Murali turns 36, Chennai Super Kings celebrate

CHANDIGARH: The Chennai Super Kings team celebrated Muttiah Muralitharan's 36th birthday here on Friday.

The World's highest wicket taker in Test cricket cut two cakes that were named "Off-Break" and "Doosra" in admiration of his craft.

"We had lots of fun asking Murali to sing the birthday song in Sinhalese. Of course, he didn't, but the occasion helped to bond the players," said VB Chandrasekar, the team's director of cricketing operations.

The party that was attended by the entire team with the exception of skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who is in Bangalore to attend the inauguration of the Indian Premier League Friday.

Dhoni is expected to arrive in Chandigarh late on Friday night, according to Chandrasekar.

The birthday party was held at the end of a long training session that ran to over four hours at the Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) Stadium in Mohali, the venue of Chennai Super Kings' opening game against Kings XI, Punjab, Saturday evening.