About his career and growing up as a cricketer in Sri Lanka: [ 
Listen ]
"My career is going on well at the moment, whatever I have been planning to achieve, is happening."
"In Sri Lanka the game is played everywhere, it is a popular game, even though rugby is also there. Everybody wants to play and there is a good structure in place, which includes the school system, where they play each other a lot."
The passion for the game in Sri Lanka: [ Listen ]
There is something about the cricket that Sri Lankans play; there is a lot of flair, almost reminding one of the calypso brand of cricket. Muralitharan believes that it is mostly because of the abundance of talent and the wonderful team spirit. "They play positive cricket and try to enjoy than putting pressure on themselves."
The king of off spin reckons that the foundation of Sri Lankan cricket is strong. Lots of talent is spotted and nourished through the school system. Two hundred schools compete in three divisions, U19s and U17s play One-Day cricket, U15s and U13s play Two-Day cricket. "The competition and motivation is always there."
On the Arjuna Ranatunga factor: [ Listen ]
Muralitharan showered praises on his former skipper Arjuna Ranatunga,
"Arjuna was the most talented player ever produced by Sri Lanka. He is the best Captain that I have ever seen." Muralitharan says that Ranatunga helped the players a lot by sorting out their problems. As a skipper, Ranatunga always stood by his players and ensured that the team stood together.
Murali added, "He was a great captain. Whatever I am today is because of him, my career is because of him, he did so much for me. When I started and went through a rough patch, he helped me a lot." He paid rich tribute to Ranatunga, "If there are more captains like him, younger players will benefit a lot."
Murali's thoughts on Saqlain Mushtaq and Harbhajan Singh: [ Listen ]
Muralitharan thinks that Saqlain Mushtaq is a very good bowler. "If you take a look at his record you will see that he has taken about 150 Test wickets, I think it is not bad for an off spinner."
"People can have success for a few months or a year or two, you have to continue and keep your head cool and keep on going. Harbhajan Singh has the talent and needs to use it... It is a hard job try to take wickets in South Africa. The bounce helps the faster bowlers not the spinners, you have to turn the ball a lot in those conditions. The bounce is there and you can take wickets. If you couldn't turn then it will be a problem. So it will all depend on him, if he turns the ball, he will get wickets."
On his success at the highest level: [ Listen ]
Muralitharan is one of the most feared bowlers in international cricket. He reckons that bowling to all the five or six top batsmen in every team is a bit difficult. "There is the technology to help batsmen, they know what you are doing, you have to wait for the batsmen to make mistakes to capitalize."
The master revealed the secret behind his huge success as an off spinner , "You can't take wicket with every ball you bowl, you have to learn to be patient, success will come if you are patient enough."
