Muralitharan given a presidential send-off

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CHINA: A picture taken recently shows ninety-year-old Li Xiuying making her nightly rounds along a shopping street in Beijing to collect plastic bottles and cardboard boxes to sell to the recyling centers, for whatever cash she can make to help buy medici

GALLE, July 22 (AFP): World bowling record holder Muttiah Muralitharan was given a presidential send-off Thursday after he retired with 800 wickets in the bag.
Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse flew in from the capital, Colombo, to the southern coastal town of Galle to briefly watch the first Test against India and presented Muralitharan a memento during the lunch break.
But Rajapakse had left by the time the off-spinner had last man Pragyan Ojha caught in the slips to achieve the landmark that terminated India's second innings in the post-lunch session of the final day.
Hosts Sri Lanka went on to win the Test by 10 wickets to take the lead in the three-match series against the world's top-ranked side.
"I must thank His Excellency, the President, for taking time off to come and watch the match," Muralitharan said later.
"I also need to thank my family and my team-mates, both past and present, without whose support I would not have achieved anything."
Muralitharan, 38, who has taken more Test (800) and one-day (515) wickets than any bowler in history, remains open to playing limited-overs games.
"I have spoken to the selectors and if they want me for the World Cup next year, I will be available," he said.
Fireworks went off and the packed stands stood up to greet Sri Lanka's favourite cricketing son when the last wicket fell as team-mates rushed to congratulate Muralitharan.
Some 15,000 fans, including Muralitharan's parents, his Indian wife, Madhimalar, and four-year old son, Naren, faced anxious moments before the landmark was achieved.
The spinner needed 23 overs to move from 799 to 800 following a doughty rearguard action by India, whose last three wickets added 141 runs after being 197-7 at one stage.
"Getting to 800 was not as important as winning the match," said Muralitharan. "By God's grace, both things happened which made it the greatest day of my life.
"But I assure you, you won't miss me much, because there are some very talented spinners in our country and they will serve the team well."
Sri Lanka 520 for 8 dec (Paranavitana 111, Sangakkara 103) and 96 for 0 (Dilshan 68*) beat India 276 (Sehwag 109, Murali 5-63) and 338 (Tendulkar 84, Laxman 69, Malinga, 5-50, Murali 3-128) by ten wickets.