EXCLUSIVE Interview! Muttiah Muralitharan on 800: ‘This was the worst World Cup performance of Sri Lanka'

The biopic 800 traces Muttiah Muralitharan’s journey as he draws inspiration from his adversities and goes on to becoming a cricketing legend. ‘800′ is set in the quaint British era when Muralitharan’s grandfather’s family migrated to Kandy, Sri Lanka as estate workers.  As the game engulfs him and he finds his way in the cricketing field as an off spinner, the movie highlights his commitment to the sport and his country. Raising from the ashes of phoenix, Muralitharan’s incredible feat of being the only cricketer to take 800 test wickets has been an inspirational journey for sports aficionados across the world.

In an interview with Firstpost, Muralitharan talks about his journey, his message to aspiring cricketers and why he believes this has been the worst performance of the Sri Lankan cricket team in the World Cup 2023.

Edited excerpts from the interview:

What do you have to say about the performance of the Sri Lankan cricket team in this year’s World Cup 2023?

This World Cup has been a dismal performance by the Sri Lankan cricket team. We have been playing the one day internationals from 1975 and this year has been one of their worst performances in the World Cup. You can’t blame anyone for that, the 15 players have to take the responsibility, because at the end of the day, you can have the best of coaches and advisers but the players are the ones that have to perform. They have to take the ownership and decide how they can rectify and improve that, they have to go back and work hard, and come back.

Do you feel the economic conditions deterred their performance in the World Cup?

The cricket board is funded by ICC, so we got all the facilities and funding. The coaches are very good and the support staff is there, mentally the players have to prepare, go out and play. Economic reasons only affect the people who are in the country. The Sri Lankan players may not get the same facilities as the Indian and the Australian players, but still it’s very good money.

 How much justice the 800 film did to your life?

When I retired after 2011World Cup, I didn’t think that someday someone would make a movie about me. 800 took five years to produce and it has only been released recently. I can only recall fond memories from the movie.

It’s an emotional movie for me. I can’t say how much justice this movie has done to me now; it will take me 10-15 years to know that. A lot of people have not seen the film because every 13to14 days, a new movie comes and people are very busy, so this movie was watched by very little people. We have given this film to JIOCinemas and I am sure that they will make sure people watch it for free and the impact will come only after that.

What was your initial reaction after they told you they wanted to make a biopic on you?

I was a little reluctant and not sure about it. My manager convinced me as to why I must say yes to it. I’m a person who knows only about cricket. I’m not on social media and joined Instagram recently only because of this movie, otherwise my life was very private, nobody knew who I was, they only knew me as a cricketer who has a world record. This movie will tell my untold story of my life and the different layers to my journey.

The film also touches upon the Sri Lankan civil war and the 2009 terror attack, how much did these events affect your life?

I was living in the era during the civil war that started in the 70s and it finished in 2009. My entire cricket career was during that era and I retired in 2010. Ever since childhood, I have had a lot of problems, and a lot of disturbances in my life. These cannot be expressed in words, you have to experience living in a country you’re not certain about your existence because you never know, a bomb can go on the streets, so every day whether you will survive or not is a big question mark.

It was not only for Tamils but for all citizens, the war didn’t spare any community. There is politics in that so I wouldn’t like to get into it but it was tough belonging to the minority community. Cricket gave the support that I wanted throughout my life. When we went to Pakistan as a team, there was a problem and it’s there in the movie as well. Those were difficult days, but life has to go on and living has to be made.

What do you have to say about those youngsters who want to take up cricket as a profession?

A lot of people want to be cricketers today with the IPL and a lot of facilities are available today for kids who want to take it up as a profession.  If you really want to take up this sport, you first have to love it. Don’t get into it just for the sake of it because it’s a game. You have to be very dedicated and have to spend a lot of time on it.

The most important part is discipline and then enjoyment. A lot of people are playing cricket but they are not enjoying it because they want to get 1000 wickets, 100 runs, so they are playing for the wrong reasons. This will put a lot of pressure on you even in a normal game and it will freeze you. So, just enjoy the process.