Murali set to play a different innings

Sri Lankan spin legend Muttiah Muralitharan is set to play a different innings as governor of the country’s Tamil-dominated Northern Province after President Gotabaya Rajapaksa “personally invited” him to accept the post, a media report said on Wednesday.

The 47-year-old ace spinner, the record holder for highest wickets in Test cricket (800), is among the three new governors tipped to be appointed by Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who registered a thumping victory in the November 16 presidential election.

“President Gotabaya Rajapakse had personally invited Muralidharan to accept the post of the Governor of the Northern Province,” the Daily Mirror quoted Presidential Secretariat sources as saying.