In the sport of cricket the word wicket has several distinct meanings:

Definitions of wicket

, upright wooden poles that are hammered into the ground, topped with two wooden crosspieces, known as the bails.]]

Most of the time, the wicket is one of the two sets of three stumps and two bails at either end of the pitch. The wicket is guarded by a batsman who, with his bat, attempts to prevent the ball from hitting the wicket.

The origin of the word is from the standard definition of wicket as a small gate. Historically, cricket wickets had only two stumps and one bail and looked like a gate. The third (middle) stump was introduced in 1775.

The size and shape of the wicket has changed several times during the last 300 years and its dimensions and placing is now determined by Law 8 in the Laws of Cricket, thus:

* Law 8: The wickets. The wicket consists of three wooden stumps that are tall. The stumps are placed along the batting crease with equal distances between each stump. They are positioned so they are wide. Two wooden bails are placed on top of the stumps. The bails must not project more than above the stumps, and must, for men's cricket, be long. There are also specified lengths for the barrel and spigots of the bail. There are different specifications for the wickets and bails for junior cricket. The umpires may dispense with the bails if conditions are unfit (e.g., if it is windy they might fall off by themselves). Further details on the specifications of the wickets are contained in Appendix A to the laws.

===Dismissing a batsman=== Wicket also refers to the event of a batsman getting out. The batsman is said to have lost his wicket. If dismissed by a bowler, the bowler is said to have taken his wicket. The number of wickets taken is the primary measure of a bowler's ability.

For a batsman to be dismissed by being bowled, run out, stumped or hit wicket, his wicket needs to be put down. What this means is defined by Law 28 of the Laws of cricket. The wicket is put down if a bail is completely removed from the top of the stumps, or a stump is struck out of the ground by the ball, the striker's bat, the striker's person (or by any part of his clothing or equipment becoming detached from his person), a fielder (with his hand or arm, and providing that the ball is held in the hand or hands so used, or in the hand of the arm so used). The wicket is also put down if a fielder pulls a stump out of the ground in the same manner.

If one bail is off, removing the remaining bail or striking or pulling any of the three stumps out of the ground is sufficient to put the wicket down. A fielder may remake the wicket, if necessary, in order to put it down to have an opportunity of running out a batsman.

If however both bails are off, a fielder must remove one of the three stumps out of the ground with the ball, or pull it out of the ground with a hand or arm, providing that the ball is held in the hand or hands so used, or in the hand of the arm so used.

If the umpires have agreed to dispense with bails, because, for example, it is too windy for the bails to remain on the stumps, the decision as to whether the wicket has been put down is one for the umpire concerned to decide. After a decision to play without bails, the wicket has been put down if the umpire concerned is satisfied that the wicket has been struck by the ball, by the striker's bat, person, or items of his clothing or equipment separated from his person as described above, or by a fielder with the hand holding the ball or with the arm of the hand holding the ball.

Partnership

The sequence of time over which two particular batsmen bat together, a partnership, is referred to as a specifically numbered wicket when discriminating it from other partnerships in the innings.

The first wicket partnership is from the start of the innings until a first batsman gets out.

The second wicket partnership is from when a first batsman gets out until a second batsman gets out.

etc...

The tenth wicket or last wicket partnership is from when a ninth batsman gets out until a tenth batsman gets out.

Winning by number of wickets

A team can win a match by a certain number of wickets. This means that they were batting last, and reached the winning target with a certain number of batsmen still not dismissed. A team's innings ends when ten batsmen are dismissed, so, for example, if the side scored the required number of runs to win with only three batsmen dismissed, they are said to have won by seven wickets.

The pitch

The word wicket is also sometimes used to refer to the cricket pitch itself. According to the Laws of Cricket, this usage is incorrect, but it is in common usage and commonly understood by cricket followers. This usage probably derives from the days when the outfield was kept short by grazing sheep on it and the playing surface, which was specially prepared, was protected from them by a light wicker fence around it. Since many regular grounds had resident bat-makers it is quite possible that the branches cut off from the willow wood used for the bats formed all or part of this fence.

The term sticky wicket refers to a situation in which the pitch has become damp, typically due to rain or high humidity. This makes the path of the ball more unpredictable thus making the job of defending the stumps that much more difficult. The full phrase is thought to have originally been "to bat on a sticky wicket." Such pitches were commonplace at all levels of the game (i.e. up to Test Match level) until the late 1950s.

In other sports

The arches used in croquet and roque are sometimes referred to as wickets, especially in American English. These arches descend from the ancestral game of ground billiards (which may also be related to cricket), and were formerly called the hoop, arch or port. The port remained a prominent feature of indoor table billiards until well into the 18th century.

See also

Cricket terminology

References

Category:Cricket terminology Category:Cricket equipment

Playername	Saeed Ajmal
Country	Pakistan
Fullname	Saeed Ajmal
Living	true
Dayofbirth	14
Monthofbirth	10
Yearofbirth	1977
Placeofbirth	Faisalabad, Punjab
Countryofbirth	Pakistan
Batting	Right-handed
Bowling	Right-arm off break
Role	Bowler
International	true
Testdebutdate	4 July
Testdebutyear	2009
Testdebutagainst	Sri Lanka
Testcap	195
Lasttestdate	26 August
Lasttestyear	2010
Lasttestagainst	England
Odidebutdate	2 July
Odidebutyear	2008
Odidebutagainst	India
Odicap	171
Lastodidate	19 June
Lastodiyear	2010
Lastodiagainst	India
Club1	Faisalabad
Year1	1996–2007
Club2	Khan Research Laboratories
Year2	2000–07
Club3	Islamabad
Year3	2001–02
Columns	4
Column1	Tests
Matches1	9
Runs1	98
Bat avg1	10.88
100s/50s1	0/1
Top score1	50
Deliveries1	2,747
Wickets1	33
Bowl avg1	39.72
Fivefor1	1
Tenfor1	0
Best bowling1	5/82
Catches/stumpings1	2/–
Column2	ODI
Matches2	35
Runs2	115
Bat avg2	8.21
100s/50s2	0/0
Top score2	33
Deliveries2	1,818
Wickets2	424
Bowl avg2	30.52
Fivefor2	0
Tenfor2	0
Best bowling2	4/33
Catches/stumpings2	6/–
Column3	T20I
Matches3	28
Runs3	30
Bat avg3	10.00
100s/50s3	0/0
Top score3	13*
Deliveries3	624
Wickets3	41
Bowl avg3	16.12
Fivefor3	0
Tenfor3	0
Best bowling3	4/19
Catches/stumpings3	4/–
Column4	FC
Matches4	92
Runs4	965
Bat avg4	11.91
100s/50s4	0/3
Top score4	53
Deliveries4	18,475
Wickets4	302
Bowl avg4	28.31
Fivefor4	18
Tenfor4	1
Best bowling4	7/63
Catches/stumpings4	30/–
Date	29 December
Year	2010
Source	http://www.cricinfo.com/pakistan/content/player/42699.html Cricinfo

Saeed Ajmal (}}, born 14 October 1977 in Faisalabad) is a Pakistani cricketer. He is a right-arm off-spin bowler who also uses the Doosra to good effect.

Early life and domestic cricket

Ajmal has played for Faisalabad since his debut in 1995 at the age of 18, also representing Khan Research Laboratories and occasionally Islamabad. After a successful season in 2007–08 for Khan Research Laboratories, he was named in Pakistan's squad for the 2008 Asia Cup.

International career

He made his debut against India, taking the wicket of Yusuf Pathan in an eight-wicket before taking two wickets in a ten-wicket victory over Bangladesh, although the team had no chance of progressing to the competition's final.

From there he has had a rapid rise in the team in just over a full year. He had an excellent time at the 2009 ICC World Twenty20, bowling at an economical rate and regularly taking wickets along with his spin partner Shahid Afridi. He was then picked for the Sri Lankan series in Sri Lanka where he had made solid performances in the Test matches, being picked ahead of Danish Kaneria in two of the matches.

Ajmal's good form continued in the 2010 ICC World Twenty20 as he was Pakistan's leading wicket taker. However despite his good form he was known for conceding three sixes to Michael Hussey in what has been hailed as the most thrilling Twenty20 match of all time as Australia were in trouble and Ajmal was the unfortunate bowler who bowled that final over.

Shortly after this the Pakistan team began there long tour of England and in the two Test matches played against Australia spinner Danish Kaneria was selected ahead of him. In the 1st Test against England Kaneria was selected ahead of Ajmal as well. However after poor bowling by Kaneria, Ajmal was selected and he took his career best bowling figures of 5/82 Despite Pakistan restricting England the team suffered a top order collapse and Zulqarnain Haider scored 88 and Ajmal also showed that he has the abiltiy to bat when he scored 50 runs these two men helped Pakistan lead a revival after being bowled out for 72 on the first day. Along with Zulqarnain Haider they together continued to frustrate the england and when it was stumps on day three Pakistan had a 112-run lead however Zulqarnain Haider and Ajmal were out on 88 and 50 respectively and so Pakistan were left on the final wicket with Mohammad Asif and Umar Gul. During the series against England Pakistan became englufed in a spot fixing scandal after the fourth test and in a later secret interview it was unveiled by alleged fixer Mazhar Majeed that Ajmal, Abdul Razzaq, Younis Khan and Shahid Afridi were difficult to bribe. He stated that Ajmal was too religious to get involved into fixing.

Skills in the art of spin

Ajmal is known as an excellent spinner of the ball and strong especially against left-handers. He has a well disguised doosra and keeps it as a mystery while he bowls. His technique is noted for causing more spin than speed as that is what Ajmal prefers Ajmal's spin techinque came in special hand against england in 2010 has he took his first 5-wicket haul to help restrict England. Kevin Pietersen congratulated Ajmal on the amount of spin he achieved. Ajmal though started his international cricket in limited-overs cricket and was one of the early off-spinners to possess the skills of the doosra. A stat shows that out of Ajmal's 38 wickets in Twenty20 cricket 13 of them have been stumped the most for any bowler in the game. Also it was of Ajmal's off-break that Zulqarnain Haider collected his maiden international stumping.

Saeed Ajmal also said in an interview that he had learned the doosra on his own and that the rated Saqlain Mushtaq as the best off-spinner ever and rated Muttiah Muralitharan in second-place. He also stated that Muralitharan was a very nice and down to earth person. Ajmal said that he planned to introduce a new delivery at the 2011 Cricket World Cup

Bowling

Test Cricket 5-wicket in an innings

{|class="wikitable" align="center" ! width="40"| !! width="50"|Figures !! width="50"|Match !! width="100"|Against !! width="150"|City/Country !! width="200"|Venue !! width="50"|Year |- | 1 || 5/82 || 6 || || Birmingham, England || Edgbaston || 2010 |- |}

Test Cricket International Fifties

{|class="wikitable" style="font-size: 100%" align="center" width:"100%"

!colspan=7|Test Half Centuries of Saeed Ajmal |- ! width="40"|# !! width="50"|Runs !! width="50"|Match !! width="100"|Against !! width="150"|City/Country !! width="200"|Venue !! width="50"|Year |- | [1] || 50 || 6 || || Birmingham, England || Edgbaston || 2010 |- |}

References

External links

Category:1977 births Category:Living people Category:People from Faisalabad Category:People from Faisalabad District Category:Pakistan Test cricketers Category:Pakistan One Day International cricketers Category:Pakistan Twenty20 International cricketers Category:Faisalabad cricketers Category:Islamabad cricketers Category:Khan Research Labs cricketers Category:Water and Power Development Authority cricketers

Playername	Muttiah Muralitharan මුත්තයියා මුරලිදරන් முத்தையா முரளிதரன்
Country	Sri Lanka
Fullname	Muttiah Muralitharan
Nickname	Murali, Spinning genius,
Living	true
Dayofbirth	17
Monthofbirth	4
Yearofbirth	1972
Placeofbirth	Kandy
Countryofbirth	Sri Lanka
Citizenship	Dual - Srilanka & India
Batting	Right-handed
Bowling	Right-arm off break
Role	Bowler, Sri Lanka vice captain
International	true
Testdebutdate	28 August
Testdebutyear	1992
Testdebutagainst	Australia
Testcap	54
Lasttestdate	18 July
Lasttestyear	2010
Lasttestagainst	India|
Odidebutdate	12 August
Odidebutyear	1993
Odidebutagainst	India
Odicap	70
Lastodidate	25 September
Lastodiyear	2009
Lastodiagainst	England
Odishirt	08
Club1	Tamil Union
Year1	1991–present
Club2	Lancashire
Year2	1999, 2001, 2005 and 2007
Club3	Kent
Year3	2003
Club4	Chennai Super Kings
Year4	2008 - 2010
Club5	Kochi IPL Team
Year5	2011–present
Deliveries	balls
Columns	4
Column1	Tests
Matches1	133
Runs1	1,256
Bat avg1	11.62
100s/50s1	0/1
Top score1	67
Deliveries1	43,669
Wickets1	800
Bowl avg1	22.72
Fivefor1	67
Tenfor1	22
Best bowling1	9/51
Catches/stumpings1	72/–
Column2	ODI
Matches2	337
Runs2	660
Bat avg2	6.80
100s/50s2	0/0
Top score2	33*
Deliveries2	18,169
Wickets2	515
Bowl avg2	23.07
Fivefor2	10
Tenfor2	n/a
Best bowling2	7/30
Catches/stumpings2	128/–
Column3	FC
Matches3	231
Runs3	2,187
Bat avg3	11.33
100s/50s3	0/1
Top score3	67
Deliveries3	66,563
Wickets3	1,366
Bowl avg3	19.62
Fivefor3	118
Tenfor3	34
Best bowling3	9/51
Catches/stumpings3	123/–
Column4	LA
Matches4	425
Runs4	918
Bat avg4	7.40
100s/50s4	0/0
Top score4	33*
Deliveries4	22,365
Wickets4	641
Bowl avg4	22.33
Fivefor4	12
Tenfor4	n/a
Best bowling4	7/30
Catches/stumpings4	151/–
Date	22 July
Year	2010
Source	http://www.cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/2/2040/2040.html CricketArchive

Muttiah Muralitharan (, , born 1972), often referred to as Murali, is a Sri Lankan cricketer, who was rated the greatest Test match bowler ever by Wisden Cricketers' Almanack in 2002. He retired from Test cricket in 2010, registering his 800th and final wicket on 22 July 2010 from his final ball in his last test match.

