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Sri Lankan spin wizard Muthiah Muralitharan says he is "proud" to play for Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League as the son-in-law of Tamil Nadu.
"My ancestors hail from Tamil Nadu and my wife is from Chennai," he declared on Tuesday morning.
"That way it is a privilege for me to be playing for a team from this place," added the world's leading wicket-taker, who has 735 wickets in 120 Tests, addressing a press conference at the M A Chidambaram stadium in Chennai.
Murali said "playing for Chennai is special". "I feel at home here.''
Replying to a question, he said every player competes to win, whether it is a Test or Twenty20 game.
"There is no question of lack of motivation. Whichever game you play, you compete. I want to do well and get the cup for Chennai Super Kings.
"We have to have a good spinner even in a T20 match. A bowler has to adjust and try to take wickets in the span of the four overs he gets to bowl. The same holds good for a batsman who has to get runs in the few overs he gets to bat.
"In fact, a spinner has more chances of getting a batsman out in T20 games. He may get hit for a couple of sixes, but he has more chances of getting a batsman out as he has to go for his shots straightaway and may mis-time."
The ace off-spinner said he has not played regular T20 games at the international level "but while playing this format for Lancashire, I played a key role''.
Chennai Super Kings begin its campaign in the league with a match at Mohali on April 19.
The 24-member team has six Tamil Nadu players.
The team: M S Dhoni (capt), Mathew Hayden, Stephen Flemming, Suresh Raina, Jacob Oram, Muthiah Muralitharan, Michael Hussey, S Badrinath, Parthiv Patel, Joginder Sharma, R Ashwin, S Vidyut, Anirudha Srikkanth, P Amarnath, Arun Karthik, Shadab Jakati, Manpreet Singh.