Sri Lanka might risk playing Muralitharan in the semi-final, media reports say. —Photo by Reuters

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka spinner Muttiah Muralitharan faces a battle against time to get fit for Tuesday’s World Cup semi-final against New Zealand.

Muralitharan, 38, the leading wicket taker in both Test and one-day cricket, will retire from international cricket after the tournament. He is suffering from both a bruised knee and a quadriceps injury sustained in the group stages.

The winners of Tuesday’s match meet the victors of Wednesday’s semi-final between India and Pakistan in Saturday’s final in Mumbai.

Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara told a news conference on Monday the team management were not thinking of saving Muralitharan for a possible final.

“This is the crunch game and, if he can play tomorrow, that will be great for us. But if that doesn’t work out for us we have got enough cover to make sure that we are still a solid winning side,” Sangakkara said.

“We will have to just monitor how he goes and hope he is fit enough to play.”

Sri Lanka easily won their group match against New Zealand and overwhelmed England by 10 wickets in their quarter-final on Saturday.