Did you know Muttiah Muralitharan has Indian citizenship?

Muttiah Muralitharan is considered one of the greatest bowlers in the history of cricket. His 800 Test wickets and 534 ODI wickets put him on top of the leading wicket-takers in both formats. He is only one of two players after Shane Warne to take over 1000 wickets in all three formats combined. Muttiah Muralitharan’s list of achievements is simply staggering and his role in making Sri Lanka cricket stronger as well as unifying Sri Lankan society after decades of turmoil due to the civil war with the LTTE makes him an icon.

However, Muttiah Muralitharan has a deep connection with India. Did you know that Muttiah Muralitharan has a duel citizenship of both Sri Lanka and India? Muralitharan holds an Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) and thus does not need a visa to come to the country. The reason for this special status – Muttiah Muralitharan’s family originates from India.

His grandfather, Periyasamy Sinasamy came from South India to work in the tea plantations of central Sri Lanka in 1920. He settled there for a long time and gave birth to Muralitharan’s father, Muttiah. Sinasamy then returned back to India where he settled down in Tiruchirapalli while Muttiah stayed back in Kandy to run a successful biscuit-making business.

Marriage strengthens bond

In 2005, his India bond became deeper after he married Madhimalar Ramamurthy of Chennai. M adhimalar is the daughter of late Dr S. Ramamurthy of Malar Hospitals, and his wife Dr Nithya Ramamurthy. In 2006, the couple were blessed with their first child, Naren, in January.

In 2008/09, Muttiah Muralitharan came closing to playing Ranji Trophy cricket for Bengal in the Plate Division but it did not work out. In that year, the BCCI had framed a rule that each state association could sign four outstation players, including one from overseas, in their squads. However, one stipulation was that the overseas player should have played at least ten Tests or 20 ODIs.

Imagine if Muttiah Muralitharan would have played for India and partnered the likes of Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh in that era? The prospects for batsmen would have been horrendous.