Muttiah Muralitharan holds the record for most number of international wickets © Getty Images
Wellington: Oct 24, 2012
Spin legend Muttiah Muralitharan has been roped in by New Zealand to pass on his expertise to the team on their tour to Sri Lanka later in the year.
"Obviously Muralitharan lives in Sri Lanka in Colombo and he's someone we've got contacts with," Mike Hesson, head coach of New Zealand said on Wednesday.
"We haven't been able to firm things up but we're also looking into the possibility of another specialist coach,” he added.
"We've got some guys lined up but they add to the mix and help Shane in terms of his development - and also the players.
"We play half of our cricket in the sub-continent and even now the West Indies' conditions are very sub-continental. We'll get exposed to a lot of spin, and in this series 70-80 percent of our overs we face will be spin-based,” the New Zealand said.
New Zealand will play two Tests, five One-Day Internationals and one T20 International when they tour Sri Lanka later in the year.
"How well we adapt and how well we play them will dictate the outcome," Hesson concluded.
Former Sri Lankan seamer Chaminda Vaas is also expected to assist Shane Bond in training the Kiwi pacers.
"That (spin bowling) is an area of weakness I think," Bond told Television New Zealand. "In terms of technique, psychology and playing under the pressure it is all the same bowling seam and pace.
"It is probably more getting into the mindset of a spin bowler,” the former New Zealand pacer was quoted as saying by The Times of India.
"All I can do is communicate and talk as much as I can with those spin bowlers and still challenge around their plans and what they want to do," Bond concluded.
