Colombo, Jan. 21: Sri Lankan spinner Muttiah Muralitharan on Friday said that he would retire from international cricket after the 2011 World Cup to be held in the sub-continent.
“This World Cup will be my last outing,” the 38-year-old veteran told reporters on the sidelines of a training session in here.
“I am retiring totally from international cricket thereafter,” the off-spinner, who will though continue to role his arm in the Indian Premiere League (IPL), said.
Muralitharan was hired by Kochi franchisee during a recent auction in Bangalore for a sum of $1.1 million.
“My time is up. I have signed up to play for two years in the IPL. I am also looking at similar work in New Zealand and perhaps England,” Muralitharan said.
Meanwhile, captain Kumar Sangakkara said Sri Lanka are eager to test the island’s new cricket venues ahead of next month’s World Cup.
Sri Lanka will stage 12 matches of the showpiece event, in Hambantota, Pallekele and Colombo. The remaining games will be held in India and Bangladesh. “The Premadasa stadium (in Colombo) hosts most of our big matches,” Sangakkara said.
“We are impatient to play there as well as at the other two venues to be able to get an understanding of how they are playing, especially when it comes to fielding the right combinations.”
The wicketkeeper-batsman said the players were keen to see how the wickets would behave under lights to discover the “idiosyncrasies” of defending or chasing totals and the dew factor.