"Indian Cricket Is In Good Shape Because Of IPL," Says Muttiah Muralitharan

Legendary Sri Lankan spinner Muttiah Muralitharan said that Indian cricket is in good shape because of the Indian Premier League (IPL), which has given the country a lot of cricketing talent. Muralitharan in an exclusive conversation with ANI talked about cricket, Sri Lanka, the movie '800', an upcoming Indian Tamil language biopic on him etc. "It (IPL) has given players something to look forward to. It has given them a lot of money and opportunities. IPL has given a lot of talent to India as well. There are so many talented players. Now, like the IPL, many leagues like the Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL) have started. Players from here get selected to play IPL as well. Indian cricket is in good shape because of IPL," said Muralitharan.

Talking about the fitness standards of the Sri Lankan side, Muralitharan said that the players did not get a proper physio till the mid-1990s.

"When we were an unbeatable side, the fitness levels were really good. But before this, we did not have trainers. Cricketers played an amateur game back then. On a tour, we had to buy almost everything by ourselves and had just our manager and physio. We could not afford it (trainers)," said the spinner.

"I had not even heard of a gym when I started playing. We used to run five rounds in the ground after eating all sorts of things in the morning. It was only in 1995 that we got a proper physio. We got our first sponsor in 1995 as well. Even the match fee for my first-ever Test was Rs 2,000. Even the Indian team faced such issues back then, but they were relatively okay because they had sponsors."

"Money came into cricket in 1996 because of Dalmiya (Jagmohan Dalmiya, former BCCI president and ICC president). He brought in Wills as a sponsor and