Only recently, a big fuss was made about Muttiah Muralitharan playing his last Test ufffd against India at his beloved Galle International Stadium

A farewell not so fond

Only recently, a big fuss was made about Muttiah Muralitharan playing his last Test ufffd against India at his beloved Galle International Stadium. It was a fairytale end for the 'great off-spinner' (Bishan Bedi likes to call him that, sarcastically of course).

On Saturday, news came through that Murali is keen on playing next year's World Cup. Not that Murali had announced his retirement from all forms of the game in Galle, but not playing one form of the game and featuring in another probably takes away the significance of a farewell as huge and grand as Murali's was in Galle.

All those banners of 'Goodbye Murali, we will miss you' seem out of place. Ditto, the placard we saw on television in front the Sri Lankan dressing room, which said how quiet the room is now with no Murali. But hey, he's going to be in that dressing room sooner or later.

These half in, half out ways are a result of modern cricket where three forms of the game are played and money in the latest form is too good to resist.

Had it not been for other avenues like the Indian Premier League, players who retire would have stayed retired. Wonder what the fans feel about players enjoying a fitting farewell and still being around though.

When I was a kid, I remember Dennis Lillee, Greg Chappell and Rod Marsh retiring in the same Test (Australia vs Pakistan at Sydney, 1984) although Marsh completed his season by playing in the tri-series. These three great Australian players started off in the same series against England in 1970-71. They were my heroes and it was sad to see them go.

On the other hand, I didn't want them to end up on the losing side in Australia's next Test assignment ufffd the Caribbean in 1984 ufffd a time when the West Indian quicks had batsmen for breakfast, lunch and dinner. As expected, Australia lost that series, but Chappell, Lillee and Marsh left cricket fans with good memories of their last Test. And that's the way to go!

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