Muralitharan is the highest wicket-taker in both Test cricket and in One Day Internationals (ODIs). He took the wicket of Gautam Gambhir on 2009 in Colombo to surpass Wasim Akram's ODI record of 502 wickets. Muralitharan became the highest wicket-taker in Test cricket when he overtook the previous record-holder Shane Warne on 2007. Muralitharan had previously held the record when he surpassed Courtney Walsh's 519 wickets in 2004, but he suffered a shoulder injury later that year and was then overtaken by Warne.

Averaging over six wickets per Test, Muralitharan was one of the most successful bowlers in the game. Muralitharan held the number one spot in the International Cricket Council’s player rankings for Test bowlers for a record period of 1,711 days spanning 214 Test matches.

He plays domestic cricket for the Tamil Union Cricket and Athletic Club and was with the Chennai Super Kings till the 2010 season of the Indian Premier League. The debutant Kochi franchise successfully bid for Murali for the 2011 season.

Muralitharan's career has been beset with controversy; his bowling action called into question on a number of occasions by umpires and sections of the cricket community. After biomechanical analysis under simulated playing conditions, Muralitharan's action was cleared by the International Cricket Council, first in 1996 and again in 1999. Muralitharan had not commenced bowling the doosra at this time. The legality of his doosra was first called into question in 2004. This delivery was found to exceed the ICC elbow extension limit by nine degrees, five degrees being the limit for spinners at that time. Based on official studies into bowling actions, which revealed that 99% of all bowlers exceed the elbow flexion limits, ICC revised the limits applying to all bowlers in 2005. Muralitharan's doosra falls within the revised limits.

In February 2009, after becoming cricket's highest wicket-taker in both forms of the game Muttiah Muralitharan hinted that he may retire at the conclusion of the 2011 World Cup. He stated "I think I am fit in my body and mind, I am enjoying my cricket and want to play more. But after the next World Cup, I will have nothing left to achieve in the game. The World Cup should mark the end of my career." Muralitharan announced his retirement from Test cricket after the first Test against India at Galle which commenced on 2010. During that match he captured 8 wickets and became the first to reach the milestone of taking 800 Test wickets by dismissing Pragyan Ojha.

Early years and personal life

Muttiah Muralitharan is the first and only Tamil of Indian origin to represent Sri Lanka in international cricket. He holds Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) and he does not need a visa for travelling to India. According to his manager Kushil Gunasekera Muralitharan qualifies to secure this status because of his family originates from India.

Muralitharan's paternal grandfather Periyasamy Sinasamy came from South India to work in the tea plantations of central Sri Lanka in 1920. Muralitharans belong to the Kongu Vellalar caste which is the caste majority of people from the north-western part of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Sinasamy later returned to the country of his birth with his daughters and settled in Tiruchirapalli, Tamil Nadu, India. However his sons, including Muralitharan's father Muttiah, remained in Sri Lanka.

Muralitharan was born in the village of Nattarampotha in Kundasale (near Kandy), the eldest of the four sons to Sinnasamy Muttiah and Lakshmi. Muralitharan's father Sinnasamy Muttiah, runs a successful biscuit-making business.

When he was nine years old Muralitharan was sent to St. Anthony's College, Kandy, a private school run by Benedictine monks. He began his cricketing career as a medium pace bowler but on the advice of his school coach, Sunil Fernando, he took up off-spin when he was fourteen years old. He soon impressed and went on to play for four years in the school First XI. In those days he played as an all-rounder and batted in the middle order. In his final two seasons at St Anthony's College he took over one hundred wickets and in 1990/1 was named as the 'Bata Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year'.

After leaving school he joined Tamil Union Cricket and Athletic Club and was selected for the Sri Lanka A tour of England in 1991. He played in five games but failed to capture a single wicket. On his return to Sri Lanka he impressed against Allan Border's Australian team in a practice game and then went on to make his Test debut at R. Premadasa Stadium in the Second Test Match of the series.

When his grandfather died at the age of 104 in July 2004, Muralitharan returned home from a tour of India to attend his funeral. Periyasamy Sinasamy's first wish to see Muralitharan claiming the world record for the most Test wickets was realised (passing the record set by Courtney Walsh), but not his desire to live to see his grandson married. Muralitharan's grandmother had died one month earlier at the age of 97. Muralitharan's manager, Kushil Gunasekera stated that "Murali's family is closely knit and united. They respect traditional values. The late grandfather enjoyed a great relationship with Murali."

Muralitharan married Madhimalar Ramamurthy, a Chennai girl, on 2005. Madhimalar is the daughter of late Dr S. Ramamurthy of Malar Hospitals, and his wife Dr Nithya Ramamurthy. Their first child, Naren, was born in January 2006.

Spelling and meaning of name

Even though his name has been widely romanised as Muralitharan since the commencement of his career, the cricketer himself prefers to romanise his name as Muralidaran. The different spellings have arisen because the Tamil letter த can be pronounced as both 't' and 'd' depending on its place in a word. It is often transliterated as 'th' to distinguish it from another letter, ட, which is a retroflex 't' or 'd'. In 2007, when Cricket Australia decided to unveil the new Warne-Muralidaran Trophy, to be contested between Australia and Sri Lanka, Muralitharan was requested to clarify how his name should be spelt. Cricket Australia spokesman Peter Young confirmed that "the spelling he's given is Muralidaran".

The first day cover involving Muralitharan bears an official seal captioned as "The highest wicket taker in Test cricket, MUTHIAH MURALIDARAN, First Day of Issue 03.12.2007, Camp Post Office, Asgiriya International Cricket Stadium, Kandy".

The name Muralidaran means "the bearer of the flute", which is a synonym for Lord Krishna, a deity in Hinduism who is said to play upon his bamboo flute while looking after cattle.

Domestic cricket

In Sri Lanka

In domestic cricket, Muralitharan has played for two first-class Sri Lankan sides, Tamil Union Cricket and Athletic Club in the Premier Trophy and Central Province in the Provincial Championship. His record has been exceptional – 234 wickets at 14.51 runs in 46 matches.

In England

He has also played county cricket in England, mainly for Lancashire (1999, 2001, 2005 and 2007) where he appeared in twenty-eight first-class games for the club. He played five first class games for Kent during the 2003 season. His bowling record in English domestic cricket is also exceptional – 236 wickets at 15.62 runs in 33 matches. The Chennai Super Kings were the runners up in the inaugural edition of the IPL, losing to the Rajasthan Royals in the final. Muralitharan captured 11 wickets in 15 games, at an economy rate of 6.96 an over. In 2010, in the third season of IPL, Muralitharan was part of the Chennai Super Kings side that won the IPL championship. Muralitharan also remained the side's leading wicket-taker after all the three tournments.

At the 2011 IPL Player Auctions Muralitharan was brought by Team Kochi for $1.1 million USD.

Muralitharan, was contracted to represent Bengal in the 2008–09 Ranji Trophy tournament. He was expected to play about four matches in the tournament's second division – the Plate League.

International career

Bowling style and career progress

Muralitharan is the first wrist-spinning off-spinner in the history of the game. He bowls marathon spells, yet he is usually on the attack. His unique bowling action begins with an open-chested short run-up, and culminates with an extremely wristy release which had him mistaken for a leg-spinner early in his career by Allan Border. Aside from his off-break, his main deliveries are a fast topspinner which goes straight on, and the doosra, a surprise delivery which turns from leg to off (the opposite direction of his stock delivery) with no easily discernible change of action. His newest variation is a version of Shane Warne's slider, which is flicked out the side of his hand and rushes onto batsmen like a flipper. His super-flexible wrist makes him especially potent and guarantees him turn on any surface.

The youthful Muralitharan went from strength to strength, playing a major part in Sri Lanka's back-to-back Test victories against England and New Zealand in 1992–93. It was at this point in his career that he struck a close bond with his leader, mentor and one time business partner, the authoritative captain Arjuna Ranatunga. This relationship formed the bedrock of his success and meant that there were few doubts about his status as the team's sole wicket-taker. Ranatunga was thoroughly convinced that Muralitharan's precocious talent would signal a new era in Sri Lanka's short Test history.

The controversy bubbled on during the two-day long Australian innings. After being no-balled Muralitharan bowled a further 32 overs from umpire Steve Dunne's end without protest from either Dunne or Hair, at square leg. The Sri Lankan camp was outraged after the incident, but the ICC leapt to Hair's defence, outlining a list of steps they had taken in the past to determine, without result, the legitimacy of Muralitharan's action. By calling Muralitharan from the bowlers' end Hair overrode what is normally regarded as the authority of the square leg umpire in adjudicating on throwing. Dunne would have had to break convention to support his partner.

At the end of the match the Sri Lankans requested from the ICC permission to confer with Hair in order to find out exactly how to remedy the problem with their bowler. Despite the game's controlling body agreeing to it, the Australian Cricket Board vetoed it on the grounds that it might lead to umpires being quizzed by teams after every game and meant that the throwing controversy would continue into the World Series Cup during the coming week. The Sri Lankans were disappointed they did not get an explanation and decided they would continue playing their bowler in matches not umpired by Hair and wanted to know whether other umpires would support or reject Hair's judgement. the other wicket being a run out. Ben Hollioake becomes his 200th Test wicket. Sri Lanka won by ten wickets, their first Test victory in England. After breaking the world record for the most Test wickets in 2007, Muralitharan commented that his 1998 performance at the Oval against England, was his career highlight. He stated "Everyone thought I was a good bowler then and I didn't look back from there."

Playing his 58th Test, Muralitharan claimed his 300th Test wicket when he dismissed Shaun Pollock in the first Test in Durban, in December 2000. Only Dennis Lillee reached the milestone faster, in his 56th Test.

On 4 January 2002 in Kandy Muralitharan might have finished with the best-ever figures for a single innings, but after he had claimed nine wickets against Zimbabwe Russel Arnold dropped a catch at short leg.

On 16 March 2004 Muralitharan became the fastest and the youngest bowler to reach 500 wickets during the second Test between Sri Lanka and Australia played in Kandy. In his 87th Test, he bowled Kasprowicz to claim his 500th victim just four days after Warne reached the landmark on the fifth day of the first Test between the two teams at Galle. Warne took 108 Tests to reach 500. Muralitharan took 4–48 on the first day of the second Test as Australia were skittled for 120 in the first innings.

Passing Walsh and Warne

In May 2004, Muralitharan overtook West Indian Courtney Walsh's record of 519 Test match wickets to become the highest wicket-taker. Zimbabwe's Mluleki Nkala becomes Muralitharan's 520th scalp in Tests. Muralitharan held the record until Shane Warne claimed it in October 2004. Warne surpassed Sri Lankan Muttiah Muralitharan's mark of 532 wickets by dismissing India's Irfan Pathan. Warne said he enjoyed his duel with Muralitharan, who was sidelined following shoulder surgery at the time.

After an outstanding year Muralitharan was adjudged as the Wisden Leading Cricketer in the World in 2006. In six Tests, he took 60 wickets. He took ten in each of four successive matches, the second time he has performed such a feat. The opponents for his 60-wicket haul were England away, South Africa at home and New Zealand away: serious opposition. In all, Muralitharan took 90 wickets in 11 Tests in the calendar year.

In July 2007, Muttiah Muralitharan become the second bowler after Australia's Shane Warne to capture 700 Test wickets. The off-spinner reached the landmark when he had Bangladesh's last man Syed Rasel caught in the deep by Farveez Maharoof on the fourth day of the third and final Test at the Asgiriya stadium in Kandy. The dismissal signalled Sri Lanka's victory by an innings and 193 runs to give the host a 3–0 sweep of the series. Muralitharan finished with six wickets in each innings to claim 10 wickets or more in a Test for the 20th time. However, he was unable to pass Warne's record of 708 wickets when Sri Lanka toured Australia in November 2007, capturing just four wickets in two Test matches.

Muralitharan reclaimed the record for most Test wickets during the first Test against England at Kandy on 2007. The spinner bowled England's Paul Collingwood to claim his 709th Test victim and overtaking Shane Warne in the process. Warne believed that Muralitharan would take "1,000 wickets" before he retired. Former record holder Courtney Walsh also opined that this would be possible if Muralitharan retained his hunger for wickets. Muralitharan himself believed there was a possibility that he would reach this milestone.

Beyond the world record

In July 2008, Muralitharan and Ajantha Mendis made a mockery of India's strong batting reputation as Sri Lanka won the first Test by a record innings and 239 runs in Colombo. Muralitharan finished the match with 11 wickets for 110, as India were shot out for 138 in their second innings after conceding a lead of 377 on the fourth day. He was well supported by debutant Ajantha Mendis, an unorthodox spinner with plenty of variation, who took eight wickets in his debut match.

Muralitharan believed the emergence of Mendis would help prolong his own career. Muralitharan, 36, and 23-year-old Mendis formed a formidable partnership in the first Test thrashing of India, taking 19 of the 20 wickets between them. "If he keeps performing this way, he will definitely take a lot of wickets in international cricket. Now that he has come, I think I can play Test cricket a few more years. Bowling 50 overs in a Test innings is very hard. Now if I bowl only 30–35 and he bowls more than me, the job will get easier for me."

