Muttiah Muralitharan, the Sri Lankan spin maestro, visited Tripunithura Cricket Club (TCC), where a portion of his biography ‘800’ was shot and recorded for an October 2023 release.
He formerly played for the now-defunct Kochi Kerala Tuskers of the Indian Premier League (IPL) in 2011.
Muralitharan told TOI about his experience playing cricket in the state:
In Kerala, football is highly popular. When I played for Kochi Tuskers, the atmosphere in the gallery was not the same as it is now.
Tripunithura Cricket Club, for example, should step up to promote cricket in the state.
Kerala Blasters are a renowned football team in the Indian Super League (ISL).
Kerala Tuskers Kochi Kerala cricket suffered from a one-year hiatus: Muralitharan, Muttiah
Muttiah Muralitharan feels that if the Kochi Tuskers Kerala franchise had not been dissolved after only one season, interest in cricket in the state would have grown over time.
He is optimistic that TCC will work hard to raise awareness about Kerala cricket’s potential and that the state will soon get an IPL team. In response, he stated:
We barely played for a year in 2011, which was sad for Kerala cricket. Because if the state has an IPL team, the state’s cricketers will flourish.
TCC should exert pressure on the state cricket administration to strive to obtain Kerala an IPL team.
S Sreesanth and Sanju Samson are two outstanding Indian cricketers from Kerala.
Muralitharan has played for three separate IPL teams, in that order: the Chennai Super Kings, the Kochi Kerala Tuskers, and the Royal Challengers Bangalore.
He took 66 wickets in 63 balls at a 6.68 economy rate. He joined the SunRisers Hyderabad as bowling coach and mentor in 2015.