'Sachin Tendulkar had weakness against off-spin', says Muttiah Muralitharan

Sachin Tendulkar is arguably the best batsman to have played the game and has numerous records to his name including the most runs as well as the maximum number of centuries in the history of international cricket. While Sachin has succeeded in smashing all the world-class bowlers of his era out of the park, Sri Lankan spin legend Muttiah Muralitharan has revealed that the Master Blaster had a weakness that was exploited by so many spinners as well.

Sachin Tendulkar's weakness

"I felt in my career, Sachin had a small weakness against off-spin. With leg-spin, he smashes but off-spin somehow he had the difficulty because I got him out so many times. And lots of off-spinners also got him so many times, I have seen it," said Muttiah Muralitharan while speaking to  ESPNCricinfo.

How Murali exploited Sachin Tendulkar's weakness during his playing days? 

Muttiah Muralitharan excelled in leaving Sachin Tendulkar bamboozled as the spin legend has dismissed the Little Master on 13 occasions in international cricket.

Sri Lanka cricket legend Muttiah Muralitharan's cricketing career

Murali has 800 Test scalps to his name and is the highest wicket-taker in red-ball cricket whereas, his Australian counterpart Shane Warne has 708 wickets in the longest format. Muttiah Muralitharan has also featured in three  World Cup finals. He was an integral part of Lanka's 1996 triumphant squad. However, even though his team had made it to back-to-back finals in 2007, and, 2011 editions respectively, the island nation could not get over the finish line on both occasions. He bid adieu to all forms of cricket after Sri Lanka's World Cup 2011 final loss to co-hosts India at Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium on April 2, 2011. 

The decorated cricket career of Sachin Tendulkar

Tendulkar had made his debut at the international level as a teenager back in 1989.Sachin has scored 15921 runs in 200 Tests and 18426 runs in 463 One Day Internationals. He also remains the top run-scorer in both these formats to date. The Little Master also has 100 international centuries to his name which is a feat that no one else has achieved. The champion batsman also became the first player to score a double century in ODI cricket.