Muralitharan out of SL-Pakistan first test
Published: July 3, 2009
Spin great Muttiah Muralitharan will miss the Sri Lanka-Pakistan test starting here tomorrow _ the first test between the sides since a deadly terrorist attack upon their match earlier this year.
Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara said Muralitharan felt discomfort in his knee during practice, and while he believed it minor and bowled on for a further 40 minutes, bad news was to follow.
“We took a precautionary scan…we were pretty confident that he was going to make it but the scan report said there was a slight tear, so the risk of his tarring his tendon in the first test match is very high,” Sangakkara said.
“So I don’t think we want to risk him getting injured and being out for a long period for the sake of one test match.”
Sangakkara said the reduced bowling attack was still capable of beating Pakistan.
“Inexperienced? Yes. Great opportunity? Yes. And do they have the ability? Yes,” Sangakkara said.
“It’s going to exciting to see what they can offer us and also when you are desperate to play test cricket and get an opportunity like this you can see best of players.”
The 24-year-old Kaluhalmulla who has just converted to Buddhism from Islam after being known as Suraj Mohamed, has taken 180 wickets in 50 matches during his first-class career.
Herath, 31, has long been on the fringes of the national team, playing 14 tests over 10 years with 36 wickets.
The test comes four months after terrorists ambushed the Sri Lanka team bus and security convoy outside Gadaffi Stadium in Lahore, killing six police officers and a driver and wounding seven Sri Lanka players. They were approaching the ground for the third day’s play of the second test when more than a dozen men attacked.
The visiting team return to Colombo immediately and the tour was abandoned.
Pakistan captain Younis Khan, who scored a triple century in the opening test of the abortive tour, was happy that both teams are returning to test cricket.
“That was a crucial time for us because I was the new captain and we had a couple of good youngsters but it was a not good ending, that Lahore incident,” Khan said.
“I hope again I score a couple of good innings for Pakistan and Pakistan wins because of that. It’s not possible to score every day a 300 or a 200 I’ll try the best for my team.”
Sri Lanka batsman Thilan Samaraweera’s rare feat of scoring consecutive double-hundreds was a highlight of the series along with Khan’s triple-century.
Samaraweera had a bullet lodged in his thigh in the attack, raising concern for his cricket future. But the bullet missed important tissues and ligaments in the leg, allowing him to make a comeback.
“He has made a good return to cricket,” Sangakkara said of Samaraweera. “He has played in some practice matches. We are enthusiastically looking forward to see him play in the first test.”
Opening batsman Tharanga Paranavitana, who sustained a chest wound in the attack, will also play his first international match since the attack. Of the other wounded players, Ajantha Mendis and Sangakkara had already played in the recent Twenty20 World Cup and the Indian Premier League.
Sri Lankan authorities are providing the two teams with security equal to that of a head of state, including restrictions on fans, who are banned from consuming alcohol or lighting firecrackers inside the venue at Galle.
Musical instruments are also banned, although there will be music at the ground, in keeping with cricket tradition in Sri Lanka.
The two sides have played 34 tests, with Pakistan winning 15 and losing seven. Pakistan has only lost one test in Sri Lanka, winning six and drawing five.
Courtesy: Yahoo
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