Performance analysis

{|class="wikitable collapsible" style="width:42em; text-align:center; float:right; margin-left:1em;" |- !colspan="12" style="white-space:nowrap; text-align:left;"|Table: Test bowling performance |- |colspan="12" style="font-size:90%; text-align:left;"|A Summary of Muralitharan's Test bowling performance against all opponents. |- !style="text-align:left;"|Versus!!M!!O!!M!!R!!W!!5w!!10w!!Best!!Avg!!S/R!!E/R |- |style="text-align:left;"|Australia||13*||685.3||100||2128||59||5||1||6 for 59||36.07||69.7||3.1 |- |style="text-align:left;"|Bangladesh||11||452.0||114||1190||89||11||4||6 for 18||13.37||30.4||2.6 |- |style="text-align:left;"|England||16||1102.1||348||2247||112||8||4||9 for 65||20.06||59.0||2.0 |- |style="text-align:left;"|India||22||1125.2||215||3297||105||7||2||8 for 87||32.32||66.1||2.9 |- |style="text-align:left;"|New Zealand||14||753.2||203||1776||82||5||1||6 for 87||21.53||55.1||2.3 |- |style="text-align:left;"|Pakistan||16||782.5||184||2027||80||5||1||6 for 71||25.46||58.7||2.6 |- |style="text-align:left;"|South Africa||15||984.4||221||2311||104||11||4||7 for 84||22.22||56.8||2.3 |- |style="text-align:left;"|West Indies||12||622.3||143||1609||82||9||3||8 for 46||19.62||45.5||2.6 |- |style="text-align:left;"|Zimbabwe||14||786.5||259||1467||87||6||2||9 for 51||16.86||54.2||1.9 |-style="font-weight:bold" |style="text-align:left;"|Overall (9)||133||7339.5||1794||18180||800||67||22||9 for 51||22.72||55.0||2.5 |- |style="text-align:left;" colspan="12"| Source: Cricinfo *Including one for an ICC World XI |}

In July 2007, Muralitharan achieved a career peak Test Bowling Rating of 920, based on the LG ICC Player Rankings. This is the highest ever rating achieved by a spin bowler in Test cricket. This also puts him in fourth place in the LG ICC Best-Ever Test bowling ratings.

Muralitharan has the unique distinction of getting 10 or more wickets in a match against all other nine Test playing nations as well as capturing over 50 wickets against each of them. He has also obtained 7 or more wickets in an innings against five nations, namely England, India, South Africa, West Indies and Zimbabwe (refer to table above). Muttiah Muralitharan also took at least five five-fors against all the other nine Test sides.The only country in which he failed to take a five-for was Australia, where his best innings analysis in five Tests was 3 for 55.

He currently holds the highest wickets/match ratio (6.1) for any bowler with over 200 Test wickets and has also represented Sri Lanka in 118 Tests of the 175 that they have played (67.4%).

Against teams excluding Bangladesh and Zimbabwe, Muralitharan took 624 wickets in 108 Tests. By comparison, excluding his matches against Bangladesh and Zimbabwe, Warne took 691 wickets in 142 tests. Murali's average of 24.05 is slightly superior to Warne's career average of 25.41. Muralitharan won 18 Man of the Match awards in Test cricket.

During Muralitharan's playing days, the ICC Future Tours Programme denied Sri Lanka and several other teams a level playing field. As a consequence Muralitharan never toured South Africa after December 2002 and never playing a Test at the spin-friendly Sydney Cricket Ground.

Another comparison of Muralitharan's bowling record against other successful international bowlers is their career record away from home. Muralitharan has received criticism that he has enjoyed great success on home soil, taking wickets on pitches that are more spin-friendly than other international pitches. A quick analysis of his Test record of matches played outside Sri Lanka shows that from 52 matches he has taken 278 wickets at an average of 26.24 runs per wicket, with a strike rate of 60.1 balls per wicket. Similarly, spin bowling rival Shane Warne retired with a slightly superior 'away' record of 362 wickets from 73 matches, at an average of 25.50 and a strike rate of 56.7. Due to the variabilities of Test cricket such as grounds played at and opposition played against it is difficult to compare the quality of the top level players and, as such, is very difficult and subjective. However it is clear that Muralitharan did much better playing at home to test minnows Zimbabwe and Bangladesh, averaging less than 16 runs a wicket.

Cricinfo's statistics editor S Rajesh concluded that the decade 2000–2009 was the best 10-year period for Test batsmen since the 1940s. Muralitharan was clearly the leading Test wicket-taker during this period, capturing 565 wickets at 20.97 in spite of the dominance of the bat over ball. Shane Warne captured 357 wickets at an average of 25.17 during the decade. Of spinners with over Test 100 wickets only John Briggs (17.75), Jim Laker (21.24), Bill O Reilly (22.59) and Clarrie Grimmett (24.21) have sub 25.00 bowling averages.

Muralitharan was on the winning side on 54 of the 133 test matches he played. In those games he captured a total of 438 wickets (8.1 wickets per match), at an outstanding average of 16.18 per wicket and a strike rate of 42.7. Muralitharan took 795 wickets for his country Sri Lanka in 132 tests. The next most wickets for Sri Lanka in these 132 Tests was Chaminda Vaas' 309 - less than 40% of the spinner's pile. No one else managed 100. Collectively Sri Lankan bowlers tallied 1968 wickets across that span, of which Muralitharan accounted for 40.4%. Among the 24 other Sri Lankans who took more than 10 of those wickets, only Lasith Malinga did so at a better strike rate (52.3) than Muralitharan's 54.9 - and the latter bowled rather more overs, 6657.1 of them to be precise.

Test wicket milestones

{| class="wikitable sortable" border="0" |- ! Number ! Batsman ! Method ! Score ! Team ! Match # ! Test # ! Notes |- | 1st | Craig McDermott | lbw | 9 | Australia | 1 | 1195 | |- | 50th | Navjot Sidhu | caught Ruwan Kalpage | 43 | India | 13 | 1247 | |- | 74th | Inzamam-ul-Haq | caught and bowled | 26 | Pakistan | 20 | 1305 | Breaks Rumesh Ratnayake's Sri Lankan record |- | 100th | Stephen Fleming | bowled | 59 | New Zealand | 27 | 1359 | |- | 150th | Craig Wishart | lbw | 2 | Zimbabwe | 36 | 1395 | |- | 200th | Dominic Cork | caught Romesh Kaluwitharana | 8 | England | 42 | 1423 | |- | 250th | Naved Ashraf | lbw | 27 | Pakistan | 51 | 1489 | |- | 300th | Shaun Pollock | caught Tillakaratne Dilshan | 11 | South Africa | 58 | 1526 | |- | 350th | Mohammad Sharif | caught and bowled | 19 | Bangladesh | 66 | 1561 | |- | 400th | Henry Olonga | bowled | 0 | Zimbabwe | 72 | 1585 | |- | 450th | Daryl Tuffey | caught Sanath Jayasuriya | 1 | New Zealand | 80 | 1644 | |- | 500th | Michael Kasprowicz | bowled | 0 | Australia | 87 | 1688 | |- | 520th | Mluleki Nkala | caught Mahela Jayawardene | 24 | Zimbabwe | 89 | 1698 | Breaks Courtney Walsh's world record |- | 550th | Khaled Mashud | caught Thilan Samaraweera | 2 | Bangladesh | 94 | 1764 | |- | 600th | Khaled Mashud | caught Lasith Malinga | 6 | Bangladesh | 101 | 1786 | |- | 650th | Makhaya Ntini | caught Farveez Maharoof | 13 | South Africa | 108 | 1812 | |- | 700th | Syed Rasel | caught Farveez Maharoof | 4 | Bangladesh | 113 | 1839 | |- | 709th | Paul Collingwood | bowled | 45 | England | 116 | 1851 | Breaks Shane Warne's world record |- | 750th | Sourav Ganguly | stumped Prasanna Jayawardene | 16 | India | 122 | 1884 | |- | 800th | Pragyan Ojha | caught Mahela Jayawardene | 13 | India | 133 | 1964 |His final delivery in Test cricket |- |}

Five wickets in an innings

Muralitharan has taken five or more wickets in an innings on 67 occasions in Test cricket, which is a world record. In comparison Shane Warne who is in second place has performed the feat 37 times.

{|class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" style="width:38em; text-align:center; margin-left:auto; margin-right:auto;" |- !colspan="6" style="white-space:nowrap; text-align:left;"|Table: Five wickets in an innings |- |colspan="6" style="font-size:90%; text-align:left;"|A list of occasions Muralitharan has taken of five or more wickets in a Test Innings. |- !#!!Date!!Versus!!Ground!!Innings!!Bowling |- |1||25 August 1993||style="text-align:left;"|South Africa||style="text-align:left;"|De Soysa Park||1st||5 for 104 |- |2||6 September 1993||style="text-align:left;"|South Africa||style="text-align:left;"|Sinhalese Sports Gr||1st||5 for 101 |- |3||18 January 1994||style="text-align:left;"|India||style="text-align:left;"|K.D. Singh Stadium||1st||5 for 162 |- |4||11 March 1995||style="text-align:left;"|New Zealand||style="text-align:left;"|McLean Park||2nd||5 for 64 |- |5||15 September 1995||style="text-align:left;"|Pakistan||style="text-align:left;"|Iqbal Stadium||1st||5 for 68 |- |6||11 September 1996||style="text-align:left;"|Zimbabwe||style="text-align:left;"|Premadasa Stadium||2nd||5 for 33 |- |7||19 April 1997||style="text-align:left;"|Pakistan||style="text-align:left;"|Premadasa Stadium||1st||6 for 98 |- |8||13 June 1997||style="text-align:left;"|West Indies||style="text-align:left;"|Antigua Rec Ground||1st||5 for 34 |- |9||20 June 1997||style="text-align:left;"|West Indies||style="text-align:left;"|Amos Vale Ground||2nd||5 for 113 |- |10||7 January 1998||style="text-align:left;"|Zimbabwe||style="text-align:left;"|Asgiriya Stadium||1st||5 for 23 |- |11||7 January 1998||style="text-align:left;"|Zimbabwe||style="text-align:left;"|Asgiriya Stadium||2nd||7 for 94 |- |12||27 March 1998||style="text-align:left;"|South Africa||style="text-align:left;"|Supersport Park||1st||5 for 63 |- |13||27 May 1998||style="text-align:left;"|New Zealand||style="text-align:left;"|Premadasa Stadium||1st||5 for 90 |- |14||10 June 1998||style="text-align:left;"|New Zealand||style="text-align:left;"|Sinhalese Sports Gr||2nd||5 for 30 |- |15||27 August 1998||style="text-align:left;"|England||style="text-align:left;"|The Oval||1st||7 for 155 |- |16||27 August 1998||style="text-align:left;"|England||style="text-align:left;"|The Oval||2nd||9 for 65 |- |17||22 September 1999||style="text-align:left;"|Australia||style="text-align:left;"|Galle Stadium||1st||5 for 71 |- |18||5 March 2000||style="text-align:left;"|Pakistan||style="text-align:left;"|Arbab Niaz Stadium||2nd||6 for 71 |- |19||14 June 2000||style="text-align:left;"|Pakistan||style="text-align:left;"|Sinhalese Sports Gr||1st||5 for 115 |- |20||20 July 2000||style="text-align:left;"|South Africa||style="text-align:left;"|Galle Stadium||1st||6 for 87 |- |21||20 July 2000||style="text-align:left;"|South Africa||style="text-align:left;"|Galle Stadium||2nd||7 for 84 |- |22||6 August 2000||style="text-align:left;"|South Africa||style="text-align:left;"|Sinhalese Sports Gr||2nd||5 for 68 |- |23||26 December 2000||style="text-align:left;"|South Africa||style="text-align:left;"|Kingsmead||1st||5 for 122 |- |24||26 December 2000||style="text-align:left;"|South Africa||style="text-align:left;"|Kingsmead||2nd||6 for 39 |- |25||14 August 2001||style="text-align:left;"|India||style="text-align:left;"|Galle Stadium||2nd||5 for 49 |- |26||29 August 2001||style="text-align:left;"|India||style="text-align:left;"|Sinhalese Sports Gr||1st||8 for 87 |- |27||6 September 2001||style="text-align:left;"|Bangladesh||style="text-align:left;"|Sinhalese Sports Gr||1st||5 for 13 |- |28||6 September 2001||style="text-align:left;"|Bangladesh||style="text-align:left;"|Sinhalese Sports Gr||2nd||5 for 98 |- |29||13 November 2001||style="text-align:left;"|West Indies||style="text-align:left;"|Galle Stadium||1st||6 for 126 |- |30||13 November 2001||style="text-align:left;"|West Indies||style="text-align:left;"|Galle Stadium||2nd||5 for 44 |- |31||21 November 2001||style="text-align:left;"|West Indies||style="text-align:left;"|Asgiriya Stadium||2nd||6 for 81 |- |32||4 January 2002||style="text-align:left;"|Zimbabwe||style="text-align:left;"|Asgiriya Stadium||1st||9 for 51 |- |33||12 January 2002||style="text-align:left;"|Zimbabwe||style="text-align:left;"|Galle Stadium||1st||5 for 67 |- |34||30 May 2002||style="text-align:left;"|England||style="text-align:left;"|Edgbaston||1st||5 for 143 |- |35||21 July 2002||style="text-align:left;"|Bangladesh||style="text-align:left;"|P Saravanamuttu Stad||1st||5 for 39 |- |36||21 July 2002||style="text-align:left;"|Bangladesh||style="text-align:left;"|P Saravanamuttu Stad||2nd||5 for 59 |- |37||3 May 2003||style="text-align:left;"|New Zealand||style="text-align:left;"|Asgiriya Stadium||2nd||5 for 49 |- |38||20 June 2003||style="text-align:left;"|West Indies||style="text-align:left;"|Beausejour Stadium||1st||5 for 138 |- |39||2 December 2003||style="text-align:left;"|England||style="text-align:left;"|Galle Stadium||1st||7 for 46 |- |40||8 March 2004||style="text-align:left;"|Australia||style="text-align:left;"|Galle Stadium||1st||6 for 59 |- |41||8 March 2004||style="text-align:left;"|Australia||style="text-align:left;"|Galle Stadium||2nd||5 for 153 |- |42||16 March 2004||style="text-align:left;"|Australia||style="text-align:left;"|Asgiriya Stadium||2nd||5 for 173 |- |43||24 March 2004||style="text-align:left;"|Australia||style="text-align:left;"|Sinhalese Sports Gr||1st||5 for 123 |- |44||6 May 2004||style="text-align:left;"|Zimbabwe||style="text-align:left;"|Harare Sports Club||1st||6 for 45 |- |45||13 July 2005||style="text-align:left;"|West Indies||style="text-align:left;"|Sinhalese Sports Gr||2nd||6 for 36 |- |46||22 July 2005||style="text-align:left;"|West Indies||style="text-align:left;"|Asgiriya Stadium||2nd||8 for 46 |- |47||12 September 2005||style="text-align:left;"|Bangladesh||style="text-align:left;"|Premadasa Stadium||2nd||6 for 18 |- |48||10 December 2005||style="text-align:left;"|India||style="text-align:left;"|Feroz Shah Kotla||1st||7 for 100 |- |49||28 February 2006||style="text-align:left;"|Bangladesh||style="text-align:left;"|Chittagong Div. Stad||2nd||6 for 54 |- |50||8 March 2006||style="text-align:left;"|Bangladesh||style="text-align:left;"|Shaheed Chandu Stad.||1st||5 for 79 |- |51||3 April 2006||style="text-align:left;"|Pakistan||style="text-align:left;"|Asgiriya Stadium||1st||5 for 39 |- |52||25 May 2006||style="text-align:left;"|England||style="text-align:left;"|Edgbaston||1st||6 for 86 |- |53||2 June 2006||style="text-align:left;"|England||style="text-align:left;"|Trent Bridge||2nd||8 for 70 |- |54||27 July 2006||style="text-align:left;"|South Africa||style="text-align:left;"|Sinhalese Sports Gr||2nd||6 for 131 |- |55||4 August 2006||style="text-align:left;"|South Africa||style="text-align:left;"|P Saravanamuttu Stad||1st||5 for 128 |- |56||4 August 2006||style="text-align:left;"|South Africa||style="text-align:left;"|P Saravanamuttu Stad||2nd||7 for 97 |- |57||15 December 2006||style="text-align:left;"|New Zealand||style="text-align:left;"|Basin Reserve||2nd||6 for 87 |- |58||25 June 2007||style="text-align:left;"|Bangladesh||style="text-align:left;"|Sinhalese Sports Gr||1st||5 for 15 |- |59||11 July 2007||style="text-align:left;"|Bangladesh||style="text-align:left;"|Asgiriya Stadium||1st||6 for 28 |- |60||11 July 2007||style="text-align:left;"|Bangladesh||style="text-align:left;"|Asgiriya Stadium||2nd||6 for 54 |- |61||1 December 2007||style="text-align:left;"|England||style="text-align:left;"|Asgiriya Stadium||1st||6 for 55 |- |62||9 December 2007||style="text-align:left;"|England||style="text-align:left;"|Sinhalese Sports Gr||1st||5 for 116 |- |63||3 April 2008||style="text-align:left;"|West Indies||style="text-align:left;"|Queen's Park||1st||5 for 79 |- |64||23 July 2008||style="text-align:left;"|India||style="text-align:left;"|Sinhalese Sports Gr||1st||5 for 84 |- |65||23 July 2008||style="text-align:left;"|India||style="text-align:left;"|Sinhalese Sports Gr||2nd||6 for 26 |- |66||26 December 2008||style="text-align:left;"|Bangladesh||style="text-align:left;"|Shere Bangla Stadium||1st||6 for 49 |- |67||21 July 2010||style="text-align:left;"|India||style="text-align:left;"|Galle International Stadium||1st||5 for 63 |}

