My dear Murali,
I thought I must write to you because, in the hullabaloo of losing the World Cup Final you have played your last game for Sri Lanka and retired from international cricket, almost unnoticed and I believe you deserved a better farewell than that.
Things have been made worse by other news too: everybody who was somebody in the cricket team desperately wants to resign and that is raising many eyebrows because wanting to resign, as we all know, is not a very Sri Lankan trait.
 Anyway, Murali, we need to thank you for all those years of turning your arm over. With your skill and mastery of spin, you have literally single-handedly won many a match for us and for that we must be grateful.
What made it even more special was that you had to face many an insult and injury on your journey. That did not deter you and you took it all in your stride and responded with that trademark smile of yours.
Most of us will remember that day when you were called for ‘chucking’ in Australia by an Aussie umpire. Obviously, the Aussies were keen to see Shane Warne crowned as the greatest spin bowler of all time and hated to see some Sri Lankan upstart challenging him.
As you have often said, Murali, you survived that day because of Arjuna, and the rest as they say, is history. You went from strength to strength and began dismantling opposition teams with your magic and the cricketing world was forced to sit up and take notice.
But as you did that, more obstacles came your way. There was a concerted campaign to brand you as a ‘chucker’ and hound you out of the game. They did so many tests on your elbow but in the end, the truth prevailed and you came through as a true champion.I am sure you will agree Murali, that the high point of that successful run was winning the World Cup in 1996. We were almost there once again in 2007 and this year too but then I am sure you will agree that learning about winning and losing is part and parcel of the game.
I am not so sure whether you realised it Murali, but all this happened while our country was embroiled in a terrible war against terrorism. Almost daily, we heard stories of landmines and bomb explosions and innocent lives being lost.
During most of this period, the only reason we smiled was when Sri Lanka won a cricket match and this was often due to your bowling. Every now and then you managed to bring happiness to a troubled nation. For that, we must be truly grateful to you, Murali.
And it seemed a happy co-incidence that you were not from the community that constituted the so-called ‘majority’. You were also able to make us forget our differences, ethnic or otherwise, and we cheered you as Sri Lankans. In that sense too, you brought the country together.
We know also that you have been generous to the needy and that was very evident in the aftermath of the tsunami. We can only hope that some of the younger cricketers will follow your example in the future.
Of course we will miss you, now that you have retired. A Bradman of bowling-as you have been sometimes called-does not come along every day. But we must also respect your decision to call it quits, instead of waiting until you are shown the door.
All of us are indeed sorry that we couldn’t give you a better send off by winning the World Cup but, Murali, it is timely that you are leaving at a time when people are asking you why you are leaving instead of waiting until they ask why you aren’t leaving.
And that is exactly what Kumar, Mahela and Aravinda have also done although we are somewhat baffled by this mass exodus. Why is it that those who need to stay are leaving and the so-called ‘interim’ committee seems to be ‘permanent’?
Cricket has been the one silver lining for our troubled nation over the past few decades. Now, it also involves huge amounts of money. Therefore, I think those responsible should be able to ensure some transparency in the organisation that runs the game.No less than a Minister of Sports said this organisation was the third most corrupt institution in the country. Well, that chap is no longer Minister of Sports but those running the organization are still retaining their posts!
But now that you have retired, Murali, you can worry less about such matters. We do not regret your retirement. Rather, we are thankful that someone such as you passed by during our time!
Yours truly,
Punchi Putha
PS-We heard that the British almost denied you a visa because you didn’t want to sit an English test! Well, what more can you expect from a country that invented the game but has been unable to win the World Cup after ten tournaments?
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