Sri Lankan spin legend Muttiah Muralitharan has called his former teammate and the ICC Hall of Fame inductee Mahela Jayawardene one of the game’s “great thinkers”.

Muralitharan wrote in an open letter that Jayawardene is one of the most important players in Sri Lankan cricket history.

“You played so many wonderful innings and were always happy to be in the team, getting a lot of runs.

“There was less pressure on me to take wickets because once you put on all those runs, my job became easy. That is why you are one of the most important players in Sri Lankan cricket history,” Muralitharan said.

“More than that though, you are a great human being and a very soft, kind guy away from cricket. On the field, you had this ability to switch on, you were a great person to be around and play with.”

The 44-year-old Jayawardene retired as one of Sri Lanka’s greatest ever players, a key member of the team that won the T20 World Cup in 2014 and reached four other major ICC finals.

“It isn’t just for one individual moment that you are being inducted into the Hall of Fame, it’s a reward for the toil over the years and everything you contributed for Sri Lanka,” Muralitharan wrote.