Personal Life

Muralitharan, who is a Tamil, married Madhimalar Ramamurthy, an Indian national, in 2005. His first child, Naren, was born in January 2006.

Muralitharan became politically active in 2004, becoming an ambassador for the United Nations World Food Program, and joining an anti-poverty campaign. He said he was "lucky to be alive"after narrowly missing the 2004 Indian Ocean Earthquake by just 20 minutes. One week later, he was reported to be helping distribute food to victims of the tsunami.