Muttiah Muralitharan hails R Ashwin; says he is a smart cricketer

India and Tamil Nadu off-spinner Ravichandran has improved a lot and is a smart cricketer, legendary Sri Lanka bowler Muttiah Muralitharan said today.

“Ashwin has improved a lot in the recent past. He played really well in the recent matches. He has the experience and talent to showcase his skills in the upcoming ones. In fact, according to me, he is a smart cricketer. Looking forward to see his performance,” he told reporters on the sidelines of an TNPL event here.

Muralitharan, who holds the record for most Test wickets, however, said the Lanka team’s performances in the recent time were not very good.

“I am happy that the present Sri Lankan team is absolutely new. But I can notice the team is slacking a bit in overall performance these days. They should solve all their problems themselves and build on the reputation of the team.

The retirement of Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene and myself both from Test and ODI cricket has weakened the team but they need to move on,” he said.

He said he was looking forward to his role as mentor of TNPL franchise VB Thiruvallur Veerans and hoped to guide the young players to the best of his ability.

“I am happy …read more