Murali’s looking forward to his RCB stint

Saturday, 31 March 2012 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Former Sri Lanka player and spin legend Muttiah Muralitharan, who retired from international cricket after his team lost the 2011 World Cup final to India, is confident he’ll be able to perform well as he has kept himself match-fit.

In the last year, Muralitharan has played in different leagues around the world, and feels the experience will hold him in good stead for the fifth season of the Indian Premier League, where he will play for Royal Challengers Bangalore.

“After I retired from international cricket, I played a little bit of cricket in the last IPL with Kochi. I then went back to Gloucestershire, played about 16 Twenty20 matches and travelled to New Zealand played five and then went to Bangladesh for the BPL but I could not play many because after I played five I got sick. I played a little bit of cricket but not as much as other international cricketers,” Muralitharan, who has taken 1347 wickets in international cricket told Times of India.

Muralitharan is also excited at the presence of Chris Gayle and Virat Kohli in the RCB squad, but feels players will have to battle it out to feature in the franchise’s playing XI.

“We have 11 foreign players and plenty of local players so it will be a big fight for the players to get a chance to play. Some players are permanent players and some are on and off,” he said.

The Sri Lankan legend played for Chennai Super Kings in the first three editions of the IPL; and was bought by the now defunct Kochi Tuskers Kerala for the fourth season of the cash-rich tournament, where he didn’t have the best of times.

Muralitharan also congratulated Sachin Tendulkar on his unprecedented feat of scoring 100 international centuries. Of the recently-retired Rahul Dravid, Muralitharan said: “Rahul is always been in the shadow of Sachin. If you take his record it’s as good as Sachin’s but you cannot compare both as they are different kind of players. Rahul is a complete cricketer. So I want to congratulate him and wish him all the best for the life he is going to lead.”