One day internationals

Career summary

On 12 August 1993 Muralitharan made his One Day International (ODI) debut against India at the Khettarama Stadium and took 1 for 38 off ten overs. Praveen Amre was his first ODI wicket.

On 27 October 2000 in Sharjah, Muralitharan captured 7 for 30 against India, which were then the best bowling figures in One Day Internationals.

In 9 April 2002 Muralitharan achieved a career peak ODI Bowling Rating of 913, based on the LG ICC Player Rankings. This is the highest ever rating achieved by a spin bowler in One Day Internationals. This also puts him in fourth place in the LG ICC Best-Ever ODI bowling ratings.

In 2006, Muralitharan had the second (now third) highest number of runs (99) hit off him in a One Day International Innings. The Australians, especially Adam Gilchrist, attacked Muralitharan's bowling more than usual that day. It is also to be noted that Muralitharan does not have a great record against the Australians in ODIs and this was proved again as he was ineffective in the finals of the 2007 World Cup; his chief tormentor again being Gilchrist.

Muralitharan has played in four Cricket World Cup tournaments, in 1996, 1999, 2003 and 2007. He has captured 53 World Cup wickets in 31 matches, and has represented Sri Lanka in two World Cup finals. In 1996 Muralitharan was part Sri Lanka's World Cup winning team that defeated Australia in Lahore, Pakistan. Muralitharan also played in the 2007 World Cup final, when Australia defeated Sri Lanka in Bridgetown, Barbados. He picked up 23 wickets in the 2007 World Cup, and finished as the second highest wicket taker in the tournament behind Glenn McGrath.

Muttiah Muralitharan was left out of the Sri Lankan one-day squad to tour West Indies in April 2008. The chairman of selectors Ashantha De Mel clarifying the non-selection stated that "We know he (Muralitharan) can still play in the next World Cup if he is properly looked after, so we want to use him sparingly to preserve him for the big games and the World Cup coming up in the Asian sub-continent where Muralitharan will be a threat."

Muralitharan has the highest number of career wickets in One Day Internationals, having overtaken Wasim Akram on 2009. Akram took 502 wickets in 356 matches. On 2009, Muralitharan dismissed Yuvraj Singh in his 327th match, the third ODI against India in Colombo to equal Akram's record. He has won 13 Man of the Match awards in this form of the game.

Best bowling performances

{|class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" style="width:33em; text-align:center; margin-left:auto; margin-right:auto;" |- !colspan="4" style="white-space:nowrap; text-align:left;"|Table: Best ODI bowling performances |- |colspan="4" style="font-size:90%; text-align:left;"|Muralitharan's best ODI bowling performances – A list of four or more wickets in a match |- !Date!!Versus!!Ground!!Wkts |- |6 April 1995||style="text-align:left;"|Bangladesh||style="text-align:left;"|Sharjah Stadium||4 for 23 |- |28 September 1996||style="text-align:left;"|Kenya||style="text-align:left;"|Gymkhana Club Ground||4 for 18 |- |1 October 1996||style="text-align:left;"|South Africa||style="text-align:left;"|Nairobi Club Ground||4 for 35 |- |15 April 1998||style="text-align:left;"|Pakistan||style="text-align:left;"|Willowmoore Park||5 for 23 |- |20 August 1998||style="text-align:left;"|England||style="text-align:left;"|Lord's||5 for 34 |- |15 December 1999||style="text-align:left;"|Zimbabwe||style="text-align:left;"|Harare Sports Club||4 for 16 |- |14 July 2000||style="text-align:left;"|South Africa||style="text-align:left;"|Premadasa Stadium||5 for 44 |- |27 October 2000||style="text-align:left;"|India||style="text-align:left;"|Sharjah Stadium||7 for 30 |- |31 January 2001||style="text-align:left;"|New Zealand||style="text-align:left;"|McLean Park||5 for 30 |- |23 March 2001||style="text-align:left;"|England||style="text-align:left;"|Rangiri Dambulla Std||4 for 29 |- |12 December 2001||style="text-align:left;"|Zimbabwe||style="text-align:left;"|Premadasa Stadium||4 for 32 |- |9 April 2002||style="text-align:left;"|New Zealand||style="text-align:left;"|Sharjah Stadium||5 for 9 |- |16 September 2002||style="text-align:left;"|Netherlands||style="text-align:left;"|Premadasa Stadium||4 for 15 |- |15 January 2003||style="text-align:left;"|Australia||style="text-align:left;"|Brisbane Cricket Gr||4 for 27 |- |24 February 2003||style="text-align:left;"|Kenya||style="text-align:left;"|Gymkhana Club Ground||4 for 28 |- |18 May 2003||style="text-align:left;"|Pakistan||style="text-align:left;"|Rangiri Dambulla Std||5 for 23 |- |22 April 2004||style="text-align:left;"|Zimbabwe||style="text-align:left;"|Queens Sports Club||4 for 32 |- |29 April 2004||style="text-align:left;"|Zimbabwe||style="text-align:left;"|Harare Sports Club||5 for 23 |- |20 October 2006||style="text-align:left;"|New Zealand||style="text-align:left;"|Brabourne Stadium||4 for 23 |- |18 April 2007||style="text-align:left;"|Ireland||style="text-align:left;"|Queen's Park (New)||4 for 19 |- |24 April 2007||style="text-align:left;"|New Zealand||style="text-align:left;"|Sabina Park||4 for 31 |- |30 June 2008||style="text-align:left;"|Bangladesh||style="text-align:left;"|National Stadium||5 for 31 |- |20 November 2008||style="text-align:left;"|Zimbabwe||style="text-align:left;"|Harare Sports Club||4 for 14 |- |30 November 2008||style="text-align:left;"|Zimbabwe||style="text-align:left;"|Harare Sports Club||5 for 29 |}

Batting

An aggressive lower order batsman who usually bats at No. 11, Muralitharan is known for his tendency to back away to leg and slog. Sometimes, he can be troublesome for bowlers because of his unorthodox and adventurous batting ways. Once, in a Test match against England, while playing Alex Tudor, he moved back towards his leg stump trying to hook the ball and ended up lying on the ground sideways after the shot. He was infamously run out in a match against New Zealand when he left his crease to congratulate Kumar Sangakkara, who had just scored a single to reach his century; the New Zealand fielder had not yet returned the ball to the wicketkeeper, so the ball was still in play. His highest Test score of 67 came against India at Kandy in 2001, including three sixes and five fours. He has made valuable scores on occasion, including 30 runs against England at the Oval in 1998, including 5 fours, 38 runs (4 fours, 1 six) against England at Galle in 2003, 43 runs (5 fours, 3 sixes) against Australia at Kandy in 2004 36 runs against the West Indies at Colombo in 2005, and his highest-ever ODI score, 33 not out (4 fours and 2 sixes off 16 balls) against Bangladesh in the final of the 2009 Tri-Series in Bangladesh. In the latter match, Muralitharan's effort, which included three fours and a six off one over, played a key role in Sri Lanka winning the match and series after the first eight overs saw them reduced to 6 for 5, the lowest score ever recorded in an ODI at the fall of the fifth wicket. Muralitharan has a strike rate close to 70 in Test cricket and has scored over 55% of his Test runs in fours and sixes. Muralitharan also holds the record for scoring most runs in Test cricket while batting at the number 11 position.

Muralitharan currently holds the record for the most ducks (dismissals for zero) ever in international cricket (Tests, ODI's and Twenty20), with a total of 59 ducks.

Abuse in Australia

against Australia at Brisbane in early 2006]] Muralitharan has voiced his frustration at routinely being heckled by Australian crowds who accuse him of throwing – one common jeer directed at him was "No Ball!". Following the then Australian Prime Minister John Howard's statement that Muralitharan was a "chucker", in 2004, Muralitharan indicated that he would skip future tours to Australia.

Tom Moody, the former Sri Lanka coach and former Australian Test cricketer, said he was embarrassed by the derogatory reaction and negative attention directed towards Muttiah Muralitharan by Australian crowds. Moody stated that "As an Australian when I have been with the Sri Lankan team in Australia, or playing against them in the World Cup, it's the only situation we find in the whole of the cricketing world where we have this disgraceful slant on a cricketer".

During the 2008 CB series in Australia, some members of the Sri Lankan contingent including Muralitharan, were the target of an egg throwing incident in Hobart. The Sri Lankan cricket selector Don Anurasiri was hit by an egg, while Muralitharan and two others were verbally abused by a car-load of people as they were walking from a restaurant back to the hotel. Due to the incident taking place at night, it is unclear whether Muralitharan was indeed the target of the culprits. Even though the Australian coach of the Sri Lankan team, Trevor Bayliss, down-played the incident as "a non-event", Cricket Australia tightened security around the team. In response to this episode Muralitharan was quoted as saying "When you come to Australia, you expect such incidents".

At the conclusion of Muralitharan's test career cricket writer Rahul Bhattacharya summed up Muralitharan's trials thus: "Murali is described often as a fox. This seems right. Unlike hedgehog bowlers who pursue one big idea, Murali, like a fox, had many ways of pursuit. Like a fox he did not hunt in a pack. Like a fox he was himself cruelly hunted for sport in some parts of the world. Fox hunting was banned a few years ago in England, but is still legal in Australia."

Retirement

On 7 July 2010, Muttiah Muralitharan formally announced his retirement from Test cricket at a media briefing in Colombo. He confirmed that the first Test Match against India due to commence on , 2010 would be his last, but indicated that he was willing to play One-Day Internationals if it was considered necessary leading up to the 2011 World Cup, which Sri Lanka will co-host. He identified Sri Lanka's World Cup win of 1996 as his greatest moment as a cricketer. He also stated that there were some regrets during his 19 year playing career. "Not winning Test Matches in South Africa, Australia and India are regrets. But I am sure we will win very soon." At the fall of the ninth wicket of the Indian's second innings Muralitharan still needed one wicket to reach the milestone. After 90 minutes of resistance Muralitharan was able to dismiss the last Indian batsman Pragyan Ojha on the last delivery of the over and his Test career. By doing so he became the first bowler to reach 800 wickets in Test cricket.

World records and achievements

Muttiah Muralitharan holds a number of world records, and several firsts: The most Test wickets (800 wickets as of 2010). The most One-Day International wickets (515 wickets as of 2010). The highest number of international wickets in Tests, ODIs and T20s combined (1320 wickets as of 2010). The most 5-wicket hauls in an innings at Test level (67). Fastest to 350, 400, 450, 500, 550, 600, 650, 700, 750 and 800 Test wickets, in terms of matches played (indeed the only bowler to exceed 708 wickets). Only player to take 10 wickets in a Test in four consecutive matches. He has achieved this feat twice. Only player to take 50 or more wickets against every Test playing nation.

Muralitharan and Jim Laker (England), are the only bowlers to have taken 9 wickets in a Test innings twice.

7 wickets in an innings against the most countries (5). Most Test wickets taken bowled (157), stumped (41) and caught & bowled (31). Bowled by Muralitharan (b Muralitharan) is the most common dismissal in Test cricket (excluding run out). Most successful bowler/fielder (non-wicket keeper) combination – c. Mahela Jayawardene b. Muttiah Muralitharan (67). Most Man of the Series awards in Test cricket (11). One of only six bowlers who have dismissed all the eleven batsmen in a Test match. Jim Laker, Srinivasaraghavan Venkataraghavan, Geoff Dymock, Abdul Qadir and Waqar Younis are the others. Most Test wickets in a single ground. Muralitharan is the only bowler to capture 100-plus Test wickets at three venues, the Sinhalese Sports Club Ground in Colombo, the Asgiriya Stadium in Kandy and the Galle International Stadium in Galle.

