'Virat Could Play Cricket Till He's 41-42,' Says Spin Legend Muralitharan

Can Virat eclipse more of Sachin's records? Spin legend Muralitharan shares his thoughts.

Sri Lankan spin legend Muttiah Muralitharan speaks about Sachin, Virat and Sri Lankan cricket

(Photo: The Quint)

With his biopic '800' having had a successful run in the theatres, spin legend Muttiah Muralitharan sat down to speak with The Quint about the making of the film, the reason he agreed to have his life on the big screen, and also about his cricketing days.

800 wickets. Something like that just had to be immortalised. When the producers came to ask to make your biopic '800', what were your first thoughts?

It all started in 2018 actually and was a complete co-incidence. The film's director, Venkat Prabhu, visited my foundation because they wanted to help people in Sri Lanka. There they saw my pictures and it just so happens that Venkat is a childhood friend of my wife's and he came to visit us at our house. That's where the conversation started.

He asked me about doing the biopic. It was a surprise for me because I've seen a lot of biopics and they're made on sportspersons who are special. I was a little hesitant but my manager convinced me to give them the rights.

It took five years to make, there were lots of obstacles but the movie was successful.

Sachin and your on-field face-offs were followed closely when you both were active players. But if we could just ask you to share your thoughts on the player that he was. How much of his success do you think was down to just natural skill and ability, and how much more did he add to his game just with his hard work?

Skill everyone has got. But how you improve that skill to become a legend like Sachin is so much about his hard work. 25 years he played cricket. People don't really understand how much hard work he put into his game. Sometimes, as opponents, we saw it when he put hours and hours batting against us.

Unfortunately, I never shared a dressing room with him, because I never played for Mumbai Indians. But people used to tell me how much hard work he put in, more than anyone else.

Sachin is someone, no one can achieve his level of talent and success. What all he produced for India is amazing.

Virat Kohli celebrates his 50th century, breaking Sachin Tendulkar's most ODI hundreds record, during the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023 semi-final match against New Zealand, at the Wankhede Stadium, in Mumbai, Wednesda.

(Photo: PTI)

Virat Kohli has now eclipsed Sachin Tendulkar in terms of ODI centuries, do you see him being able to match all of Sachin's records by the time he retires?

Numbers wise, yes records he can break because he has age on his side. Another five years at least he will play, because he is very fit. It just depends on how much desire he will have for the game, because he will be fit to play till 40-42.

When I also retired, I was also fit at the time. I was 37, I could have played for another 4-5 years and achieved 1000 wickets but the desire was not there. You just know when it's enough. So if that stage comes for him at 38, 39 then it's a little hard to break some records of Sachin's but if he plays for longer he will break them.

But, Sachin is Sachin.

Virender Sehwag always spoke about how you as his nemesis on the field. Which batter would you say you had a rough time against?

Definitely Virender, because he didn't put a value on his wicket. He just would go after the ball because he knew on the day he could smash everyone. Like he did so many times to us.

I remember during a Test match at the CCI (2009 series), he scored 293 runs in a day. Rahul was at the other end. There were 2 overs left in the day and Rahul told him to just stay at the crease and not be in any hurry. So he did that but the next morning he came and got out to me. That was the one time I saw him listen to anyone otherwise normally even when he was on 94, he would try a six or get out. He was very dangerous.

Off spin seems to be a fading art with only the wrist spinners surviving in the modern age. Could you name any off-spinner you have seen recently, whom you think can be successful in the years to come?

There are already two players who are doing so well - Nathan Lyon and R Ashwin. It's just the preference of the coaches and teams as they now prefer leg-spinners and left-arm orthodox and chinaman bowlers. So they play them not because there aren't many good off spinners but because they prefer other kinds of spinners.

Even when we used to play, there were very few off-spinners. There was me, Saqlain Mushtaq, Graeme Swann. Always you'll see there aren't as many off-spinners as there are leg-spinners.

The Sri Lankan team finished ninth in the 2023 ICC ODI World Cup

(Photo: PTI)

Sri Lankan cricket has not been the same since the retirement of the Muralitharans, and Sangakkaras, and Jayawardenes. What’s the reason? Organisational flaws or lack of talent?

I think its both, but it's a little more on the players. Players make the game, you can complain about organsations and coaches and all but there's only so much they can do. At the end of the day, it's the players who have to put in the hard work.

As an example - look at all the hard work Virat puts in. He's paid the same as the other cricketers, he has the same coaches and there's the same administration. Then why's he different? It's because of his personality. How he chooses to be in life and what commitment he puts in. Eleven players commit to their game and do their bits and pieces for the team and that's how the team become champions.

I always think the responsibility of any losses, of any wins is on the players. I think right now players aren't putting that much effort into becoming world-class players in Sri Lanka.

(With inputs from Hrijoy Das Kanungo)