Sri Lanka spin wizard Muttiah Muralitharan says he’s not seeking revenge against Melbourne Stars’ recruit Brad Hodge despite Hodge helping to lure Murali to Melbourne Renegades.
Test wicket world-record holder Murali, 40, has signed to play for the Renegades in the BBL Twenty20 which opens on Friday at Etihad Stadium as the Renegades host cross-town rivals and tournament favourites the Stars.
T20 batting great Hodge has crossed to the Stars this summer while another ex-Renegade Andrew McDonald has joined the Adelaide Strikers.
“Hodge and McDonald convinced me to come and play Renegades,” Murali told a media conference on Thursday.
“At the time they were in the Renegades. Unfortunately they’re not there but still we have a good side.”
Murali said he phoned Hodge recently to ask what happened to their plans to play together for the Renegades.
“Yeah he convinced me to come and play and after that he was gone to the Stars. So then I asked him, just a friendly call,” Murali said, grinning amid laughter from the media pack.
“No revenge as such because we want to play a good game. We want to compete with them and see how it goes.”
Murali and his long-time rival Shane Warne, who boast over 1500 Test wickets between them, will clash on Friday with the 43-year-old Warne captaining the Stars.
Warne appeared genuinely moved at their joint press conference when Murali praised his Australian rival.
“Once in a hundred years you can get a bowler like him. I have a lot of respect for him,” Murali said, adding reports of a rift between the pair over the years had been media hype.
Warne said: “Having Murali there weaving his magic, the wirly-twirly man, it should be a bit of fun. He’ll be smiling as well.”
Proud Melbourne product Warne said the city remained the sporting capital of the world, with officials hoping for a record crowd of 43,000 for the clash between the two great spinners.
“I feel ready to go. There’s a good vibe amongst our side,” Warne said.
“They’ve got a very good side and so have we.”
Renegades’ skipper Aaron Finch was happy to play along with the “Hollywood” tag that has been applied to the star-studded Stars, whose lineup includes last summer’s player of the tournament David Hussey.
“There’s been a lot of media hype around the Stars…. but we’re confident that we can probably contend with the World XI over there,” Finch said.