The only bowler to take 75 or more wickets in a calendar year on three occasions, achieving it in 2000, 2001 and 2006.

Most ducks (dismissals for zero) ever in international cricket (Tests+ODI's+Twenty20): 59 ducks total. |- !#!!Date!!Versus!!Ground!!Inns!!Batting!!Bowling!!Catches |- |rowspan="2"|1||rowspan="2"|15 September 1995||rowspan="2" style="text-align:left;"|Pakistan||rowspan="2" style="text-align:left;"|Iqbal Stadium||1st||*8||5 for 68||0 |- |2nd||*10||2 for 83||2 |- |rowspan="2"|2||rowspan="2"|7 January 1998||rowspan="2" style="text-align:left;"|Zimbabwe||rowspan="2" style="text-align:left;"|Asgiriya Stadium||1st||17||5 for 23||0 |- |2nd||DNB||7 for 94||0 |- |rowspan="2"|3||rowspan="2"|27 August 1998||rowspan="2" style="text-align:left;"|England||rowspan="2" style="text-align:left;"|The Oval||1st||30||7 for 155||1 |- |2nd||DNB||9 for 65||0 |- |rowspan="2"|4||rowspan="2"|5 March 2000||rowspan="2" style="text-align:left;"|Pakistan||rowspan="2" style="text-align:left;"|Arbab Niaz Stadium||1st||22||4 for 77||1 |- |2nd||*2||6 for 71||0 |- |rowspan="2"|5||rowspan="2"|20 July 2000||rowspan="2" style="text-align:left;"|South Africa||rowspan="2" style="text-align:left;"|Galle Stadium||1st||*2||6 for 87||0 |- |2nd||DNB||7 for 84||1 |- |rowspan="2"|6||rowspan="2"|6 August 2000||rowspan="2" style="text-align:left;"|South Africa||rowspan="2" style="text-align:left;"|Sinhalese Sports Gr||1st||*0||3 for 70||0 |- |2nd||DNB||6 for 68||0 |- |rowspan="2"|7||rowspan="2"|29 August 2001||rowspan="2" style="text-align:left;"|India||rowspan="2" style="text-align:left;"|Sinhalese Sports Gr||1st||DNB||8 for 87||0 |- |2nd||DNB||3 for 109||0 |- |rowspan="2"|8||rowspan="2"|6 September 2001||rowspan="2" style="text-align:left;"|Bangladesh||rowspan="2" style="text-align:left;"|Sinhalese Sports Gr||1st||DNB||5 for 13||0 |- |2nd|| DNB||5 for 98||1 |- |rowspan="2"|9||rowspan="2"|13 November 2001||rowspan="2" style="text-align:left;"|West Indies||rowspan="2" style="text-align:left;"|Galle Stadium||1st||14||6 for 126||1 |- |2nd||DNB||5 for 44||2 |- |rowspan="2"|10||rowspan="2"|21 November 2001||rowspan="2" style="text-align:left;"|West Indies||rowspan="2" style="text-align:left;"|Asgiriya Stadium||1st||4||4 for 54||0 |- |2nd||DNB||6 for 81||0 |- |rowspan="2"|11||rowspan="2"|4 January 2002||rowspan="2" style="text-align:left;"|Zimbabwe||rowspan="2" style="text-align:left;"|Asgiriya Stadium||1st||1||9 for 51||0 |- |2nd||DNB||4 for 64||0 |- |rowspan="2"|12||rowspan="2"|21 July 2002||rowspan="2" style="text-align:left;"|Bangladesh||rowspan="2" style="text-align:left;"|P Saravanamuttu Stad||1st||0||5 for 39||0 |- |2nd||DNB||5 for 59||0 |- |rowspan="2"|13||rowspan="2"|2 December 2003||rowspan="2" style="text-align:left;"|England||rowspan="2" style="text-align:left;"|Galle Stadium||1st||38||7 for 46||0 |- |2nd||13||4 for 47||0 |- |rowspan="2"|14||rowspan="2"| 2004||rowspan="2" style="text-align:left;"|Zimbabwe||rowspan="2" style="text-align:left;"|Harare Sports Club||1st||26||6 for 45||1 |- |2nd||DNB||2 for 37||2 |- |rowspan="2"|15||rowspan="2"|12 September 2005||rowspan="2" style="text-align:left;"|Bangladesh||rowspan="2" style="text-align:left;"|Premadasa Stadium||1st||3||3 for 42||0 |- |2nd||DNB||6 for 18||0 |- |rowspan="2"|16||rowspan="2"|2 June 2006||rowspan="2" style="text-align:left;"|England||rowspan="2" style="text-align:left;"|Trent Bridge||1st||33||3 for 62||0 |- |2nd||2||8 for 70||0 |- |rowspan="2"|17||rowspan="2"|25 June 2007||rowspan="2" style="text-align:left;"|Bangladesh||rowspan="2" style="text-align:left;"|Sinhalese Sports Gr||1st||DNB||5 for 15||1 |- |2nd||DNB||4 for 87||1 |- |rowspan="2"|18||rowspan="2"|11 July 2007||rowspan="2" style="text-align:left;"|Bangladesh||rowspan="2" style="text-align:left;"|Asgiriya Stadium||1st||DNB||6 for 28||2 |- |2nd||DNB||6 for 54||0 |- |rowspan="2"|19||rowspan="2"|23 July 2008||rowspan="2" style="text-align:left;"|India||rowspan="2" style="text-align:left;"|Sinhalese Sports Gr||1st||DNB||6 for 84||1 |- |2nd||DNB||6 for 26||0 |}

Man of match in one day internationals

{|class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" style="width:44em; text-align:center; margin-left:auto; margin-right:auto;" |- !colspan="7" style="white-space:nowrap; text-align:left;"|Table: Man of match in one day internationals |- |colspan="7" style="font-size:90%; text-align:left;"|Muttiah Muralitharan has won 14 Man Of Match awards in one day internationals. |- !#!!Date!!Versus!!Ground!!Batting!!Bowling!!Catches |- |1||12 August 1993||style="text-align:left;"|India||style="text-align:left;"|Premadasa Stadium||DNB||1 for 38||0 |- |2||28 September 1996||style="text-align:left;"|Kenya||style="text-align:left;"|Gymkhana Club Ground||DNB||4 for 18||0 |- |3||20 August 1998||style="text-align:left;"|England||style="text-align:left;"|Lord's||DNB||5 for 34||1 |- |4||14 July 2000||style="text-align:left;"|South Africa||style="text-align:left;"|Premadasa Stadium||DNB||5 for 44||0 |- |5||27 October 2000||style="text-align:left;"|India||style="text-align:left;"|Sharjah Stadium||DNB||7 for 30||1 |- |6||31 January 2001||style="text-align:left;"|New Zealand||style="text-align:left;"|McLean Park||*1||5 for 30||1 |- |7||23 March 2001||style="text-align:left;"|England||style="text-align:left;"|Rangiri Dambulla Std||DNB||4 for 29||1 |- |8||18 May 2003||style="text-align:left;"|Pakistan||style="text-align:left;"|Rangiri Dambulla Std||19||5 for 23||1 |- |9||7 June 2003||style="text-align:left;"|West Indies||style="text-align:left;"|Kensington Oval||3||3 for 17||0 |- |10||20 October 2006||style="text-align:left;"|New Zealand||style="text-align:left;"|Brabourne Stadium||DNB||4 for 23||0 |- |11||23 March 2007||style="text-align:left;"|India||style="text-align:left;"|Queen's Park||DNB||3 for 41||2 |- |12||20 November 2008||style="text-align:left;"|Zimbabwe||style="text-align:left;"|Harare Sports Club||DNB||4 for 14||0 |- |13||30 November 2008||style="text-align:left;"|Zimbabwe||style="text-align:left;"|Harare Sports Club||5||5 for 29||0 |- |14||30 July 2009||style="text-align:left;"|Pakistan||style="text-align:left;"|Rangiri Dambulla Std||32||2 for 46||1 |}

Recognition

In 2002, Wisden carried out a statistical analysis of all Test matches in an effort to rate the greatest cricketers in history, and Muralitharan was ranked as the best Test bowler of all time.

Muralitharan was selected as the Wisden Leading Cricketer in the World in 2000 and in 2006.

On 15 November 2007, the Warne-Muralidaran Trophy was unveiled named after the two leading wicket-takers in Test cricket, Shane Warne and Muralitharan. The trophy displays images of the two spin bowlers' hands each holding a cricket ball. This trophy will be contested between Australia and Sri Lanka in all future Test series.

On 3 December 2007, just hours after Muttiah Muralitharan became Test cricket's leading Test wicket-taker, Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) announced it had unveiled a portrait of the Sri Lanka off-spinner at Lord's. On the same day the Philatelic Bureau of the Department of Posts in Sri Lanka issued a circular stamp with a denomination of Rs. 5 to mark the world record set by Muttiah Muralitharan. The circular design was meant to denote the cricket ball.

Australian musician Alston Koch provoked worldwide interest when he recorded the only official tribute song to Muralitharan, the song was even mentioned on the BBC's Test Match Special. The Muralitharan Song video was also released after he broke the world record.

On 10 January 2008, the Parliament of Sri Lanka felicitated Muttiah Muralitharan for his world record breaking feat of being the highest wicket taker in Test cricket. This is the first time that a sportsman has been honoured in the country's Supreme Legislature.

The Central Provincial Council in Kandy has decided to rename the International Cricket Stadium in Pallekele after Muttiah Muralitharan.

Controversy of bowling action

Throughout much of his international career, Muralitharan's action has been suspected of contravening the laws of the game by the straightening of his bowling arm during delivery. Although he has been cited three times, subsequent biomechanical testing led the ICC to clear him of the charge and permit him to continue bowling.

Biomechanical testing conducted on four occasions has fueled debate as to whether his action is in fact illegal or actually an illusion created by his allegedly unique ability to generate extra movement both at the shoulder as well the wrist enables him to bowl the doosra without straightening the elbow.

First throwing citation and testing

Initial concerns as to whether Muralitharan's action contravened the laws of the game by straightening his bowling arm during delivery broke into open controversy after Australian umpire Darrell Hair called a "no ball" for an illegal action seven times during the Boxing Day Test match in Melbourne, Australia, in 1995. Australian Sir Donald Bradman, universally regarded as the greatest batsman in history, was later quoted as saying it was the "worst example of umpiring that [he had] witnessed, and against everything the game stands for. Clearly Murali does not throw the ball".

Ten days later, on 5 January 1996, Sri Lanka played the West Indies in the seventh ODI of the triangular World Series competition, in Brisbane. Umpire Ross Emerson officiating in his debut international match, no-balled Muralitharan three times in his first over, twice in his second and twice in his third. It was an identical tally to that called by Hair on Boxing Day and (like Hair) Emerson made his calls from the bowler's end while his partner stood silent. The main difference was that several no-balls were for leg-breaks instead of the bowler's normal off-breaks.

In February 1996, just before the world cup Muralitharan underwent biomechanical analysis at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology under the supervision of Prof. Ravindra Goonetilleke, who declared his action legal in the conditions tested, citing a congenital defect in Muralitharan's arm which makes him incapable of fully straightening it, but giving the appearance of fully straightening the arm. Although under the original Laws a bowler's arm did not need to be fully straightened to be in breach of a legal delivery. They concluded that his action created the 'optical illusion of throwing'. Based on this evidence ICC gave clearance to Muralitharan to continue bowling. The Sri Lankan captain at the time Arjuna Ranatunga, was later fined and given a suspended ban from the game as a result. It later emerged that at the time of this match Emerson was on sick leave from his non-cricket job due to a stress-related illness and he stood down for the rest of the series. Muralitharan was sent for further tests in Perth and England and was cleared again. At no stage was Muralitharan requested to change or remodel his action, by the ICC. Up to this point in his career (1999) Muralitharan primarily bowled two types of deliveries, namely the off-break and the topspinner. He had not yet mastered the doosra.

Third citation and testing

Muralitharan continued bowling, taking his 500th Test wicket in the second Test against Australia in Kandy on 2004. At the end of the series his doosra delivery was officially called into question by match referee Chris Broad. At the University of Western Australia (Department of Human Movement and Exercise Science), three-dimensional kinematic measurements of Muttiah Muralitharan's bowling arm were taken using an optical motion capture system while he bowled his doosra. Muralitharan's mean elbow extension angle for the doosra delivery was 14°, which was subsequently reduced to a mean of 10.2° after remedial training at the University. The findings reported to ICC by the University of Western Australia's study was that Muralitharan's doosra contravened the established ICC elbow extension limit of 5° for spinners.

Under the original throwing Laws of Cricket, the umpires officiating were under an obligation to call "no-ball" to a delivery that they were not entirely happy was absolutely fair. This Law gave the umpires absolutely no discretion. In 2000, the Laws were changed to put an allowable figure of straightening of 5° for spinners, 7.5° for medium pacers and 10° for fast bowlers in an attempt to more clearly define what was legal. But these figures proved difficult to enforce due to umpires being unable to discern actual amounts of straightening and the differentiation between the three different allowable figures. Testing in Test Match conditions is not currently possible "when the identification of elbow and shoulder joint centres in on-field data collection, where a shirt is worn, also involves large errors. In a match the ability to differentiate anatomical movements such as 'elbow extension' by digitising segment end-points, particularly if you have segment rotations, is extremely difficult and prone to error.

Due to the overwhelming scientific findings, researchers recommended that a flat rate of 15° tolerable elbow extension be used to define a preliminary demarcation point between bowling and throwing. A panel of former Test players consisting of Aravinda de Silva, Angus Fraser, Michael Holding, Tony Lewis, Tim May and the ICC's Dave Richardson, with the assistance of several biomechanical experts, stated that 99% of all bowlers in the history of cricket straighten their arms when bowling. Only one player tested (part-time bowler Ramnaresh Sarwan) reportedly did not transgress the pre 2000 rules.

