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Srinivasan wanted Murali ‘at any cost’

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Indian cricket supremo N. Srinivasan has revealed that he wanted ace spinner Muttiah Muralitharan in his IPL franchise – Chennai Super Kings – at any cost.

In 2008, when the inaugural IPL auction was held, Murali was in the twilight of his career but still was a match winner. Srinivasan wasn’t part of the auction as he was Treasurer of BCCI then but says he had issued clear instructions on getting the services of Murali.

“The late VB Chandrasekhar was very much part of the team then. In fact he was holding the paddle in the first auction. I had told him, at any cost we have to get M.S. Dhoni and at any cost we’ve to get Muralitharan. Actually, it was my father’s annual death ceremony that day. I had to organize it in Mumbai itself. By the time, I’d finished, he’d got both Dhoni and Muralitharan,” Srinivasan told Cricbuzz.

CSK were runners-up in the inaugural edition of the tournament losing to Shane Warne’s Rajastan Royals in a last ball thriller. They have won the title on three occasions including back to back titles in 2010 and 2011.

Sri Lankans maybe not in high demand at the IPL at the moment but there was a time when the entire Sri Lankan team was picked up by various franchises. As same as Murali, Mumbai Indians bid aggressively to hire Sanath Jayasuriya paying him a sum of US$ 975,000 per season.

Murali is still involved in the IPL although not with CSK. He has joined another close friend of his V.V.S. Laxman, who is the mentor of Hyderabad franchise. Murali is a bowling coach.

Srinivasan went onto become the President of BCCI and then President of the International Cricket Council. He was instrumental in the Big Three concept. Eventually, India, Australia and England took control of the governance of cricket and a large chunk of ICC revenues.

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