spinner Muttiah Muralitharan will retire from international cricket after the Feb. 19-April 2 World Cup in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. Muralitharan, the world's leading wicket-taker in Tests and One-Day Internationals, had retired from the five-day format last July against India, after reaching exactly 800 Test wickets. “This World Cup will be my last outing,” Muralitharan told reporters on the sidelines of a training session in Colombo. “I am retiring totally from international cricket thereafter.” The Sri Lankan, who played for the Chennai Super Kings franchise in the first three editions of the Indian Premier League (IPL), will continue to play Twenty20 cricket. “My time is up. I have signed up to play for two years in the IPL. I am also looking at similar work in New Zealand and perhaps England,” added Muralitharan, who has taken 517 wickets in 339 one-dayers. “This is my fourth World Cup. We won in 1996 and came close in 2007 by reaching the final. This would be a memorable one for me and for Sri Lankan fans.” Muralitharan ruled out any plans of coaching stint in the near future. “There are plenty of coaches and lots of talented people out there,” he said. “I will take things as they come. For the moment, no coaching stints.” Visa wrangle hits Canada team Canada's 15-man squad for the World Cup has included three Pakistan-born players who are still awaiting visa clearance to enter India where the team plays four of its six games. The visa wrangle concerns vice captain Rizwan Cheema, Khurram Chohan and back-up wicketkeeper Hamza Tariq. “(We have been) waiting to have visas processed for several months now,” Ranjit Saini, the Cricket Canada president, told Pakistan media recently. “Canada took a pre-World Cup preparatory visit to India in November and the visas were applied for before that. We couldn't take these players to India and as a result our training plans have suffered. It's a source of distraction and is hurting team morale in general. “We are making efforts but so far there is no outcome. They are the star players of our team - Rizwan Cheema was in the IPL auction.” A statement Thursday from Cricket Canada said it remained optimistic that the visa hurdle will be overcome before the start of the World Cup on Feb. 19. “Recent correspondence from the International Cricket Council (ICC) has assured Cricket Canada that visas will be granted for all participants in the 2011 Cricket World Cup,” it said. Ashish Bagai will lead Canada for the country's fourth appearance at the World Cup. Joining Bagai as returnees from the 2007 World Cup team are paceman Henry Osinde and all-rounder John Davison. Both Bagai and Davison played in the 2003 edition of the World Cup as well. It opens its tournament Feb. 20 against Sri Lanka. Khawaja signs with Derbyshire Promising Australian batsman Usman Khawaja will hone his skills with Derbyshire in the upcoming English domestic season after signing a deal with the county side. The Pakistan-born Khawaja became the first Muslim to play Test cricket for Australia when he made his debut this month in the fifth Ashes Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground. Khawaja, who boasts six first-class centuries an an average of a fraction over 50, made 37 and 21 in Sydney, showing impressive poise under pressure in a match Australia lost by an innings. With Australia not playing any Tests until the tour of Sri Lanka in August and Khawaja not part of the limited-overs squads, the left-hander will be able to play the first half of the county season. He has signed with Derbyshire for eight county matches, six limited-overs games and the all 16 matches of their Twenty20 campaign.