The ICC Executive was asked to ratify the panel's recommendations at the ICC's Annual General Meeting in February 2005. Based on the recommendations the ICC issued a new guideline (which was effective from 2005) allowing for extensions or hyperextensions of up to 15 degrees for all types of bowlers, thus deeming Muralitharan's doosra to be legal.

Explaining why the maximum level of 15 degrees was arrived at, panel member Angus Fraser stated "That is the number which biomechanics says that it (straightening) becomes visible. It is difficult for the naked eye to see less than 15 degrees in a bowler's action. We found when the biceps reached the shoulder the amount of bend was around 165 degrees. Very few bowlers can get to 180 degrees because the joint doesn't allow that. ... but once you go further than 15 degrees you get into an area which is starting to give you an unfair advantage and you are breaking the law". representing the University of South Australia conducted an independent research, in line with modern Artificial Intelligence and biomechanics in order to solve the controversial issue arise from doosra. The University of South Australia's study, founded by Prof. Mahinda Pathegama, and contributed by Prof. Ozdemir Gol, Prof. J. Mazumdar, Prof. Tony Worsley and Prof. Lakmi Jain has analyzed the previous studies with close scrutiny since the techniques in their fields of expertise are employed in the course of assessment as the basis for decision-making. The findings based on this scientific study are overwhelming The team of Australian scientists including Sri Lankan-born Australian scientist, Prof. Mahinda Pathegama done in 1999 to evaluate the error margin. University of South Australia's study done by Prof. Mahinda Pathegama that Bruce Elliott, the UWA professor who is also the ICC biomechanist, had made an interesting discovery in his dealings with finger spinners. "He said he had found that a lot of bowlers from the subcontinent could bowl the doosra legally, but not Caucasian bowlers."

Fourth round of testing

On 2 February 2006, Muralitharan underwent a fourth round of biomechanical testing. There had been criticism that the previous round of tests in July 2004 did not replicate match conditions due to a slower bowling speed in the laboratory tests. The results showed that the average elbow flexation while bowling the 'doosra' delivery was 12.2 degrees, at an average of 53.75 mph (86 km/h). The average for his off-break was 12.9 degrees at 59.03 mph (99.45 km/h).

Bowling with an arm brace

In July 2004 Muralitharan was filmed in England, bowling with an arm brace on. The film was shown on Britain's Channel 4 during the Test against England on 2004. The documentary is not available for purchase and has not been aired in Australia.

Initially, Muralitharan bowled three balls – the off-spinner, the top-spinner and the doosra – as he would in a match. Then he bowled the same three balls with a brace that is made from steel bars, which are set into strong resin. This brace has been moulded to his right arm, is approximately 46 centimetres long and weighs just under 1 kilogram.

TV presenter Mark Nicholas who tried the brace himself, confirmed that "There is no way an arm can be bent, or flexed, when it is in this brace." All three balls reacted in the same way as when bowled without the brace. They were not bowled quite so fast because the weight of the brace restricts the speed of Muralitharan's shoulder rotation, but the spin was still there.

With the brace on, there still appeared to be a jerk in his action. When studying the film at varying speeds, it still appeared as if he straightened his arm, even though the brace makes it impossible to do so. His unique shoulder rotation and amazing wrist action seem to create the illusion that he straightens his arm.

In 2004 at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo, Muralitharan voluntarily performed a series of tests with live video cameras. Michael Slater and Ravi Shastri witnessed it all unfold. Muralitharan once again showed he could bowl all his deliveries including the doosra with an arm brace that prevents any straightening of his elbow. Orthopediatrician Dr Mandeep Dillon stated that Muralitharan's unusual ability to generate extra movement both at the shoulder as well the wrist enables him to bowl the doosra without straightening the elbow. to being wrong in his assessment of Murali when he witnessed first hand Murali bowling with a arm-brace on.

Michael Holding, the former West Indian fast bowler was also a critic of Muralitharan, but withdrew his criticisms under the light of the tests carried out. Holding had been quoted as being in "110% agreement" with Bedi, who likened Murali's action to a "javelin throw" and more recently, compared to a "shot putter". Following the ICC study, as a member of the panel that conducted the study, Holding stated, "The scientific evidence is overwhelming ... When bowlers who to the naked eye look to have pure actions are thoroughly analysed with the sophisticated technology now in place, they are likely to be shown as straightening their arm by 11 and in some cases 12 degrees. Under a strict interpretation of the Law, these players are breaking the rules. The game needs to deal with this reality and make its judgment as to how it accommodates this fact."

In May 2002, Adam Gilchrist, speaking at a Carlton (Australian) Football Club luncheon, claimed Muralitharan's action does not comply with the Laws of cricket. The Melbourne-based Age newspaper quoted Gilchrist as saying."Yeah, I think he does (chuck), and I say that because, if you read the Laws of the game, there's no doubt in my mind that he and many others, throughout cricket history have." These comments were made before the doosra controversy, in spite of Muralitharan's action having been cleared by ICC in both 1996 and 1999. For his comment Gilchrist was reprimanded by the Australian Cricket Board (ACB) and found guilty of being in breach of ACB rules concerned with "detrimental public comment".

During the 2006 tour of New Zealand another Muralitharan critic, former New Zealand captain and cricket commentator Martin Crowe, called for Muralitharan's doosra to be monitored more closely, asserting that his action seemed to deteriorate during a match. Earlier that year when delivering the Cowdrey lecture at Lords Martin Crowe had demanded zero tolerance instead of 15 degrees for throwing and specifically branded Muttiah Muralitharan a chucker. In response to Crowe's criticism ICC general manager Dave Richardson stated that the scientific evidence presented by biomechanists Professor Bruce Elliot, Dr Paul Hurrion and Mr Marc Portuswith was overwhelming and clarified that "Some bowlers, even those not suspected of having flawed actions, were found likely to be straightening their arms by 11 or 12 degrees. And at the same time, some bowlers that may appear to be throwing may be hyper-extending or bowl with permanently bent elbows. Under a strict interpretation of the law, they were breaking the rules – but if we ruled out every bowler that did that then there would be no bowlers left."

Scientific research on bowling actions

Since 1999 there has been a number of scientific research publications discussing the Muralitharan's bowling action as well the need for defining the legality of a bowling action using biomechanical concepts. This research has directly contributed towards the official acceptance of Muralitharan's bowling action and has convinced the ICC to redefine the bowling laws in cricket.

The key publications are listed below:

Elliot, B.C., Alderson, J., Reid, S. and Foster, D. (2004). Bowling Report of Muttiah Muralitharan.

Ferdinands, R.E.D. (2004). Three-dimensional biomechanical analysis of bowling in cricket. PhD Thesis, University of Waikato.

Ferdinands, R.E.D. and Kersting, U.G. (2004). Elbow Angle Extension and implecation for the legality of the bowling action in Cricket. In A McIntosh (Ed.), Proceedings of Australasian Biomechanic Conference 5 ( – 10), University of New South Wales, Sydney, pp. 26–27. Ferdinands, R.E.D. and Kersting, U.G. (2007). An evaluation of biomechanical measures of bowling action legality in cricket. Sports Biomechanics, Volume 6, Issue 2007, pages 315–333

Goonetilleke, R.S. (1999). Legality of bowling actions in cricket. Ergonomics, 42 (10), 1386–1397.

Lloyd, D. G., Alderson, J. and Elliot, B.C. (2000). An upper limb kinematic for the examination of cricket bowling: A case study of Muttiah Muralitharan. Journal of Sports Sciences, 18, 975–982.

Marshall, R. and Ferdinands R. (2003). The effect of a flexed elbow on bowling speed in circket. Sports Biomechanics, 2(1), 65–71.

Pathegama, M., Göl, Ö, Mazumdar, J., Winefield, T. and Jain, L (2003) 'Use of imprecise biomedical image analysis and anthropometric assessment in biomechanics with particular reference to competitive cricket', UniSA Scientific Study, SEIE, University of South Australia, Australia.

Pathegama, M. and Göl, Ö (2004) 'Special Report on the Controversial doosra bowling action based on UniSA scientific study: As per the invitation made by David Richardson, General Manager, ICC), EIE, University of South Australia, Australia.

Portus, M., Mason, B., Rath, D. and Rosemond, C. (2003). Fast bowling arm actions and the illegal delivery law in men's high performance cricket matches. Science and Medicine in Cricket. R. Stretch, T. Noakes and C. Vauhan (Eds.), Com Press, Ports Elizabeth, South Africa, pp. 41–54.

Philanthropy

Muralitharan, along with his manager Kushil Gunasekara, established the Foundation of Goodness, a charity organisation, in the early 2000s. This organisation is committed to the wellbeing of the Seenigama region (in southern Sri Lanka) and supports local communities through a range of projects across areas including children's needs, education and training, healthcare and psycho-social support, housing, livelihoods, sport and the environment.

In June 2004, Muralitharan also joined the United Nations World Food Program as an ambassador to fight hunger among school children.

When the tsunami devastated Sri Lanka on 2004, Muralitharan galvanised into action to ensure that aid reached people that needed it. He himself narrowly escaped death, arriving 20 minutes late at Seenigama, where he was to give away prizes at one of the charity projects he worked on. While international agencies were bringing food in by air, there was an urgent need for transport, and Murali organised three convoys of 10 trucks each, paying for these himself, to get the food to people who needed it. He persuaded those who could to donate clothes, and supervised the delivery himself.

During the hard work of rehabilitation in the tsunami's aftermath, cement was in short supply. Muralitharan promptly signed an endorsement deal with Lafarge, a global cement giant, that was a straight barter, where cement would be supplied to the Foundation for Goodness in exchange for work Muralitharan did. During the first three years since the tsunami, the foundation raised more than US$ to help survivors, and has built homes, schools, sports facilities and computer centres.

Product and brand endorsements

Mobitel (Sri Lanka): 2008–Present Indian Oil Corporation: 2004–2005 Janashakthi Insurance: 2004–2008 Ceylinco Consolidated – Ceylinco Life: 2008–Present Western Union: 2006–2008 KFC: 2008–Present

Reebok brand ambassador – present

See also

Wisden Leading Cricketer in the World

List of international cricket five-wicket hauls by Muttiah Muralitharan

Doosra

List of international cricketers called for throwing

List of cricketers called for throwing in major cricket matches in Australia

Throwing (cricket)

List of World XI ODI cricketers

List of Asian XI ODI cricketers

World Cricket Tsunami Appeal

Ron Flatter

References

Sri Lankan dependence on Murali

External links

Muralitharan.com

CricInfo Player Profile: Muttiah Muralitharan

Muttiah Muralitharan International Fan Club

Alston Koch's Murali Song Video

Murali Tracker

Muralitharan.cricket-records.com

Murali's throwing controversy was resolved at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology

TimeLine: Muttiah Muralitharan

Muralitharan.org

Murali BigStarCricket

Muttiah Muralitharan 800th Test Wicket Celebrations- Pictures

Bowling Report Testing Muralitharan's Doosra

Video: Muttiah Muralitharan 3D Reconstruction of bowling action

Category:1972 births Category:Living people Category:Sri Lanka Test cricketers Category:Sri Lanka One Day International cricketers Category:Sri Lanka Twenty20 International cricketers Category:ACC Asian XI One Day International cricketers Category:ICC World XI One Day International cricketers Category:Indian Tamils of Sri Lanka Category:Kent cricketers Category:Lancashire cricketers Category:Tamil Union Cricket and Athletic Club cricketers Category:Wisden Cricketers of the Year Category:World XI Test cricketers Category:Cricketers at the 1996 Cricket World Cup Category:Cricketers at the 1999 Cricket World Cup Category:Cricketers at the 2003 Cricket World Cup Category:Tamil sportspeople Category:Sri Lankan Tamil sportspeople Category:Sri Lankan Hindus Category:Chennai cricketers Category:Wisden Leading Cricketers in the World Category:People from Kandy Category:Kochi cricketers

Playername	Jim Laker
Country	England
Fullname	James Charles Laker
Dayofbirth	9
Monthofbirth	2
Yearofbirth	1922
Placeofbirth	Bradford, Yorkshire
Countryofbirth	England
Dayofdeath	23
Monthofdeath	4
Yearofdeath	1986
Placeofdeath	Putney, London
Countryofdeath	England
Batting	Right-handed
Bowling	Right arm off break
International	true
Testdebutdate	21 January
Testdebutyear	1948
Testdebutagainst	West Indies
Testcap	328
Lasttestdate	18 February
Lasttestyear	1959
Lasttestagainst	Australia
Club1	Essex
Year1	1962–1964
Club2	Surrey
Year2	1946–1959
Club3	Auckland
Year3	1951–1952
| columns	2
Column1	Test
Matches1	46
Runs1	676
Bat avg1	14.08
100s/50s1	0/2
Top score1	63
Deliveries1	12,027
Wickets1	193
Bowl avg1	21.24
Fivefor1	9
Tenfor1	3
Best bowling1	10/53
Catches/stumpings1	12/–
Column2	First-class
Matches2	450
Runs2	7,304
Bat avg2	16.60
100s/50s2	2/18
Top score2	113
Deliveries2	101,370
Wickets2	1,944
Bowl avg2	18.41
Fivefor2	127
Tenfor2	32
Best bowling2	10/53
Catches/stumpings2	270/–
Date	7 January
Year	2009
Source	http://www.cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/0/807/807.html CricketArchive

James "Jim" Charles Laker (9 February 1922 – 23 April 1986) was a cricketer who played for England in the 1950s, known for "Laker's match" in 1956 at Old Trafford, when he took nineteen wickets in England's victory against Australia. He played 46 Test matches between 1948 and 1959, taking 193 wickets with a bowling average of 21.24; in all first-class matches he took 1,944 wickets at 18.41.

Born in Frizinghall, Bradford, Yorkshire, he was known as an elegant off-spin bowler. He consistently performed well against Australian cricket teams, and formed a successful partnership with Tony Lock, a left-arm orthodox spinner. He was also part of the Surrey side that dominated the county championship with seven consecutive titles from 1952 to 1958. He was selected as one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 1952.

