIAH Muralitharan hopes that a Sri Lanka victory in Saturday's World Cup final against champions Australia can help heal the war wounds of his strife-torn country.
The star off-spinner, one of three survivors from the team that beat Australia in the 1996 final , said a victory would be a timely boost as violence on the island escalates between government troops and Tamil Tiger rebels.
Muralitharan , who has taken 23 wickets at this tournament compared to his seven in 1996, said: "It helps all the country rather than anything else. We have all nationalities in our team and peace as well because we get together and play.
"We are going through a bad situation in our country but this could achieve something different."
During Sri Lanka's semi-final win against New Zealand in Jamaica on Tuesday, there was a temporary ceasefire in Sri Lanka and no attacks were reported on either side.
The hope is that Saturday's final will also see a suspension of hostilities with the island, despite the time difference, set to come to a standstill as fans gather round TV sets and radios to follow their heroes' progress.
Sri Lanka's cricket team has been hailed as an example of how religious and racial differences can be put to one side for a common purpose in the ethnically divided country.
Murali himself is a Tamil Hindu, opening batsman Sanath Jayasuriya a Sinhala Buddhist, pace bowler Farveez Maharoof a Muslim, batsman Russel Arnold a Tamil Catholic and left-arm quick Chaminda Vaas a Sinhala Catholic.
Rebels in Sri Lanka have been fighting for a separate state for the Tamil minority in a bloody war that has claimed more than 60,000 lives since 1972.
Meanwhile, the 35-year-old Muralitharan also believes victory on Saturday would cap his stunning and colourful career.
"This will be the biggest moment in my life," Murali said.
"I had moments in 1996, I was very young and I didn't know much about it. Now I know about what it takes to win a World Cup.
"This may be my last World Cup so if we can win it will be the greatest moment in my life rather than my individual records," added Muralitharan who is set to line up alongside fellow 1996 winners Jayasuriya and Vaas at Kensington Oval here Saturday.
However, the entire team face a daunting task if they are to stop Australia, unbeaten at the World Cup since 1999, from winning a third straight title but Murali said the team's batsmen could hold the key to success.
"We have batsmen of the calibre of Jayasuriya, ( Mahela ) Jayawardene , (Kumar) Sangakkara , and ( Upul ) Tharanga ," he said.
"If they click, the way we played in England, we had total domination (Sri Lanka whitewashed their hosts 5-0 in a one-day series last year) and I only played in two matches .
"If our batsmen get set we will be more dangerous than any other team in the world because we can play more shots than any other players."
And he said Sri Lanka's professional pride was just as strong as Australia's.
"We have to win, that's the motivation. If you want to keep your job, you have to perform," Murali , closing in on Wasim Akram's record of 502 one-day wickets, said.
- AFP
Our Tamilnadu reporter says former cricket captain Arjuna Ranatunga who attended a television discussion in one of the TV stations in Tamilnadu had thoroughly criticized Sri Lankan cricket, the select committee and some of the players on the day which Sri Lanka took on New Zealand in the semi finals. 