Muttiah Muralitharan made me feel like a kid, says Adam Gilchrist

Former Australian wicket-keeper batsman Adam Gilchrist has rated Sri Lanka’s Muttiah Muralitharan as the most difficult bowler he had faced during his international career. The aggressive batsman said that he struggled the most against Muralitharan. Gilchrist is one of the most celebrated wicketkeeper-batsmen in the history of cricket.

Gilchrist made the statement about Muralitharan in a recent chat show of Gaurav Kapur named ‘ Breakfast with Champions’. Gilchrist said that he failed to read Murali’s finger movements and that the bowler always made him feel like a 12-year old.

The left-handed batsman also added that he never feared to face a fast bowler as much as he did while facing the spin wizard. The legendary Australian athlete got dismissed on four occasions by Muralitharan out of six Test matches.  Gilchrist had earlier said “It’s a great rivalry because of late, getting to know him since and learning more about him, I’ve learnt he was fearful of me and I was fearful of him. It’s an interesting rivalry.”

Thrilling rivalry with Murali: Gilchrist

“Whenever I was in doubt, I promptly swept. There was this Test innings where I had gone out with this mindset to sweep. First ball, I swept and the ball went for four. Second ball, I swept again. This time, it went straight up in the sky and I was caught. Next match, again I swept Murali the first ball and was caught plumb in front of the stumps.” Gilchrist had said.

“Perception, it’s always wondering what others are doing and it can get in your mind. “He got me a number of times and there were times when I got him.”Really fond memories of taking him on, the highest wicket-taker of all time, it was a thrill to be locked in a rivalry with him.” he added.

Gilchrist’s record against Sri Lanka is quite impressive. He has an average of 42.55 in Test matches, along with a hundred. In ODIs, the left-handed batsman averages 50.36 with six hundreds.