New Delhi,  He was known as a smiling assassin during his playing days, but former Sri Lanka spinner Muttiah Muralitharan has revealed how he also did his little prayers and one such time was when he went into the auction for the Indian Premier League.

Speaking on Star Sports 1 Tamil show Mind Masters by MFORE, Muralitharan spoke about his initial days adapting and playing with Chennai Super Kings and under Dhoni's captaincy: "Captaincy is about respecting the captain, whoever it is. We have to go by his decision. I prayed that if I come to the IPL, I have to go to Chennai, as I thought there will be Chennai people in the team. So, at that time, there was a good rule, where local players had to be in the team.

"The first three years was the best of the years because we could speak in our own language. We were around 7-8 people and even VB sir (VB Chandrasekhar) was there who selected us. I have played even for Lanchashire for 6 to 7 years, but I'd say that Chennai Super Kings was the best franchise I have played for."

Earlier, Muralitharan had said that if a player isn't able to deal with the mental side of the game then it's difficult to make it big despite technique being immaculate.

Muralitharan, who is the highest wicket-taker in both Tests and ODIs, also spoke about the competitive nature of modern-day sports and the pressure that tags along with it.

"In any game, 90 per cent of the work is to be tactically and mentally fit. Only then can you play. When you are young, you won't immediately think about that (being mentally fit) because of your interest and love for the game.

"Automatically, without being told, you'll think about what to do and do it. But when you get into the professional level, it's totally a mental game because of the pressure. A lot of cricketers who have good technique and haven't dealt with this pressure, have fallen off. So, the mental aspect is more important in any sport, not just cricket," he explained.