Muralitharan’s efforts are amazing

Pakistan great Wasim Akram believes that spin wizard Muttiah Muralitharan has the potential of capturing one thousand wickets in Test cricket if he continues to play for another two or three years.

The former Pakistan paceman made these observations on the eve of the first cricket Test between Pakistan and Sri Lanka which starts at the National Stadium in Karachi on Saturday. The match will also mark the return of Test cricket to Pakistan after a lapse of 15 months.

Akram noted that Muralitharan’s efforts are simply amazing no matter what type of surface he has played on, no matter in which country and against which team, he is more than a good bowler.

Muralitharan recently overtook Akram’s World record of 503 wickets in One Day Internationals during the home series against India. The 36 year old right arm off spinner is also the most successful wicket taker in Test cricket with a tally of 769 scalps from 125 matches and is only the second player after Sachin Tendulkar to hold two major cricketing World records.

Muralitharan will begin the Test match needing just a solitary wicket to complete fifty wickets in Pakistan. He has a tally of 49 wickets at the moment from only seven matches at an excellent average of 21.48. In overall Test matches against Pakistan he has captured 79 wickets from 14 matches at a splendid average of 23.31. Akram who has followed Muralitharan progress in both forms of the game in the recent past feels that no bowler will be able to get closer to his records.

Akram who captured 502 wickets in 356 matches before retiring from international cricket in 2003, paid tribute to Muralitharan, who achieved this feat while playing in his 328th match. He also predicted Muralitharan could go past the 600 wicket mark in One Day Internationals considering the amount of cricket been played at the moment. Akram said that Muralitharan is a great bowler and he deserves the record - which are there to be broken. He said that Muralitharan is relentless in taking wickets and is happy that a bowler of his calibre has broken his record.

Muralitharan in fact has happy memories while performing in Pakistan having played a major role in their historic 2-1 series victory in 1995/96 under the captaincy of Arjuna Ranatunga. Sri Lanka after conceding the first Test came back magnificently to win the remaining two games in the most spectacular manner with Muralitharan leading from the front.

In the 1999/2000 series Muralitharan again tormented the Pakistan batsmen with his clever variation that gave Sanath Jayasuriya his third successive Test series win since taking over the captaincy the previous July. Muralitharan’s performance was the turning point in this series where Sri Lanka came closer of making a clean sweep for the first time.

Karachi, Thursday