Bayliss backs Murali to overcome injury woes

COLOMBO:

Sri Lanka coach Trevor Bayliss believes off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan will be fit to face England in the World Cup quarter-final.

The 38-year-old pulled his hamstring in the Group A match against New Zealand, but Bayliss said Muralitharan will play in the quarter-finals.

“Murali did bowl for some 20 minutes today,” said the coach. “We are very confident that he will play and I think he is pretty confident too he will play because he is a guy who has played through niggles in the past.”

The coach added that he expected a tough challenge from England despite Andrew Strauss’ team having endured a roller-coaster tournament which saw them beat West Indies and South Africa but lose to Ireland and Bangladesh.

“English teams always have strong back-ups, they’ve obviously lost a few players due to injury, but there back-up strength is usually deep and they’re professionals, so it will be a tough game,” he said.

Bayliss feels England’s close matches against South Africa and the West Indies have made them battle-hardened.

“They’ve played very good cricket and have had close situations towards the end of the game. Overall we believe that they will come out and have a good approach,” he said before adding that playing before the home crowd will be an encouragement for his players.

“The guys are used to it. They play with that expectation all the time. The best players enjoy the situation that eggs them on to actually perform better, playing in front of that big crowd.”

Published in The Express Tribune, March 24^th, 2011.