Murali on top of the world
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Sri Lankan spinner Muttiah
Muralitharan became Test cricket’s most successful bowler after
surpassing retired Shane Warne’s record tally of 708.
The off-spinner, playing his 116th Test, bowled Paul Collingwood in
the morning session of the third day of the first Test against
England in Kandy to grab the record in his home town.
The 35-year-old’s achievement was watched by about 6,000 joyous fans
at the Asgiriya stadium, including his parents and Indian wife
Madhimalan. |
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The feat marks a new high in the 15-year career of one of the most
celebrated bowlers of the modern game whose controversial bent-arm
action was questioned in the past by umpires.
Muralitharan had previously held the record briefly in 2004 when he
overtook West Indian fast bowler Courtney Walsh’s 519-wicket mark,
before Warne surpassed him.
Muralitharan’s 61st five-wicket haul — he finished with 6-55 to take his
tally to 710 — saw England being bowled out for 281 on the third morning
in reply to Sri Lanka’s first innings total of 188.
The beaming Sri Lankan told a television interviewer during the lunch
break that “it was the right time” to achieve the record.
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“It’s my hometown, my parents are here, my wife is here, all
the relatives are here and all my schoolfriends,” said
Muralitharan.
“It’s a bigger moment than if I had taken it in Australia.
It’s the right time, I think. It’s not easy to take six
wickets in an innings but I managed to let my pressure off
now.”
Muralitharan said bowling Collingwood was a special moment,
even though the ball did not spin as much as he had expected. |
“I tried to spin the ball and it went the other
way, but that’s a special wicket,” he said.
Muralitharan said he regarded the 16 wickets he
took against England at the Oval in 1998 as his
best performance.
“That was the highlight because it made people
think that I was a good bowler and one who could
take wickets overseas as well as at home,” he
said.
Muralitharan’s bent-arm action, the result of an
elbow deformity since birth, helped him impart
considerable turn and bounce even on the most
placid wickets.
The unusual action caused heartburn in the
cricket world, especially in Australia where
umpires no-balled him for throwing and former
prime minister John Howard once called him a
“chucker.”
Sri Lanka’s captain Mahela Jayawardene saluted
his master spinner, saying Murali was not only
“the best bowler in the world” but also the
ideal team-mate.
“He is hungry for wickets but for him the team
comes first,” Jayawardene told AFP.
“At team meetings, he always talks about how to
get the opposition out, how to win matches. It
is always about the team, never about how we get
another record.
“With that attitude, he will go on for a long,
long time.”
Murali, who made his Test debut in 1992, hopes
to carry on despite a string of injuries that
once forced exasperated former team physio Alex
Kontouris to describe him as a “bio-mechanical
mess.”
He said in a recent interview he wants to take
1,000 Test wickets and hopes to play for Sri
Lanka till the 2011 limited-overs World Cup to
be hosted in the Indian sub-continent.
“I want to achieve a little bit more because I
am still hungry for wickets,” Muralitharan said.
Warne, paying rich tributes to his
fellow-spinning great, said in Australia that
Muralitharan’s record will stand for ever.
“I congratulate Murali for breaking the record I
had,” said Warne.
“Murali has said he wanted to take 1000 Test
wickets and he is every chance of getting there.
“If he does I don’t think anyone else will catch
him.
“Despite what people say he’ll be remembered as
one of the game’s great bowlers.”
--AFP, Kandy |
