COLOMBO // Keen to beat Sri Lanka in their own spin game, Australia have roped in local spin great Muttiah Muralitharan to help their slow bowlers ahead of the three-Test series beginning at Pallekele later this month.
The former off-spinner, 44, who is still the highest wicket-taker in Test cricket with 800 scalps, had a similar short-term consulting stint with Australia in 2014.
“Murali’s got a lot of experience in Sri Lanka,” Australia captain Steve Smith said. “He took a truckload of wickets.
“It’s great to have someone like that helping our spinners in this series – to give us that insight. He’s been really good around the group so far, and he’s enjoying his time with us.”
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Muralitharan, who has been seen working with Australian spinners Nathan Lyon and Steve O’Keefe in the nets, said he was looking for such short-term jobs and had no problems helping the visitors plot against his own country.
“I’m not involved in Sri Lankan cricket at all because there are [other] people who are involved,” Muralitharan, a perennial thorn in Australia’s flesh during his playing days, told Cricket Australia website.
“Then, on and off, Australia offered me twice so I said ‘why not’ because you are passing on the knowledge to other people. It doesn’t matter whether it’s your country or other people.
“I think giving quality time to my family is most important, that’s why I take smaller jobs - two weeks, three weeks... those sort of jobs are not available in Sri Lanka.”
Australia were confident opener David Warner, recovering from a broken left index finger, will be fit for the series opener at Pallekele.
“His recovery is going really well and we expect him to be fine for that first Test match,” Smith said of his deputy who batted one-handed against Lyon in the Colombo nets.
Beginning on July 26, Australia will play three Tests, five one-dayers and two Twenty20 Internationals during their two-month-long tour.
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Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
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Stars: Suriya, Bobby Deol, Disha Patani, Yogi Babu, Redin Kingsley
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Navdeep Suri, India's Ambassador to the UAE
There has been a longstanding need from the Indian community to have a religious premises where they can practise their beliefs. Currently there is a very, very small temple in Bur Dubai and the community has outgrown this. So this will be a major temple and open to all denominations and a place should reflect India’s diversity.
It fits so well into the UAE’s own commitment to tolerance and pluralism and coming in the year of tolerance gives it that extra dimension.
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When the designs were taken to the leadership, there were two clear options. There was a New Jersey model with a rectangular structure with the temple recessed inside so it was not too visible from the outside and another was the Neasden temple in London with the spires in its classical shape. And they said: look we said we wanted a temple so it should look like a temple. So this should be a classical style temple in all its glory.
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Results
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