“He was a dangerous bowler”: Sachin Tendulkar talks about Muttiah Muralitharan’s ‘doosra’ at ‘800’ trailer launch

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], September 5 (ANI): Legendary Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar, who unveiled the trailer of Sri Lanka cricketer Muttiah Muralitharan’s biopic film titled ‘800’ praised the player for his dedication and revealed how he mastered his famous ‘doosra’ bowling style.

Sachin Tendulkar and former Sri Lankan all-rounder Sanath Jayasuriya unveiled the official trailer in Mumbai.

During the grand trailer launch, Sachin Tendulkar shared stories about  Muralitharan and how he met the player.

Sachin Tendulkar said, ” First of all, I’m here to wish my dear friend Murali all the very best. Because this movie, this biopic, people need to know what happened in his life. I remember meeting him for the first time in 1993. But, you know, we continue to be good friends.”

He added, “Coincidentally, I was in Sri Lanka this last month. And I messaged Murali that I’m in your beautiful city. Where are you? He said, ‘I’m in India’. What are you doing in Sri Lanka? And that’s how, you know, I’m here. He spoke to me for the first time about his biopic. And he said, ‘Would you be able to come for the event?’ I said, ‘Anytime for you.’ It’s so humble. It’s so simple in spite of achieving so much in life, it’s impossible to refuse it.”

Tendulkar also spoke about the bowling style of Muralitharan, “There are not going to be good times every time you go out, there are going to be ups and downs, there are going to be disappointments. But from those disappointments, how do you rise back, get on your feet and start competing that makes you a real sportsman and exactly that is what he possessed. He just loved bowling but the whole world knew that he had a big turn. No matter how the surface is, Murali is going to turn the ball and he did not rely only on that, just with that turn itself he was a dangerous bowler because in our meetings we would discuss for hours on end, how to tackle him, what are the signals to pick, all those things but he kept reinventing himself. I am still figuring it out. “

To which Muralitharan stated, “See, some players read, I know he read me very well, not many people can do but Lara had success, but he never read me either. I don’t know what the mechanism is but he read me and also a few people I know. I know Rahul Dravid, he is one of the greatest players but he never read me. I knew that. Sachin, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambir some players read and some played on that. Definitely, I am saying he read me. Some play differently because legends like him watch from the seam of the ball from the hand itself. Some people read you at the pitch.”

Tendulkar shared the story of how Muralidharan prepared his famous ‘doosra’ before using it in international cricket.

He added, “Like he said very few read him but in that also he wanted to develop more things. If I am not mistaken he developed doosra in the late 90s. The story that I heard through Harbhajan Singh. He had learned to throw ‘doorsa’ long ago but he was practicing in the net. So, for 18 months, he continued practising ‘doosra’ in the nets before he bowled a first ball in the internationals.”

Tendulkar also said, “I am so happy that I am able to spend time with them. The best part is after so many years we continue to be such good friends, and we enjoy each others’ company. And today, we are on this special occasion where your biopic trailer is released. I am sure everyone is gonna watch the movie. So will I.”

Coming back to the biopic ‘800’, Oscar-winning film ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ actor Madhurr Mittal will be seen portraying the role of the legendary Sri Lankan spinner in his biopic.

Written and directed by MS Sripathy, the film will be released in Tamil, Hindi and Telugu.

Taking to X (formerly Twitter), trade analyst Taran Adarsh shared the video and wrote, “SACHIN TENDULKAR UNVEILS TRAILER OF MUTHIAH MURALIDARAN BIOPIC ‘800’… 6 OCT RELEASE… #SachinTendulkar unveiled the trailer of the #MuthiahMuralidaran biopic, titled 800 [#800TheMovie]… #SanathJayasuriya was also present at the event. #MadhurrMittal – who won acclaim for his performance in the #Oscar-winning film #SlumdogMillionaire – enacts the part of #Muralidaran in the biopic. Written-directed by #MSSripathy and produced by Movie Train Motion Pictures and Vivek Rangachari, the film will release on 6 Oct 2023 in #Tamil, #Hindi and #Telugu.”

The trailer showcased the film’s focus on the unknown story of Muttiah Muralitharan. It starts with flashbacks of events in Sri Lanka during the 1970s, when minority Tamils were targeted, illustrating the difficulties the community suffered at the time.

We also get to see a young man wearing a white cricket jersey kneeling down before armed army personnel and a voiceover was heard saying “For someone who hails from a group of migrant labourers, getting recognised as a citizen itself is very tough.” And ends by calling himself proudly as “cricketer”. 

The biopic is set to release on October 6.

Member of the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame, Muralitharan is widely regarded as one of the greatest bowlers in the history of the sport and is the only bowler to take 800 Test wickets and 530+ ODI wickets. He is also the highest wicket-taker in both Test and ODI formats and averages over six wickets per Test match.

Notably, Muralitharan had dismissed Tendulkar a total of 13 times in his career.