It was the utter certainty with which he said it. Before the start of England’s quarter-final against Sri Lanka, I bumped into Muttiah Muralitharan going through his traditional pre-match routine. “Enjoy your last game, then,” I ventured, somewhat optimistically. “No, no, there’ll be two more after this,” he said.
For if a billion India fans feel that Sachin Tendulkar is preordained to win the World Cup on his home turf, there is an equally strong feeling in Sri Lanka that Murali is destined to bow out of international cricket in a manner fitting of one of the greatest cricketers the game has known.
The finish line is mighty close and, in truth, he has been staggering towards it. The many thousands of balls have been taking their toll for a while now and suddenly it is as if his whole body has rebelled against the strain of one of the most unorthodox actions seen.
When he bowls round the wicket, think of the pressure his open-chested action puts on his knees, groin and back, which must rotate unnaturally. His final over against England was bowled virtually on one leg, and as well as the hamstring injury, he has had to cope with groin, side and knee problems during this tournament.
So while Tendulkar can still play at somewhere near his peak — his halfcentury against Australia in the quarter-finals was sublime — Murali must use his experience, knowledge and fighting spirit (his reaction to a spilt catch off his bowling against England was a reminder that his competitive instinct remains as sharp as ever) to make up for the fact that he cannot bowl as he once could.
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The energy has largely gone from his action, along with the snap from his wrist, so that he can neither turn nor dip the ball as fiercely as before. It is a struggle now. Well, at least he knows how the vast majority feel.
Still, Murali on one leg is worth most off spinners on two and he will play a huge role in a final today that could be decided by whether India’s batsmen can do what no other group of batsmen have done in this competition: find a way to tame the most varied and dangerous bowling attack of all.
As well as Murali, there is the freakish brilliance of Lasith Malinga, surely the best old-ball fast bowler in one-day cricket, and the subtle questioner that is Ajantha Mendis, with his unique blend of off spinners, leg spinners, googlies and doosras.
If the final can be distilled to its essence, it is here, in the battle of wills between India’s batsmen and Sri Lanka’s bowlers, that the game in Mumbai will be won or lost. As ever, Murali’s influence will be felt far beyond his ten overs. Even now, few batsmen are prepared to take liberties against him, preferring to milk his overs as best they can, which means that the risks have to be taken against others. Murali has 800 Test wickets and 534 one-day international wickets, but he has been responsible for many more taken by his team-mates.
So this most remarkable of cricketing journeys is close to its end.
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Born in a region that hitherto had not produced a cricketer of note and to a tribe, the tea-picking Tamils of the hill country in Kandy that had been marginalised and dehumanised, he somehow came to embody, more than anyone else, the spirit of a country that found its voice on the cricket field.
When he was called for throwing in Australia, the slight was not only against Murali but against the nation. It is no wonder that John Howard, the former Australian Prime Minister and a vocal critic of Murali’s action, had not been not forgiven when he stood for the presidency of the ICC.
Murali has been the central figure, along with Arjuna Ranatunga and Aravinda de Silva, of Sri Lanka’s transformation from island cricketers to genuine challengers on the world stage. Ranatunga provided intelligent leadership and De Silva the kind of belligerent batting that insisted Sri Lanka were pushovers no more, but without a genuinely great bowler such as Murali it is doubtful whether success would have come so quickly.
All three were central figures on a thrilling night in Lahore 15 years ago when Sri Lanka won the World Cup for the first time. Only Murali remains from that team.
Give the disadvantages of his birth and the congenital deformity of his bowling arm, which has been the subject of such debate, winning the World Cup once is a considerable achievement. To do so twice, 15 years apart, would be remarkable. Few in Mumbai have contemplated a defeat for India and all the talk is of the Little Master’s destiny. But it is the little maestro from Kandy who must be tamed for that to happen and, creaking body or not, Murali believes that he has one last great performance in him.
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Numbers up
534 Wickets taken by Muttiah Muralitharan in one-day internationals, to go with 800 in Test matches. Both are records
68 Wickets for Muralitharan in World Cup matches. He needs to take three in the final to equal Glenn McGrath’s record
15 Wickets taken by him in this World Cup, the fourth most, at an average of 16.8 and conceding four runs per over
63,084 Number of balls bowled in international cricket by Muralitharan. Anil Kumble, of India, is second with a mere 55,346 494 International matches played by Muralitharan in all forms of the game. He is in fifth place, with Sachin Tendulkar, of India, leading on 630
99 Hundreds for India by Tendulkar, 51 in Tests and 48 in one-day internationals
464 Runs made by Tendulkar in this World Cup, three fewer than Tillakaratne Dilshan, the Sri Lanka opener
1,104 Hours Tendulkar has spent at the crease while batting for India — equivalent to 46 days