The end of Murali's illustrious Test career

Chris DHAMBARAGE reporting from Galle

There has never been anyone like him and perhaps there will be no one like him in the future. The legendary Muttiah Muralitharan retired from test cricket after the opening test match against India leaving a lasting impression at the Galle International Stadium.

The veteran off spinner signed off his illustrious test career in a spectacular manner by capturing his 800th wicket on the final day of the match. This is in addition to his record of 515 wickets in one day internationals.

Muralitharan has captured the most number of 10-wicket hauls in Test cricket (18 matches) and also has the most 5-wicket hauls in an innings at Test level. In addition Muralitharan is the first and only player to claim 50 or more wickets against every Test playing nation. He has taken 10 wickets in an innings against the most countries.

He is one of the few bowlers in the world to reach 1000 first class wickets and is the only player to take 10 wickets in a Test match in four consecutive matches twice.

He also reached the 350, 400, 450, 500, 550, 600 and 650 wickets in the fewest number of matches played and has the most Test victims clean bowled.

He will go down in the annals of history as one of the greatest cricketers ever to have played the game.

Having represented the country in a total of 133 Test matches during a span of eighteen years Muralitharan is undoubtedly one of the most adored characters in World cricket.

Muralitharan not only has the potential to spellbind the audience with his sensational deliveries but he is also a perfect ambassador for the game of cricket that he has been associated since 1992.

Muralitharan of course has experienced mixed fortunes during his illustrious career both on and off the field. After being labelled as a 'Chucker' he rose to the pinnacle of Test cricket to become the highest wicket taker in test cricket.

His journey has been a tough one marred with controversies but has fought his way in a true spirit to overcome all obstacles and to bring fame and glory to his motherland.

Muralitharan was no doubt instrumental in helping Sri Lanka to achieve some of the greatest victories by playing a major role in his teams back to back test victories against England and New Zealand in the early 1990's which was followed by the all important World Cup success in 1996.

It was at the backdrop of some uncertainty that he launched his test career against Australia on August 28, 1992 as a 20 year old at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.

At that time no one would have thought that this lanky off spinner with an interesting bowling action would take the cricketing world by storm and finish off as the greatest spin bowler in cricket history.

There was nothing extraordinary in his first spell of bowling as he ended up with figures of three wickets for 141. But that was the real launching pad for a successful career as he grew in stature after every game.

Muralitharan provided the first real magical spell of bowling by claiming his maiden five wicket haul (5 for 104) against the powerful South African team at the De Soysa Stadium in Moratuwa in August 1993.

As the gentle off spinner began to dominate the scenes a controversy erupted during the Boxing Day Test against Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in 1995 with Australian umpire Darrel Hair no balling Muralitharan several times in three overs for chucking.

Biomechanical tests conducted subsequently cleared him off the charge but the controversy returned to haunt him during Sri Lanka's tour of Australia in 1998-99. This time it was Ross Emerson who leveled the allegation and Muralitharan was again cleared by the world cricket governing body.

Despite all these controversies Muralitharan continued to pick up wickets in his own style and fought his way back into recognition like a true soldier.

Thereafter he went on to overtake West Indian great Courtney Walsh's record for the highest test wicket taker of all time.

Muralitharan picked up a total of 26 wickets during the home series against Bangladesh and became the second bowler in Test history after Shane Warne to join the elite 700 wicket club.

He eventually overtook the Australian legend's record of 708 wickets against England on his home grounds at the Asgiriya Stadium in Kandy in December 2007.

There will be many observers who will not agree with all the praise being showered upon this great cricketer.

But they should not forget the amount of psychological strength and perseverance that he has displayed while attempting to keep going through during the hardest of times.

As they say, all good things must come to an end and so has the Test career of Muttiah Muralitharan. But there is hope that he will be around for a few more years in the shorter version of the game to entertain cricket fans around the World.