Family and early career

Laker was brought up by his aunts in Saltaire. Before the outbreak of World War II, he was called down to the Yorkshire nets, where he impressed enough to earn approval as a batsman. War brought a temporary end to his cricketing plans, but reports began to emerge in about 1943 of an off-spinner in North Africa of whom greybeards said, "You can hear the ball buzz as he lets it go."

After the war, Laker settled on the outskirts of London, and was recommended to Surrey. After Yorkshire granted permission, he was registered at the Oval, meaning he never played for his native county.

International career

Laker bowled with distinction in 1947, and caused the West Indies trouble in 1947/48, but was severely clobbered by Don Bradman's 1948 Australians.

On England's disastrous tour of Australia in 1958-9, Laker was one of the few England players to enhance his reputation, bowling well on unhelpful pitches.

Apart from his figures in 'Laker's match', the other bowling analysis for which he will be remembered is his 8 wickets for 2 runs in an innings in a Test Trial at Bradford in 1950, playing for England against 'The Rest'.

Laker's match

Laker was the first individual to take all 10 wickets in a Test match innings, ten for 53 in the Australians' second innings of the fourth Ashes Test at Old Trafford in 1956 (the only other bowler to take all 10 wickets is Anil Kumble of India in 1999). Having also taken nine for 37 in the first innings, Laker's match bowling figures were nineteen for 90: no other bowler has taken more than seventeen wickets in a first-class match. Laker was married to an Austrian national who did not know much about cricket. On the day of his achievement when he arrived home, his wife asked him, "Jim, did you do something good today?" after she had taken hundreds of congratulatory telephone calls. Remarkably, Laker had also taken all ten wickets in an innings for Surrey against the same Australians earlier in the season, the first time a bowler had taken all ten against the Australians since Ted Barratt did so in 1878.

Post retirement

The publication in 1960 of his ghost-written autobiography, containing severe criticism of his Surrey and England captain Peter May, resulted in his losing honorary memberships of MCC and Surrey. Although these were both eventually restored, he never played for either Surrey or England again.

After his departure from the Surrey team, Laker played some matches for Essex from 1962 to 1965, but was not the force of old.

In later years Laker was a highly regarded cricket commentator for BBC television. His habit of dropping the final "g" when pronouncing words ending in "ing" attracted much affectionate mimicry. "Wry, dry, laconic, he thought about cricket with a deep intensity and a splendidly ironic point of view," wrote John Arlott. Laker died in Putney, London, and was cremated at Putney Vale Crematorium. His ashes were scattered at The Oval Cricket Ground.

A residential street in the Fernhill area of Shipley is named Jim Laker Place, after him.

On 23 August 2009, Jim Laker, along with Jack Hobbs and Len Hutton, were inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame.

Notes

External links

Cricinfo Player Profile : James Charles Laker

Best Test match bowling figures, from Cricinfo

Best Test innings bowling figures, from Cricinfo

Most wickets in a first-class match, from CricketArchive

Category:England Test cricketers Category:English cricketers Category:Essex cricketers Category:Surrey cricketers Category:Auckland cricketers Category:Commonwealth XI cricketers Category:International Cavaliers cricketers Category:Wisden Cricketers of the Year Category:BBC Sports Personality of the Year winners Category:Cricket commentators Category:Burials at Putney Vale Cemetery Category:1922 births Category:1986 deaths Category:International Cricket Council Hall of Fame inductees Category:People from Bradford Category:Wisden Leading Cricketers in the World Category:MCC cricketers Category:Players cricketers Category:North v South cricketers

Playername	Anil Kumble
Nickname	Jumbo
Country	India
Fullname	Anil Radhakrishna Kumble
Living	true
Dayofbirth	17
Monthofbirth	10
Yearofbirth	1970
Placeofbirth	Bangalore
Countryofbirth	India
Height	6'1
Batting	Right-handed
Bowling	Right-arm leg break
Role	Bowler and Test captain
International	true
Testdebutdate	9 August
Testdebutyear	1990
Testdebutagainst	England
Testcap	192
Lasttestdate	29 October
Lasttestyear	2008
Lasttestagainst	Australia
Odidebutdate	25 April
Odidebutyear	1990
Odidebutagainst	Sri Lanka
Odicap	78
Lastodidate	19 March
Lastodiyear	2007
Lastodiagainst	Bermuda
Club1	Karnataka
Year1	1989/90 – 2008/09
Club2	Surrey
Year2	2006
Club3	Leicestershire
Year3	2000
Club4	Northamptonshire
Year4	1995
Club5	Royal Challengers Bangalore
Year5	2008-
| columns	4
Column1	Test
Matches1	132
Runs1	2,506
Bat avg1	17.77
100s/50s1	1/5
Top score1	110*
Deliveries1	40,850
Wickets1	619
Bowl avg1	29.65
Fivefor1	35
Tenfor1	8
Best bowling1	10/74
Catches/stumpings1	60/–
Column2	ODI
Matches2	271
Runs2	938
Bat avg2	10.53
100s/50s2	0/0
Top score2	26
Deliveries2	14,496
Wickets2	337
Bowl avg2	30.89
Fivefor2	2
Tenfor2	n/a
Best bowling2	6/12
Catches/stumpings2	85/–
Column3	FC
Matches3	244
Runs3	5,572
Bat avg3	21.68
100s/50s3	7/17
Top score3	154*
Deliveries3	66,931
Wickets3	1,136
Bowl avg3	25.83
Fivefor3	72
Tenfor3	19
Best bowling3	10/74
Catches/stumpings3	120/–
Column4	LA
Matches4	380
Runs4	1,456
Bat avg4	11.20
100s/50s4	0/0
Top score4	30*
Deliveries4	20,247
Wickets4	514
Bowl avg4	27.58
Fivefor4	3
Tenfor4	n/a
Best bowling4	6/12
Catches/stumpings4	122/–
Date	08 November
Year	2008
Source	http://www.cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/1/1972/1972.html CricketArchive

Anil Kumble () (born 17 October 1970 in Bangalore, Karnataka) is a former Indian cricketer and captain of the Indian Test cricket team. He is a right-arm leg spin (legbreak googly) bowler and a right-hand batsman. He is currently the leading wicket-taker for India in both Test and One Day International matches. At present he is the third highest wicket-taker in Test cricket and one of only three bowlers to have taken more than 600 Test wickets. Kumble has had success bowling with other spinners, notably Venkatapathy Raju and Rajesh Chauhan in the 1990s and Harbhajan Singh since 2000.

Kumble was appointed the captain of the Indian Test cricket team on 8 November 2007. His first assignment as captain was the three-test home series against Pakistan that India won 1-0. Then he led the Indian Test team on its tour to Australia for the 2007-08 four-test series of The Border-Gavaskar Trophy that India lost 1-2. Kumble succeeded his state team mate Rahul Dravid, who resigned as the captain in September 2007. Since his debut in international cricket on 25 April 1990, he has taken 619 Test wickets and 337 ODI wickets. Although often criticized as not a big turner of the ball, Kumble is the second highest wicket taker among leg spinners in Test cricket behind leg spinner Shane Warne of Australia and the third of all bowlers after Warne and off spinner Muttiah Muralitharan of Sri Lanka and has claimed 619 Test wickets. He is one of only two bowlers in the history of cricket to have taken all 10 wickets in a test innings, the other being Jim Laker of England. He was awarded the Padma Shri, India's 4th highest civilian honour, by the Government of India in 2005. After playing for India for 18 years, he announced his retirement on 2 November 2008. His last match was against Australia at the Feroz Shah Kotla in Delhi.

Personal life

Anil Kumble was born in Bangalore, Karnataka to KN Krishna Swamy and Saroja. His family, takes its name from Kumble village, situated in the Kasaragod district of Kerala, close to the Karnataka border: his paternal great grandfather hailed from this village while his maternal family hails from Karnataka. Anil has 3 children - daughter Aaruni (from Chethana's previous marriage), son Mayas and the youngest Svasti (daughter)

Kumble began playing cricket on streets of Bangalore and joined a club called Young Cricketers when he was 13 years old. Kumble did his primary schooling at Holy Saint English School and his high schooling at National High School, Basavanagudi. He got his Pre-University College education from National College, Basavanagudi. Kumble graduated from Rashtreeya Vidyalaya College of Engineering in Mechanical Engineering in 1991-92. Kumble was studious by disposition. Prior to his selection for the England tour, he did exceedingly well in his academics, passing mechanical engineering with distinction in the top of his class. Two of his college team mates, M.P. Vivek and Rashid Mohsin went on to have scintillating but short lived first class careers. Kumble has a brother named Dinesh. He is nicknamed Jumbo not only because his deliveries, for a spinner, are "as fast as a Jumbo jet"., His unique bowling style can be attributed to matting pitches in Bangalore which assist top-spin and over-spin.

He made his first-class debut for Karnataka against Hyderabad in November 1989, taking 4 wickets and bagging a pair. He was selected for India Under-19s against Pakistan Under-19s, scoring 113 in the first test and 76 in the second. He made his ODI debut against Sri Lanka at Sharjah in the Australasia Cup on 25 April 1990. He also made his Test debut in that year on India's tour of England in the second Test. It was when India toured South Africa in 1992 that he established himself as a quality international spinner, taking 8 wickets in the second Test. Later that year, when England toured India, he took 21 wickets in just 3 Test matches at an average of 19.8.

He took his first 50 Test wickets in just 10 Test matches, the fastest an Indian bowler had achieved the milestone. He went on to become the second fastest Indian bowler to reach 100 Test wickets (in 21 Test matches), after Erapalli Prasanna. On 27 November 1993, he took 6 wickets for 12 runs in an ODI against the West Indies at Calcutta, a new record for best bowling figures by an Indian, one that remains unbeaten till date.

His performance in ODI cricket peaked in 1996, the year in which the World Cup was held in Asia, when he took 61 ODI wickets at an average of 20.24 and an economy rate of 4.06.

Kumble is one of only two bowlers ever (the other being Jim Laker) to have taken all 10 wickets in a Test innings. Kumble achieved this against Pakistan in the second Test played in Delhi between 4 February and 8 February 1999, although by failing to dismiss Pakistan's Waqar Younis in either innings, he missed out on the achievement of dismissing all 11 batsmen in a Test match. It has been said that once he had got 9 wickets his friend and teammate Javagal Srinath started bowling wide off stumps, and was called twice, so that Kumble could take the 10th. The achievement was commemorated by naming a traffic circle in Bangalore after him.

On 6 October 2004, Kumble became only the third spinner in the history of Test cricket (after Shane Warne and Muttiah Muralitharan) and the second Indian bowler (after Kapil Dev) to capture 400 Test wickets. Reaching the mark took him 30 fewer Test matches than it took Kapil Dev, and 7 fewer than Warne. He is one of only 2 Indian bowlers (the other being Javagal Srinath) and one of only 3 spinners (the others being Muralitharan and Sanath Jayasuriya) to have taken over 300 ODI wickets. In the India-West Indies series of 2006, Kumble took 6-78 in the second innings of the final Test in Sabina Park, Jamaica, and bowled India to a historic series victory; it had been 35 years since a similar series victory. During the first innings of the match, Kumble scored 45 and became the second player in the history of the game (after Warne) to score 2000 runs and take over 500 Test wickets. Anil Kumble also holds the world record for most wickets leg before wicket (lbw)

On 10 December 2004, Kumble became India's highest wicket taker when he trapped Mohammad Rafique of Bangladesh to surpass Kapil Dev's haul of 434 wickets. On 11 March 2006, he took his 500th Test wicket. On 11 June 2006, Kumble passed Courtney Walsh on 520 Test wickets to take 4th place. After returning to India from the 2007 Cricket World Cup, he announced his retirement from ODI Cricket on 30 March 2007.

Towards the end of his career, Anil Kumble came up with yet another potent weapon in his armory - a googly or the wrong 'un which was reportedly delivered with a more orthodox grip and worked upon, using a tennis ball during practice.

On 10 August 2007, Kumble scored his maiden century, with an innings of 110 not out against England to help them finish with 664. He took 118 Test matches to reach his maiden Test hundred, which is a record, beating Chaminda Vaas who had held this record previously with 96 Tests. It was also the only hundred by an Indian in the 3 Test series. He is the only Test cricketer to have taken all ten wickets in an innings and score a Test hundred in his career. A day after scoring his ton, Kumble dismissed Vaughan for his 900th International wicket and 563rd Test wicket, drawing him level with Glenn McGrath. Later he trapped Monty Panesar for an LBW to finish the innings and overtake McGrath in the list of all time wicket takers, only Muttiah Muralitharan and Shane Warne have more wickets.

He is one of the 4 bowlers, alongside Richard Hadlee, Shane Warne and Muttiah Muralitharan, and the only Indian bowler ever, to have taken 5 wickets in a Test innings more than 30 times. He also holds the world record for the largest number of caught-and-bowled dismissals in tests, 35 - which forms 5.65% of his total wickets. His ODI bowling average, which is above 30, is considered high compared to other great bowlers, and he is known to be a much better bowler in India than elsewhere. He is also one of 4 Indian bowlers to have conceded over 250 runs in a Test match, although he took 12 wickets in that match. He is known for bowling tirelessly, having bowled 72 overs in a Test innings once. He is also remembered for his tenacity in bowling even when injured, especially after an incident in a match against West Indies where, despite having his broken jaw being heavily taped, he came back to prise out the wicket of Brian Lara.

His Test batting average is acceptable for a lower order batsmen; however, his unconvincing running in ODIs, giving him a fairly ordinary average of around 10, has prevented him from becoming an all-rounder. His fielding is considered adequate and he usually fields on the boundary or at gully.

On 17 January 2008, in the third Test against Australia at WACA, Perth, Anil Kumble became the first Indian bowler and the third in the world to reach the milestone of 600 Test wickets. Kumble achieved the record just after the tea break when he had Andrew Symonds caught by Rahul Dravid at first slip. In a friendly gesture, Adam Gilchrist shook hands with Kumble and congratulated him. Kumble would go on to lead India to its first Test victory in Perth and deny Australia a record of 17 consecutive test victories. Kumble's 600 wickets came in 124 matches at an average of 28.68. Kumble has captured most number of wickets against Australia by an Indian bowler. He has taken 104 Australian scalps in 17 matches at an average of 27.5.

