It was Murali’s sole wish - Aravinda

Chris Dhambarage

Chairman national selectors Aravinda de Silva stated that it was Muttiah Muralitharan’s sole wish that led to his retirement at the end of the First cricket test match against India which begins on July 18 at the Galle International Stadium.

De Silva stated Muralitharn feared that he would breakdown mid way in the series due to the amount of bowling and insisted that he would call it a day after the first test match.

The former Sri Lanka captain stated that now they are in the process of setting up a new strategy that will enable Muralitharan to be more effective in the shorter version of the game leading upto the World Cup which will be staged in the sub continent.

De Silva in fact stated that initially Muralitharan decided to retire from all forms of cricket but changed his mind later following the request of Sri Lanka Cricket and the national selectors.

De Silva further noted that the number of SLC contracted players were reduced to 20 with the intention of adding more value and quality to the scheme. The former Sri Lanka captain stated that most of the players have been promoted to a higher category based on their performances in the recent past.

He also stated that those who have been removed from the contracted list still has a chance of making it to the national team if they could impress the selectors at domestic level.

De Silva stated that the fast bowlers have been given a priority ahead of the other fringe players and as a result Lasith Malinga and Dilhara Fernando are two players who have benefited through this bonus scheme.

The SLC contracted players:

Category one: Kumar Sangakkara, Muttiah Muralitharan, Mahela Jayawardana, Thillekaratne Dilshan, Thilan Samaraweera. Category Two: Nuwan Kulasekera. Category Three: Angelo Mathews, Category Four: Upul Tharanga, Thilan Thushara, Rangana Hearth, Prasana Jayawardana, Ajantha Mendis, Chamara Kapugedera, Lasith Malinga, Thilina Kandamby, Category Five: Dilhara Fernando, Chanaka Welegedera, Thisara Perera, Category Six: Suraj Randiv, Dinesh Chandimal.