Murali, Murali's Wife, Sanga, Dhoni, Lorgat Are All Grateful at 800 Test Wicket Occasion

Sreelata YellamrazuJul 22 2010

The end of the first Test between India and Sri Lanka was also the time for a special cremony for Muttiah Muralitharan who announced his retirement and capped it off by getting 800 Test wickets.

muralitharan and madhimalar ap

The ICC Chief Executive, Haroon Lorgat, was personally present to deliver a couple of lines on behalf of the ICC after which it was the turn of the skippers and then, Murali hismelf, "This is a special day. All the fans have stayed on right to the end. On the behalf of ICC and the Indian team, we wish Murali the very best. You have been a living legend and extremely special to all of us. Thanks Murali from all of us."

Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the Indian captain, refused to blame Muralitharan as an excuse for the distraction, "Great moment for Murali, we all knew he will come up with a great show being the great bowler he is, but that did not put us under pressure. Glad that he reached the magical figure of 800.

The Sri Lankan captain, Kumar Sangakkara, also lent a couple of words in praise of Murali, ""From the start, winning the Test was the aim, that would have been the perfect send-off for Murali too. Pleased that he got to 800 and all the best to him."

Muralitharan's wife, Madhimalar, did not speak at the post match presentation ceremony. However, she did speak earlier about she was as proud as mesmerized by Dhoni and that although she did not personally want him to quit cricket, Muralitharan's mind was made.

Muralitharan did not hold back in thanking all the people that have made a difference and instead of the customary tears, there was only his toothy smile,

"I'd like to thank the president for coming to support me. Thanks to my wife (Madhimalar), my son, Naren, and family for their support. To my team-mates, past and present, through the 19 years for supporting me... To the cricket board and officials, and everyone else."

"I'm available for the World Cup if the selectors need me. I want to play some more Twenty20 cricket. I made a lot of friends through cricket and sometimes my team-mates said I talk too much with opposition players.

"I started playing when I was 8 years old and I still listen to my coach from school days. Arjuna Ranatunga and de Silva and all those guys helped me through the tough times in 1995.. the umpires make their judgments through naked eye, so nothing against them.. I have no grudge against them and happy to have made it through the tough times. I always thought if something goes wrong I can bowl leg spin and continue playing cricket!"

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