Kumble is the third bowler after Muttiah Muralitharan and Shane Warne to take 600 Test wickets. Paying tribute to Kumble on reaching this milestone, cricket analysts have provided some interesting insights to his bowling skills, specifically vis-a-vis Warne and Muralitharan. Sambit Bal, the editor of Cricinfo, writes:

"That he [Kumble] has been an unusual spinner has been said many times before. It has also been said, a trifle unfairly, that he is a unidimensional bowler. Palpably, he has lacked the turn of Warne and Murali, but his variety has been subtler, far more apparent to batsmen than to viewers. He has shown that not only turn and flight that can deceive the batsman but also the changes of length and pace. He has been a cultured practitioner of his unique craft and a master of nuances."

Columnist and former cricketer Peter Roebuck interestingly argues that in a bowling method that relies more on precision rather than big turns, Kumble is closer to fast bowler Glenn McGrath rather than his fellow spinners Warne and Muralitharan:

"Curiously, Kumble has little in common with his two great contemporaries, Shane Warne and Muttiah Muralitharan. They relied on excess, spinning the ball ferociously and able, by sleight of hand, to fool batsmen into playing at thin air. They created error by destroying hope.

Kumble more closely resembles Glenn McGrath because he does not so much baffle batsmen as torture them with precisely-pitched deliveries. Like the Australian, he does not tear opponents apart, just works away methodically till the deed has been done. Apparently he is an engineer, but he belongs in the courts of law as an inquisitor."

During the 4th test against Australia at the Adelaide Oval on 25 January 2008, Kumble was only 13 runs short of his 2nd test hundred by scoring 87 runs off 205 balls, with 9 fours in India's first innings of 526. Only Sachin Tendulkar scored more than him, with 153 runs off 205 balls.

Retirement and IPL

Anil Kumble announced his retirement from: international Test cricket, first class cricket, and list A cricket appearances on the last day of the match on 2 November 2008 in the 3rd Test match against Australia at Feroz Shah Kotla cricket stadium at New Delhi, India. The decision, although on the cards, came as a surprise. Kumble injured the little finger of his left hand while attempting a catch off Matthew Hayden in Australia's first innings which rendered him unfit for the 4th and final test of the series against Australia. Kumble was finding it difficult to find his striking form and went wicketless in four consecutive innings for the first time in his career before the first innings of Australia in the third test of the series against Australia in which he managed three lower order wickets only. Mitchell Johnson of Australia was the last victim of Kumble. He declared the 2nd innings of India with only 6 overs of play left in the drawn match in order to have one last trundle. His figures were 4-0-14-0. The final ball of his test career was a low full toss which was decisively driven down the ground for four by the batsman Matthew Hayden.

Kumble has been appointed to the athlete's commission of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), with his term starting on 1 January 2009.

On 21 November 2010, Kumble was elected President of the Karnataka State Cricket Association in a landslide victory, with statemates and former India teammates Venkatesh Prasad and Javagal Srinath elected as Vice-President and Secretary respectively.

IPL

He has also agreed to honour his contract with the Royal Challengers Bangalore franchise of the Indian Premier League after retirement. He was given a three year contract worth US$ 500,000 per year in the first round of bidding in 2008. His first season was unremarkable but in the second season he finished as the second leading wicket-taker and the team which he captained finished in second place.

On 18 April 2009 he took 5/5 runs against the defending champions Rajasthan Royals to send them to an emphatic 75-run defeat in the second match of the 2009 edition, played in South Africa. Despite this, he missed out on the Man of the match accolade to his close friend Rahul Dravid. After the departure of Kevin Pietersen for England's cricket commitments, Kumble was named captain of the Royal Challengers and on 1 May 2009 the former Indian skipper marshalled his team to a fine 8-run victory over the Kings XI Punjab, despite a hat-trick and a half-century from Man of the Match and losing captain Yuvraj Singh and 4 wickets for Yusuf Abdulla. His captaincy and performance was prominent as the Challengers were able to recover from four losses in their first six games to qualify for the semifinals as the third best team in the League table, and on 23 May 2009 his team defeated the Chennai Super Kings by six wickets to earn a spot in the final against the Deccan Chargers, who along with Bangalore were the two least successful teams in last year's edition. Despite a Man of the Match performance in the final, when he took 4/16 runs he was unable to prevent his team from succumbing to a six-run defeat. However, Kumble ended as the most successful spin bowler and the 2nd highest wicket-taker with 21 wickets at an economy rate of 5.86 runs per over behind Rudra Pratap Singh, and the team was subsequently able to qualify along with the Chargers and the Delhi Daredevils (who topped the preliminary League Table) for the 2009 Twenty20 Champions League. With Pietersen ruled out of the competition in order to recover from surgery on his Achilles tendon, Kumble captained his hometown team in the competition, and although defeats to the Cape Cobras and the Victorian Bushrangers ruled them out of qualification for the semi-finals, the Bangalore-born spinner has since become the full-time captain of the Royal Challengers. The 2009-10 season saw Kumble lead the team to the semi-finals albeit after a rather inconsistent campaign which saw them end up with seven wins and seven losses as they finished 4th in the league table. After being forced to play their semi-finals at the DY Patil Stadium following the bomb blasts near their home stadium in Bangalore, the Royal Challengers lost their semi-final to the Mumbai Indians, who topped the group phase. But on 24 April 2010, Kumble snagged 4 wickets for 16 runs to lead the team into the Champions' League as third-place finishers, avenging their loss to the Deccan Chargers in last season's final. His man-of-the-match exploits ensured that he finished with 17 wickets for the tournament. Kumble has recently announced his decision to quit IPL as well. The reason stated by him was since he was elected as the President of Karnataka State Cricket Association it wasn't wise on his part to play in the team as that would create conflict of interests. But he has agreed to serve Bangalore Royal Challengers as the chief mentor. Later on the team owner Vijay Mallaya told reporters in Bangalore that henceforth all the team decisions would be handled by Kumble and he would abide by it, he also stated that Kumble has given his full support and will continue to do so to the team.

Awards and honours

Arjuna award, a sports award from the Government of India, in 1995

One of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year, in 1996

Among the 16 cricketers shortlisted for the Wisden Indian Cricketer of the 20th Century, in 2002 (Kapil Dev won)

Padma Shri, a civilian award from the Government of India, in 2005

A prominent intersection in M. G. Road, Bangalore has been named after Anil Kumble.

‘Best breakthrough performance IPL 2009’ for his five-for-five against Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2009.

Man of the Series awards

4 Awards in Test cricket

:{| border=0 cellpadding=3 cellspacing=1 width=100% |- style="background:#0000ff; color:#ffffff;" ! # ! Series ! Season ! Series Performance |- bgcolor="#87cefa" | 1 | England in India Test Series | 1992/93 | 16 Runs (3 Matches, 2 Innings); 181-53-416-21 (1x5 WI); 1 Catch |- bgcolor="#87cefa" | 2 | New Zealand in India Test Series | 1999/00 | 39 Runs (3 Matches, 3 Innings); 197.4-76-364-20 (2x5 WI, 1x10 WM); 2 Catches |- bgcolor="#87cefa" | 3 | Zimbabwe in India Test Series | 2001/02 | 47 Runs (2 Matches, 3 Innings); 134.2-48-291-16 (1x5 WI) |- bgcolor="#87cefa" | 4 | Sri Lanka in India Test Series | 2005/06 | 67 Runs (3 Matches, 4 Innings); 138.3-28-374-20 (2x5 WI, 1x10 WM); 2 Catches |- bgcolor="#87cefa" |}

1 Award in ODI cricket

:{| border=0 cellpadding=3 cellspacing=1 width=100% |- style="background:#0000ff; color:#ffffff;" ! # ! Series (Opponents) ! Season ! Series Performance |- bgcolor="#87cefa" | 1 | Sahara Friendship Cup (Pakistan v/s India) | 1996 | 26 (5 Matches & 3 Innings); 44-2-159-14 |- bgcolor="#87cefa" |}

Man of the Match awards

10 Awards in Test cricket

:{| border=0 cellpadding=3 cellspacing=1 width=100% |- style="background:#0000ff; color:#ffffff;" ! S No ! Opponent ! Venue ! Season ! Match Performance |- bgcolor="#87cefa" | 1 | Sri Lanka | KD Singh Babu, Lucknow | 1993/94 | 1st Innings: 4 (1x4); 37-10-69-4
2nd Innings: 27.3-9-59-7; 1 Catch
10+ Wicket Match |- bgcolor="#87cefa" | 2 | Pakistan | Feroz Shah Kotla, New Delhi | 1998/99 | 1st Innings: 0; 24.3-4-75-4; 5 Catch
2nd Innings: 15 (2x4); 26.3-9-74-10
5 Wickets in 1st Innings and 10+ Wickets in Match and 10 wickets in a innings |- bgcolor="#87cefa" | 3 | New Zealand | Green Park, Kanpur | 1999/00 | 1st Innings: 5 Runs; 32.5-12-67-4
2nd Innings 26.5-5-67-6
10 Wicket Match |- bgcolor="#87cefa" | 4 | England | Mohali, Chandigarh | 2001/02 | 1st Innings: 37 (6x4); 19-6-52-2; 1 Catch
2nd Innings: 28.4-6-81-6; 1 Catch |- bgcolor="#87cefa" | 5 | Zimbabwe | VCA, Nagpur | 2001/02 | 1st Innings: 13* (1x4); 33.5-12-82-4
2nd Innings: 37-15-63-5 |- bgcolor="#87cefa" | 6 | Australia | Chepauk, Chennai | 2004/05 | 1st Innings: 20 (2x4); 17.3-4-48-7; 1 Catch
2nd Innings: 47-8-133-6
10+ Wickets Match |- bgcolor="#87cefa" | 7 | Sri Lanka | Feroz Shah Kotla, New Delhi | 2005/06 | 1st Innings: 8 (1x4); 28-6-72-6; 1 Catch
2nd Innings: 36-7-85-4; 1 Catch
10 Wicket Match |- bgcolor="#87cefa" | 8 | England | Mohali, Chandigarh | 2005/06 | 1st Innings: 32 (2x4); 29.4-8-76-5
2nd Innings: 29-7-70-4 |- bgcolor="#87cefa" Match |- bgcolor="#87cefa" | 9 | England | The Oval, England | 2006/07 | 1st Innings: 110* (2x4); 29.1-7-94-3
2nd Innings: 8* 37-9-123-2 |- bgcolor="#87cefa" Match |- bgcolor="#87cefa" | 10 | Pakistan | Feroz Shah Kotla, New Delhi | 2007/08 | 1st Innings: 24 (3x4); 21.2-6-38-4
2nd Innings: 27.1-8-68-3 |- bgcolor="#87cefa" |}

6 Awards in ODI

:{| border=0 cellpadding=3 cellspacing=1 width=100% |- style="background:#0000ff; color:#ffffff;" ! S No ! Opponent ! Venue ! Season ! Match Performance |- bgcolor="#87cefa" | 1 | England | Headingley, Leeds | 1990 | 11-2-29-2 |- bgcolor="#87cefa" | 2 | West Indies | Eden Gardens, Kolkata | 1993/94 | 5* (1x4); 6.1-2-12-6 |- bgcolor="#87cefa" | 3 | New Zealand | Basin Reserve, Wellington | 1993/94 | 10-0-33-5 |- bgcolor="#87cefa" | 4 | South Africa | Wankhede, Mumbai | 1996/97 | 8.2-0-25-4 |- bgcolor="#87cefa" | 5 | Bangladesh | Wankhede, Mumbai | 1998 | 10-4-17-3 |- bgcolor="#87cefa" | 6 | Kenya | Gymkhana, Nairobi | 2001/02 | 10-1-22-2 |}

Test wicket milestones

1st: Allan Lamb (England)

50th: David Houghton (Zimbabwe)

100th: Martin Crowe (New Zealand)

150th: Sherwin Campbell (West Indies)

200th: Pommie Mbangwa (Zimbabwe)

250th: Dion Nash (New Zealand)

300th: Matthew Hoggard (England)

350th: Jacob Oram (New Zealand)

400th: Darren Lehmann (Australia)

450th: Mohammad Sami (Pakistan)

500th. Stephen Harmison (England)

550th: Khaled Mashud (Bangladesh)

600th: Andrew Symonds (Australia)

619th: Mitchell Johnson (Australia)

Endorsements

Indigo Nation

Manipal Education ING Vysya Alliance Group

External links

10 wicket haul for Kumble at Google Video

The Score board of the second Test in Delhi - the ten wicket haul for Kumble

India's greatest bowler - Cricinfo.com article dated 6 October 2004

Most wickets in Test cricket Cricinfo.com (updated after each match)

Most 5 wickets in an innings in Test matches - Cricinfo.com (updated after each match)

Most wickets in ODI cricket - Cricinfo.com (updated after each match)

References

----

{| class="toccolours collapsible collapsed" width=100% |- ! colspan="2" | Achievements of Anil Kumble |- ! colspan="2" | |- ! colspan="2" | |- ! colspan="2" | |- ! colspan="2" | |}

{| class="toccolours collapsible collapsed" width=100% |- ! colspan="2" | Anil Kumble in Cricket World Cup |- ! colspan="2" | |- ! colspan="2" | |- ! colspan="2" | |- ! colspan="2" | |}

Category:India Test cricketers Category:Indian Test captains Category:India One Day International cricketers Category:ACC Asian XI One Day International cricketers Category:Karnataka cricketers Category:South Zone cricketers Category:Leicestershire cricketers Category:Northamptonshire cricketers Category:Surrey cricketers Category:Wisden Cricketers of the Year Category:Recipients of the Arjuna Award Category:Cricketers at the 1996 Cricket World Cup Category:Cricketers at the 1999 Cricket World Cup Category:Cricketers at the 2003 Cricket World Cup Category:Cricketers at the 2007 Cricket World Cup Category:World Cup cricketers of India Category:Recipients of the Padma Shri Category:People from Bangalore Category:1970 births Category:Living people Category:Cricketers at the 1998 Commonwealth Games Category:Indian cricket captains Category:Bangalore cricketers Category:Kannada people