Oct 25, 2005 06:27 PM
1766 Views
(Updated Nov 19, 2005 11:52 PM)
Full Name : Muttiah Muralitharan
Born : 17 April 1972, Kandy
Major Teams : Tamil Union Cricket, Athletic Club, Sri Lanka, Lancashire and Kent.
Test debut Sri Lanka v Australia at Colombo (RPS) - Aug 28 - Sep 2, 1992
ODI debut Sri Lanka v India at Colombo (RPS) - Aug 12, 1993
Batting Style : Right Hand Bat
Bowling Style : Right Arm Off Break
Test Matches - 96
Overs bowled - 3222.1
Wickets - 568
Bowling average - 22.23
Economy - 2.35
Strike Rate - 56.72
5 wickets in innings - 47
10 wickets in match - 14
Best Bowling - 9/51
Catches - 50
ODI's Matches - 252
Overs bowled - 1360.9
Wickets - 387
Bowling average - 22.34
Economy - 3.78
Strike Rate - 35.25
4 Wickets in match - 10
5 Wickets in match - 5
Best Bowling - 7/30
Catches - 98
Muttaih Muralitharan is the only Tamil in the Sri Lankan cricket team.
Muralitharan's rise from humble beginnings, being the Tamil son of a hill-country confectioner, to the top of the wicket-takers' list in Test cricket has divided the cricket world in the past decade because of his weird bent-arm bowling action.
There has long been ethnic tension in Sri Lanka between the minority Tamil and the majority Sinhalese communities, and some members of the Tamil community feel that Muralitharan should not play for the Sri Lankan national team.
Muttiah Muralitharan began his cricketing career as a medium pace bowler, but on the advice of his school coach at St Anthony's College, Sunil Fernando, He took up off-spin as a fourteen year-old and have not looked back since.
In his final two seasons at school he took over 100 wickets and was named the 'Bata Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year'.
He made his test match debut at the Premadasa International Stadium in Colombo, Sri Lanka, in the 2nd Test of the 1992/93 series against Australia.
Since then he has worked hard to develop variations to compliment his off breaks, including the top spinner and floater, which drifts away from the right-handed batsman.
He has also been working very hard on a new ''mystery'' ball - but he can't reveal too much at the moment as he is still looking to perfect the delivery in the nets!
He bowls marathon spells, yet is forever on the attack.
From a loose-limbed, open-chested action, his chief weapons are the big-spinning offbreak and two versions of the top-spinner, one of which goes straight on and the other, which has now been labelled his doosra, which spins in the opposite direction to his stock ball.
It has taken a lot of hard work to get to the top of international cricket, but he has always loved the game and the closer you get to the top, the more exciting it becomes.
Statistically, he is without doubt one of the most effective spin bowlers ever to play cricket in both forms of the game (Test and One Day International). Currently his record.
Stands at over 568 Test wickets at an average of just 22.
This compares favourably to other contemporary spin bowlers; Shane Warne's bowling average is 25, Anil Kumble's 28 and off-spinner Harbhajan Singh's 27.
He has greatly enjoyed his experience of English cricket, from his seasons with Lancashire since the 1999 World Cup, to the battles against England in test matches.
In March 2004 he became the youngest bowler to take 500 test wickets, and in the least number of matches.
He was very flattered to have recently been named Wisden's greatest bowler of all time.
My prediction on Muttiah Muralitharan is that if he wants to be the first player in Test cricket history reach the target of 1000 Test wickets he will need to play on another 7 years of International Test Cricket.
