Brendon McCullum apologises to Kumar Sangakkara, Muttiah Muralitharan for his on-field action

"Sanga, I admire you enormously. I regard you as a friend", says McCullum.

New Delhi: While delivering his lecture at MCC Spirit of Cricket Cowdrey on Monday, former New Zealand skipper Brendon McCullum apologised to legendary Sri Lankan cricketers Kumar Sangakkara and Muttiah Muralitharan.

Referring to the controversial run out incident, happened way back in December 2006, when New Zealand were up against Sri Lanka in a Test match at Jade Stadium, Christchurch, McCullum said: “Nearly ten years after running out Murali, I view things very differently and I would hope that I am a very different person. Kumar Sangakkara is here tonight. Sanga, I admire you enormously. I regard you as a friend.

“And I take this opportunity to apologize to you and Murali for my actions on that day. I want to share with you the things that I think were the primary catalysts for my change of approach. And I think it’s fair to say that they came late in my career.”

The incident took place during the second innings of the first Test match, when Sri Lanka were nine down on 169 and Sangakkara was still at the crease on 99*. The southpaw had worked the ball towards deep fine leg for an easy single to complete his century. After completing the single, Murali was going to congratulate Sangakkara for his century and McCullum who was collecting the ball from the fielder shattered the stumps at the striker’s end and umpire judged Murali out.

The Black Caps eventually won the match by chasing down 119 runs by the loss of 5 wickets.

Here is the video of that controversial run out.