Archives

By Sa'adi Thawfeeq

What makes Muttiah Muralitharan, the youngest and quickest bowler to take 400 Test wickets stand out from other cricketers is, his passion for his craft, his strength of mind to tide over the hurdles and, his ability to send down marathon spells, seldom tiring and, always keeping the batsmen wary of his new bag of tricks.

If there is one man who is making a race toward West Indies fast bowler Courtney Walsh's world record of 519 Test wickets, it can only be Muralitharan.

The improvement in his strike rate has been so dramatic over the years that he has become the most potent candidate to threaten Walsh's record.

What was most satisfying in Muralitharan taking 400 Test wickets was that he achieved this milestone at home in front of his own supporters. His previous milestones to 100, 200 and 300 Test wickets were all achieved abroad.

Muralitharan's first 100 wickets came in over 27 Tests in New Zealand, his 200th arrived in 42 Tests in England, when he took a career best 16 wickets at the Oval in 1998, and his 300th was brought up in 58 Tests in South Africa.

What has been most remarkable in Muralitharan's achievement is the dramatic way in which he has improved his strike rate. If the first 100 wickets came in 27 Tests and the next 100 took 15, the last 30 Tests has seen him pick up 204 wickets! This gives him an average of around nearly seven wickets a Test over the last two years.

If he keeps going at this rate Walsh's record would quickly become a mere thing of the past. He would get there within the next 24 months, and Muralitharan would still be only 31, the age his contemporary rival from Australia Shane Warne passed 400 Test wickets.

Muralitharan is supremely fit and if he carries on for five more years which is a distinct possibility, his tally of wickets would be close to a mind-boggling 700.

The master spinner has already made his intentions clear that he would like to go for 600 wickets, which should be his next target after passing Walsh.

A dangerously deceptive adversary with a unique wrist action, Muralitharan's added variety is what has made him such a formidable customer over the past four years in comparison to the one-dimensional bowler he was at the beginning of his career.

Muralitharan is remarkably consistent too serving very few loose balls and is on the spot from ball one, which hardly gives a batsman any respite.

Muralitharan is more comfortable bowling to right handers, but this doesn't mean he is easy meat for the southpaws. He is in fact, actually winning quite a few battles against them. The contest between him and West Indian left-hander Brian Lara was an enthralling one. Lara fell to Muralitharan only twice in six innings and scored the majority of his 688 runs in the series against him.

Then against Indian left-hander Sandagoppan Ramesh, Muralitharan delivered a ball akin to Warne's ball of the century to Mike Gatting, when he spun it across from outside the leg stump to clip the off bail, leaving a well set Ramesh bewildered and bemused.

Given his astonishing ability to turn the ball on any surface, Muralitharan is always a threat not only to opposing batsmen, but also to leg-spinner Warne, who could emerge the biggest rival in the race to get to Walsh's record. The careers of the two master trundlers have run parallel.

Unlike Warne, Muralitharan has had to overcome career threatening hurdles, especially against Australian umpires who are the only ones who see his bowling action different from the rest of the umpiring fraternity.

If Muralitharan holds reservations against going to Australia in the future no one can blame him. The umpires and the spectators have given him hell on the two tours he has made there. With over 400 wickets in the bag he doesn't deserve to be treated in that manner, but in a manner akin to a champion cricketer.

Muralitharan is already on his way to entering the Hall of Fame and when he does that even Australia will have to admit that He's the Best of Best.

News | Business | Features | Editorial | Security
Politics | World | Letters | Sports | Obituaries |

Produced by Lake House
Copyright 2001 The Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd.
Comments and suggestions to :Web Manager