There’s only one Murali: Sanga
July 22: Sri Lanka skipper Kumar Sangakkara was pleased with the effort from his boys and noted the icing on the cake was Muttiah Muralitharan’s record in their 10-wicket win over India in the first Test here on Thursday.
Excerpts from the post-match conference:
On keeping focus and the win: From the start, winning the Test was the prime aim. That would have been the perfect send-off for Murali too. I’m pleased that he got to 800 in the end. Malinga was truly the man of the match. He turned things around and made things easy for Murali and the rest. Malinga’ s stand with Herath made a big difference. We must appreciate the effort from the groundsmen under Jayananda Warnaweera too. We could not have asked for anything more.
On the possibility of Murali missing the 800-mark: There was a chance of that happening. There was no other person to do it than Murali. We’ve got to enjoy this because he has done so much for us over the years. For me over my ten years, he has guided me, he has spoken to me he has been my friend. There’s nothing more we can do, we wanted to win this match. He never spoke about the 800 wickets, the press did. He was focused on winning the match. He did it by taking five for in the first innings and three wickets in the second.
On Lanka away from home: I don’t think we have played enough Test cricket away. We need to play Tests more often. We have a very good, balanced attack, pace and spin. It’s just one of those things — any side playing at home does not want to lose. From 2006 to 2009 we have done well.
On Murali’s replacement: My theory is that I am not going to look for another Murali becaue you are not going to find one. There will be just one. He played 18 magnificent years of Test cricket and he’s been the best bowler ever to have played the game. It gives us an opportunity to see how really the other bowlers will be able to give us Test wins. I don’t think anyone is going to take that many wickets for us. They might to do it once in a while.
On Murali’s last Test: I don’t think we gave Murali a gift, he gave us one. At the start the game I said that if Murali picks up eight wickets, we will win the match. He got eight wickets an on the other hand, Lasith Malinga gave good support. As a team, we are thrilled that in his last game we were able to win.
On the ICC Test rankings: Rankings need to be fair. A fair FTP is the way forward. If rankings can’t be understood by players and fans then what’s the use of it. They should consider playing a Test Championship once every two years. That would be a fair deal.
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