Former Sri Lankan captain Kumar Sangakkara witnessed Muttiah Muralitharan brilliance as a spinner up close while they were both members of the national squad.
Underlining the importance of practice and consistency, Sangakkara recalled when the coach stopped Muralitharan from bowling for long hours in the nets. The answer given by the former legendary spinner is something Sangakkara still remembers with great respect.
Here is what Kumar Sangakkara had to say about that incident involving Muttiah Muralitharan on Sky Sports Cricket’s Ashes Podcast:
When I first started, the coach would just go and grab the ball off Murali and inquire as to why he was bowling so much. I used to watch Murali Bowl for one to two hours in the nets. Keep some for the game.
“I don’t care how many wickets I take, how much variety or turn I get, he used to remark. However, I want to make sure that I can throw the ball exactly where I want it to go as I rush in, even with my eyes closed. The rest is meaningless if I don’t have that. He had to put in a tremendous lot of effort to maintain his accuracy.”
Additionally, Kumar Sangakkara emphasized how challenging it was for Muralitharan to occasionally lead the bowling attack by himself. In response, he said:
Mentally, he had to deal with what he did, being criticized for his actions, getting hurt along the way, and not receiving a lot of help from the other side until Rangana Herath joined the team near the end of his career.
Before games, he used to vomit in the restroom. He used to become so enthusiastic to play the games that he would get an upset stomach.
Regarding Muttiah Muralitharan’s achievement of 800 Test wickets, Kumar Sangakkara
When Muttiah Muralitharan onto the field for Sri Lanka in his farewell Test match, Kumar Sangakkara served as the team’s captain. Muralitharan had informed the team’s management that he would give everything in his final game and would not play for the milestone, even though he still needed eight more wickets to reach the coveted mark of 800 Test victories.
Sangakkara said the following in reference to Muralitharan’s charitable outlook:
“You need 8 wickets, and we want you to get 8 wickets,’ I told him as captain. Therefore, it’s okay if you play and you don’t get them; just take a break and come back; just let us know when you want to come back and finish it off.”
No, he answered as he turned to face us. It’s okay. I set a goal for myself to take 8 wickets in this particular game. It doesn’t involve 800 wickets. We win if I get those 8 wickets. That is more significant. So be it if I don’t get 8 wickets. That gave the man’s character away.
The record for most Test wickets taken by a player still belongs to Muralitharan, and it doesn’t appear that it will be surpassed any time soon.
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