Praise and admiration rained down on Sachin Tendulkar and Muttiah Muralidaran on Friday, as cricket's two most successful performers prepared to bring their World Cup careers to an end.
India opener Tendulkar, playing in his sixth and probably last World Cup, is desperate to capture the only piece of silverware missing from his record-breaking collection.
Added spice is provided by Saturday's final against Sri Lanka being played at his home Wankhede stadium in Mumbai where a century will make him the first batsman to score a hundred international centuries.
"If you bat with Sachin for 15 games you have the kind of experience you'd have after 50 games," said India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni in praise of a man who is just three weeks shy of his 38th birthday.
Dhoni, whose team reached the final by putting out champions Australia and Pakistan in the knockout rounds, added that India have still to hit top gear as they aim to become the first team to win the World Cup on home turf.
"There is plenty more to come from us. We gained momentum as the tournament went on and we are now peaking at the right time."
Muralidaran, the only member of Sri Lanka's 1996 World Cup winning squad still playing in the national team, will retire after Saturday, bringing down the curtain on a 19-year career which has yielded 534 ODI wickets.
The off-spinner, who will celebrate his 39th birthday on April 17, is an injury doubt for Saturday's match after suffering a series of injuries throughout the tournament.
But with 15 wickets already to his name in this event, he is crucial to his team's chances and is just three wickets short of equalling Australian seamer Glenn McGrath's record of 71 World Cup victims.
"Murali's presence is always important. He's a big-match player, he's been amazing for us, so hopefully if he is fit he will take the field," said Sri Lanka skipper Kumar Sangakkara.
The media in India and Sri Lanka were in a frenzy ahead of the final.
"Sri Lanka can!" said the Colombo-based Daily FT in banner headlines. "Wishing the Sri Lankan team best of luck," the Daily Mirror said. 'Rally round team," urged the front-page headline in the state-run Daily News.
Cinemas and theatres said they were cancelling their Saturday evening shows as the entire country was expected to be watching the final on television.
Cricket clubs said they would set up giant television screens while bars said they were extending "happy hour" to cover the entire duration of the match.
In India, the Hindustan Times headlined its front page: "Now for the icing on the cake.”
কোন মন্তব্য নেই:
একটি মন্তব্য পোস্ট করুন