where he had done his schooling in the
1960s. His initial interest was to become a NCC member and he had secured B and
C certificates in that field. While playing league and inter districts
cricket matches in Tiruchirapalli the then TDCA secretary VKS Mani came up to
him and suggested that he take up umpiring.

It was
something Murali had not thought of earlier, though even in his school days in
Coimbatore he would umpire some of the local matches that his elder brother
played. He followed Mani’s advice and took to umpiring very seriously.

He soon
moved to Madras and settled down in Triplicane, one that has been home to him
for the last four decades. Just prior to his move to Madras, he had been the
local logistics manager for his team when a match took placeat the Kallukuzhi
stadium in Trichy involving greats such as Ajit Wadekar, GR Viswanath and Syed
Kirmani. This opportunity was once again provided to him by Mani and it was
this early initiation that later enabled him to expand his association in
cricket by taking up logistics management for players and officials.

Once he came
to Madras, it was Sriraman who spotted the talent in Murali and appointed him
as a logistics manager for the Indian team when the team came here for a camp
before an international tour or for an international match here in Madras. It was
during that period that he came into close contact with the legendary Sunil
Gavaskar. It was Murali who would take the Indian stars around the city
on his Vespa Chetak to show them around the historical places. Gavaskar was so
impressed