Sri Lankan spin legend Muttiah Muralitharan named Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Chennai Super Kings (CSK) as the best franchise he has ever played for in his career.
The CSK isn’t only most loved IPL franchises among the fans, but also for the many cricketers and Lanka great Muralitharan being one of them. However, he played for many domestic teams across the world even in the Big Bash League but said there has no match of CSK’s environment.
Muralitharan, one of the all-time best bowlers, has made his IPL debut with CSK in the first season and went on to play for three seasons for one of the most successful franchises in the history of the IPL winning the title thrice – second most after Mumbai Indians (four titles).
He took 40 wickets in as many numbers of matches, as well as, won the IPL in trophy in his last season 2010 and then went on to represent Kochi Tuskers Kerala (now defunct) and Royal Challengers Bengaluru before he retired from the domestic game in 2014.
Speaking on the show Mind Masters by MFORE on Star Sports Tamil, the legendary off-spinner has pointed out that there were a number of things he enjoyed about CSK, saying he felt more homely in CSK as the players there from Chennai could speak in their local language which coincided with his, as well as, due to his respect towards the captain MS Dhoni.
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Muralitharan said on the show, “Captaincy is about respecting the captain, whoever it is. We have to go by his decision. I prayed that if I come to the IPL, I have to go to Chennai, as I thought there will be Chennai people in the team.”
The legendary spinner said, “So, at that time, there was a good rule, where local players had to be in the team. The first three years were the best of the years because we could speak in our own language. We were around seven-eight people and even VB sir (VB Chandrasekhar) was there who selected us. I have played even for Lancashire for six to seven years, but I’d say that Chennai Super Kings was the best franchise I have played for.”
Murali, who picked 1,347 wickets in international cricket, also spoke about how to deal with the mental pressure that is one of the crucial aspects of professional cricket.
He signed off by saying, “In any game, 90% of the work is to be tactically and mentally fit. Only then can you play. When you are young, you won’t immediately think about that (being mentally fit) because of your interest and love for the game. Automatically, without being told, you’ll think about what to do and do it. But when you get into the professional level, it’s totally a mental game because of the pressure. A lot of cricketers who have good technique and haven’t dealt with this pressure have fallen off. So, the mental aspect is more important in any sport, not just cricket.”
(With India Today Inputs)
