Muralitharan feels that Dhoni believed in Ashwin when no one else did

Legendary off spinner, Muttiah Muralitharan is enjoying his time as a retired player. The ‘Smiling assassin’ is now acting as a mentor of the TNPL team, Thiruvallur Veerans. His experience will be crucial as the Veerans will be looking to have a great season this time around.

Murali recently spoke of Ashwin and the influence that MS Dhoni had on the off spinner. Murali said that Dhoni was the one who believed in Ashwin and brought him into the national side.

All three of them were part of the IPL franchise, Chennai Super Kings for the first three years. Murali is proud of how Ashwin has developed into one of the best bowlers in the world.

“I have seen Ashwin since my Chennai Super Kings days. He always had the talent. Now, he is getting better with experience.”

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“In a way, IPL helped him gain experience and then Dhoni guided him in the right way. Dhoni believed in Ashwin and brought him to the Indian side. And Ashwin is also a smart cricketer. He is probably bowling his best at the moment.”

Murali also commented on Ranatunga’s controversial comments last week. The former Sri Lankan captain believed that the 2011 World Cup final was fixed, which has invariably led to angry reactions from the Indian players.

Murali however believes that this might a personal agenda that is being carried out in the open.

“I think, it’s a personal battle between some past players. I don’t want to get involved in that. If he thinks it has to be investigated, so be it,” said Muralitharan.