IPL 2020 | Will have to adapt to no crowd support, reckons Muttiah Muralitharan 

Sri Lankan cricket legend Muttiah Muralitharan was appointed bowling mentor of Sunrisers Hyderabad before the 2015 edition of the IPL after he decided to retire from IPL as a player in 2014. Even in the later stage of his career, despite being in his early 40s, Murali was easily the most excited player on the field. His trademark smile whenever he got called on to bowl was maintained by him even in the fag end of his career, goes to show his passion and motivation for the game.

“Maybe it will be easier for players to concentrate as they will be in an environment where they can only think about the game.”

“We have Rashid (Khan), who is a world-class spinner, and (Mohammad) Nabi who is an experienced spinner. We have new additions in all-rounder spinners like Sanjay Yadav, Abhishek Sharma. We also have Shahbaz Nadeem. The spin department looks better than the 2019 edition,’’ he said.

The rise of Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav has seen off-spinners becoming a rarity in India’s limited-overs line-up. The exclusion of Ravichandran Ashwin is a direct consequence of the duo’s rise. The 48-year-old legend did not support the notion that leg-spinners might be better suited for T20s. He added that the false belief that leg-spinners are better than off-spinners in India stems from the fact that Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal have been doing exceptionally well in the recent past.