Sri Lanka's legendary spin bowler Muttiah Muralitharan has revealed that he prayed for a stint with Chennai Super Kings ahead of the inaugural Indian Premier League auctions. Muralitharan's prayers did work, as he represented the CSK in the first three seasons of the league.
Muralitharan talked about his initial days in the IPL and adapting to play under MS Dhoni's captaincy at CSK.
"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. So, at that time, there was a good rule, where local players had to be in the team," Muralitharan said on Star Sports 1 Tamil Show, Mind Masters.
"The first three years was the best of the years because we could speak in our own language. We were around 7-8 people and even VB sir (VB Chandrasekhar) was there who selected us. I have played even for Lancashire for 6 to 7 years, but I'd say that Chennai Super Kings was the best franchise I have played for."
In 2011, Muralitharan was bought by the now-defunct Kochi Tuskers Kerala and a year later, Royal Challengers Bangalore signed him up. He ended his IPL career with RCB in 2014. (ALSO READ: Laxman names two players who 'should've played more for India')
In 66 matches in the league, Muralitharan took 63 wickets. He was one of the key players in CSK's first IPL title in 2010. Playing in 12 matches throughout the season, Muralitharan took 15 wickets at an impressive economy rate of 6.85.
Earlier, Muralitharan had also talked about the competitive nature of modern sports.
"In any game, 90 per cent 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," he said.
"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 inputs from IANS)
