Muttiah Muralitharan appointed governor of Sri Lanka's Northern Province 

Sri Lanka spin maestro Muttiah Muralitharan was named Governor of a Lankan province, news agencies reported on Wednesday. 

Muralitharan, who scalped 800 Test wickets, has been appointed Governor of Sri Lanka's Northern Province by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on a special invitation.

The 47-year-old is among three new Governors who were to be appointed by the newly-elected Lankan government.

According to reports, the legendary spinner was personally invited by President Rajapaksa to accept the post. 

Cricket coach and former Sri Lankan cricketer retired from the Test format in the year 2010. 

Crowned as the greatest Test match bowler ever by Wisden Cricketers' Almanack in 2002, Muralitharan is remembered as one of the finest spinners in the history of international cricket. 

In his career, Muralitharan bagged many feats, broke and set many records including the world record for bagging the most wickets in both Test and ODI cricket formats. 

He is the only Sri Lankan to be inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame.

The development follows the appointment of Sri Lanka's new leadership after former Lankan wartime defence chief Gotabaya Rajapaksa won the elections last week.

Rajapaksa was sworn in as the president of the island nation last week and appointed his brother and former Lankan strongman, Mahinda Rajapaksa, as the country's Prime Minister. 

The Rajapaksa brothers are credited for ending Sri Lanka's civil war a decade ago by brutally crushing Tamil Tigers. 

Gotabaya, known as the "Terminator" was the defence secretary when his brother Mahinda was the president of Sri Lanka (2005-15). During his tenure as defence secretary, Gotabaya was accused of allowing death squads to kill rivals, journalists and critics.