Kumar Sangakkara claims 'letting' M Muralitharan retire only when he took 800 wickets

Former Sri Lanka cricketer Muttiah Muralitharan is arguably the greatest spinners to have played the sport. The right-arm off-spinner finished his Test career with a record-breaking 800 wickets to his name. The greatness of Muttiah Muralitharan can be fathomed by the fact that when he decided to announce his retirement, he had 792 wickets and one more Test to reach the milestone of 800 wickets.

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Kumar Sangakkara reveals what made Muttiah Muralitharan the champion cricketer he was

Back in 2010, India toured Sri Lanka for a 3-match Test series. And that's when Muttiah Muralitharan decided that he will retire after playing the first Test in Galle. Kumar Sangakkara, who was the captain of the Sri Lankan team back then, decided to try and pursue Murali to play two more Tests because he thought if the spinner didn’t take eight wickets and reach the iconic 800-mark, it wouldn't be a fitting end to what had been a stellar career. 

Now, after a decade since Muttiah Muralitharan retired, Kumar Sangakkara revealed about what went through the dressing room during that period. Kumar Sangakkara was in conversation with R Ashwin on his series Reminisce with Ash on Instagram recently. During the interaction, Kumar Sangakkara spoke about the match and what happened leading up to it. Kumar Sangakkara recalled the options which he and the selectors gave to Muttiah Muralitharan.

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Kumar Sangakkara told Ashwin that he will give him a measure of the great man that Murali was. The southpaw added that Muralitharan was 8 wickets away from 800 scalps. He further said that 800 Test wickets is an incredible number. Sanga also said that Murali wanted to retire in the India series itself.

He revealed that he sat with the selectors and told them that Muralitharan wants to retire after the 1st Test. Looking at Murali's decision, they called him into a meeting. Sanga further said that he told Murali that he knows the off-spinner likes taking up challenges but it will be a tragedy if he comes so close and doesn’t get to 800 wickets.

That's why Sangakkara and selectors offered him suggestions. They told Murali that he can play the first Test, and then if he is too tired or has a niggle, he can take the second Test off and come back for the third Test. Otherwise, he can take two Tests off and come back for the next series.

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However, Muralitharan declined the offer. According to the ex-captain, the legendary off-spinner was sure that he would pick eight wickets in that match and retire with 800 Test wickets. Muttiah Muralitharan told them that he has always loved challenges and if he is supposed to be the best spinner, he should be able to take 8 wickets at Galle against any side.

Kumar Sangakkara revealed that Murali further told them that if he takes 8 wickets, he is not just going to get to 800 wickets but they are going to win this Test match as well. Murali added that if he can’t get it, then so be it and that would be his last Test. Kumar Sangakkara further said that he was stunned and added that this is why Muttiah Muralitharan was a champion.

As it turned out, Murali got a five-wicket haul in the first innings and got three more wickets in the second innings to reach the magical figure. Interestingly, Sri Lanka won the match by 10 wickets. It actually got a bit tense out in the middle, when Murali was stranded at 799 wickets with India being 9 down. However, it was a fairy tale ending for the spinner as he bagged the final wicket, that of former Indian spinner Pragyan Ojha.

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IMAGE COURTESY: PTI