Will hang up boots only by 2013-14: Muralitharan

Legendary Sri Lankan spinner Muttiah Muralitharan on Monday made it clear he will continue to play cricket for another three years as he felt fit enough to feature in Indian Premier League and English county circuit.

"I think my body is good enough to play cricket for another three years. I would like to play IPL and some county cricket in England. I have received some offers (from the counties) but can't disclose them at this moment," he said.

Muralitharan was speaking at a felicitation function by his IPL team Chennai Super Super Kings here for taking 800 Test wickets.

In a media interaction later, Muralitharan said that he had agreed to former Indian captain Anil Kumble's offer to join him in starting an academy but refused to disclose the details of the venture.

Asked whether he would play in next year's World Cup in the sub continent, Muralitharan said, "It is still too early. I want to see how I play in the Champions League Twenty20 and then decide on the World Cup," the 38-year-old Muralitharan said.

Sanjay Manjrekar, who anchored the function, requested scribes before opening the floor for a question answer session not to pose questions on the match fixing allegations in Pakistan's ongoing England tour.

However, Muralitharan did answer a question on the issue, saying it is for the Pakistan Cricket Board and its English counterpart to deal with the situation and decide.

"These are only allegations and I wouldn't like to comment on these matters," he said. Muralitharan said Harbhajan Singh has the best chance of reaching the 800 figure mark but he could not predict whether the Indian off-spinner would achieve the feat or not.

"Harbhajan is only 29 and statistically it is possible for him to reach 800. But it is up to the bowler and I can't predict anything. You should have the hunger to achieve anything," he said. Manjrekar and former India captain S Venkataraghavan hosted a group discussion as part of the function.

Tamil Nadu cricketers of Chennai Super Kings -- Subramaniam Badrinath, Lakshmipathy Balaji, Ravichandran Ashwin, Anirudha Srikkanth and Shadab Jakati - and operations director V B Chandrasekar recalled their experiences with their famous colleague in IPL events.

Venkatraghavan, part of the famous Indian spin quartet of yesteryears, showered praise on Muralitharan and discussed the finer points of spin bowling. Venkatraghavan presented Muralitharan a Super Kings team shirt with the number 800 printed on the back and Sri Lankan star immediately wore it on the stage.