Murali doubtful for Twenty20 World Championship

Muttiah Muralitharan is unlikely to play in the inaugural Twenty20 World Championship, to be held in South Africa this September, and is keen to play as many matches as possible for Lancashire.

Murali will play two Tests against Bangladesh at home next month, but has opted out of the one-series, an indication of his focus on the five-day format. He also chose not to participate in the three-match one-day international series between Sri Lanka and Pakistan in Abu Dhabi this month.

Murali has only played one Twenty20 match, against New Zealand at Wellington late last year, in which he picked up 2 for 27. However, Cricinfo has learnt that the plans may change depending on what the new Sri Lankan coach wants from his players. Kumar Sangakkara, currently with Warwickshire, and Chaminda Vaas, at Middlesex, are in a similar position to Murali.

The Twenty20 World Championship will include the ten Test-playing nations in action, as well as Kenya and Scotland, who qualified through their world rankings just before the World Cup.