The Hindu : Sport : A significant moment in Murali's life

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Tuesday, Mar 22, 2005

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A significant moment in Murali's life

By Sanjay Rajan

PARTNERS FOR LIFE: Sri Lankan Muttiah Muralitharan with wife, Mathi Malar, Sanath Jayasuriya (left), Chaminda Vaas (extreme right) and Robin Singh in Chennai on Monday. - Photo: R. Ragu

CHENNAI, MARCH 21. Sanath Jayasuriya and Chaminda Vaas arrived here in the wee hours of Monday. Muttiah Muralitharan's wedding was not something they could miss. As senior members of the Sri Lankan National team who have been through highs and lows together, the trio share a special bond.

The Emerald Isle's cricket team is currently preparing for the tour of New Zealand. Jayasuriya and Vaas took a late night flight via Mumbai on Sunday to be present at what was a significant moment in their friend's life.

Muralitharan, the second highest Test wicket taker (532 wickets), married R. Madhi Malar on Monday. The reception on Tuesday is expected to be attended by the current Sri Lankan team.

Among those present during the wedding were the 33-year-old spinner's mentor Arjuna Ranatunga, former teammate Pramodya Wickramasinghe, ex-International Siddath Wettimuny, former Sri Lankan coach Dav Whatmore, the current National coach John Dyson, team physiotherapist C.J. Clark, Indian cricketers Hemang Badani and Aashish Kapoor, former Test cricketers Robin Singh and T.A. Sekar, TNCA officials, former BCCI President A.C Muthiah and sports administrator Dr. M.A.M. Ramaswamy.

"It's good to be here. Murali is a very close friend of mine. I am happy that he is settling down. Every cricketer needs to get into family life at some point of time. He always said that he wanted to marry a Tamil girl. I'm happy he has found one for himself," said Vaas, smartly dressed in a Sarong.

Nice person

Vaas continued, "He is such a nice person, so down to earth. He put in phenomenal effort towards tsunami relief. We are proud to be associated with him in his charity work."

Vaas and Murali have taken 642 wickets from 69 Tests in tandem. The left-armer has advised his partner to take sufficient rest before returning to international cricket. "A shoulder injury usually takes a while to heal completely. My advice to him is to rest it sufficiently. I think he aims to return for the home series against the West Indies in July."

Jayasuriya was equally excited about Murali's wedding. "It's an important event in his life and I'm sure he'll derive strength from his wife. We are looking forward to Madhi coming to Sri Lanka and being one among us."

Wickramasinghe, who reached here on Saturday, described the wedding as "a traditional one, and truly very nice."

Ranatunga, the Captain Cool who stood like a rock by Murali during difficult times, said, "It's nice to be here during a special moment in his life. Murali has always been like a younger brother to me. We go back a long way."

Talking about the new 15 degrees tolerance limit for straightening of the arm for all bowlers, Ranatunga, who is the Deputy Minister for Tourism, said, "I hope consistency will emerge from this."

Ranatunga had predicted Murali would finish with 1000 Test wickets. "But he has lost precious time owing to the shoulder injury. I want him to take his time to recover from it. I'm sure he'll go past 900 wickets, at least."

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