MELBOURNE: Legendary Sri Lankan
off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan, who has the highest number of Test wickets
under his belt, is planning to quit cricket's longer version after the tour of
West Indies in October.
The spin wizard has already announced that he
will quit all forms of the game after the 2011 50-over World Cup.
The
37-year-old off-spinner is just eight wickets shy of becoming first player to
touch the magical 800-wicket mark in Test cricket.
"Maybe I will play
one or two Test matches, that's it, and then retire. The Tests against the West
Indies will be the last ones I will play," Muralitharan said.
"My
future is all about playing one-dayers until the World Cup. If I am fit and good
I will play until the World Cup and the World Cup will be the end of the road,"
he said.
Muralitharan said his aim was to reach the 800 Test wicket
mark before retiring.
Muralitharan is currently playing for Sri
Lankan domestic side Kandurata in the inter-provincial Twenty20 tournament to
decide the country's representatives at the Twenty20 Champions
League.
He also confirmed that he will play in third edition of the
Indian Premier League despite a threat by terror outfit al-Qaeda and also urged
his teammates to go and play in India.
"All the Sri Lankans will go.
If you don't go it is bad because there will be no cricket on the subcontinent
at all. It is a difficult question," he said.
