CRICKET’S highest wicket taker Muttiah Muralitharan plans to retire from Tests at the end of the year and from all forms of international cricket after the 2011 World Cup.
The 37-year-old, who has taken a world-record 792 wickets in 132 Tests, will finally retire after the West Indies' two-Test tour of Sri Lanka in October.
He needs only eight more scalps to become the first and only player to take 800 wickets.
"Maybe I will play one or two Test matches, that's it, and then retire. The Tests against the West Indies will be the last ones I will play," The Sydney Morning Herald quoted Muralitharan, as saying.
"My future is all about playing one-dayers until the World Cup. If I am fit and good I will play until the World Cup and the World Cup will be the end of the road," he added.
Sri Lanka's Test schedule for 2010 is completed by three Tests in India in July, although that series is yet to be confirmed. Muralitharan said his aim was to reach the 800 Test wicket mark before retiring.
The off-spinner has struggled for form in his most recent Test appearances, during a three-match series against India in December, averaging more than 65 with the ball and taking only nine wickets.
Muralitharan, who plays for Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League, said all Lankan players will participate in the T20 tournament despite security fears.
"All the Sri Lankans will go. If you don't go it is bad because there will be no cricket on the subcontinent at all. It is a difficult question," Muralitharan added.