Murali declared fit

Chris DHAMBARAGE

Sri Lanka received a huge boost ahead of their ICC 2011 Cricket World Cup quarterfinal match against England when champion off spinner Muttiah Muralitharan was declared fit to take the field today. Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara said that Muttiah Muralitharan is fit for today’s World Cup quarterfinal against England. “Murali is fine to play and he is one hundred percent OK which is great for us,” said Sangakkara.

The Sri Lankan captain stated that Muralitharan does really well in these big games and his side is confident that the champion off spinner can produce the goods for Sri Lanka.

Muralitharan, the leading wicket-taker in both Test matches and One Day Internationals pulled his hamstring during the last group match against New Zealand at the Wankhede Stadium last week.

Muralitharan who has already announced his retirement from international cricket after the World Cup has so far captured 11 wickets in six 2011 World Cup matches at an average of 14.18.

Meanwhile England captain Andrew Strauss said that his team is fully focused on the quarterfinal match against Sri Lanka despite the withdrawal of Michael Yardy yesterday.

“It’s not difficult to focus our minds on this game of cricket. It’s a must-win game. It’s a one-off event. If we lose, we are on the plane home.

If we win, we are in the World Cup semi-final.”

England, who have not qualified for the semi-finals since their runners-up finish to Pakistan in 1992, have called up leg-break bowler Adil Rashid from the England Lions’ tour of the Caribbean. Rashid is the fourth replacement in the England squad since Stuart Broad, Kevin Pietersen, and Ajmal Shahzad were forced out.