Sri Lankan spin legend Muttiah Muralitharan named Chennai Super Kings (CSK) as the best franchise he played for in his career. Chennai Super Kings are one of the most successful franchises in the history of the Indian Premier League (IPL) winning the title thrice – second most after Mumbai Indians – and reaching the knockout stages every time they participated.
The franchise, led by the legendary MS Dhoni, has remained abode for a number of world-class players in the ten seasons it has participated with Muralitharan being one of them.
Muralitharan represented CSK from 2008 to 2010 after being bought by the franchise for a whopping INR 4.5 crore. During his stint with the franchise, he went on to take 40 wickets in as many numbers of matches, winning the title in his last season i.e., 2010. Muralitharan then went on to represent Kochi Tuskers Kerala (now defunct) and Royal Challengers Bengaluru until he decided to retire from the format in 2014.
“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,” Muralitharan said on the show Mind Masters by MFORE on Star Sports Tamil.
He also mentioned the fact that the rule of the presence of local players was really what is responsible for his desire to play for Chennai Super Kings. “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 7-8 people and even VB sir (VB Chandrasekhar) was there who selected us,” he added.
Muralitharan is currently the bowling coach and mentor of Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League since 2014, who won the tournament in 2016.
