Friday, July 23, 2010

Muralidharan 800 wickets in Test Matches


Muttiah Muralitharan jumped for joy, his radiant visage and big, bold eyes lighting up the arena. The moment marked a historic occasion for Test cricket.

The off-spinning wizard spun one away from the left-handed Pragyan Ojha for Mahela Jayawardene to hold a fine low catch at slip here on2010 July 22.

This was Muralitharan's 800th wicket in Tests — he is the only bowler to achieve the feat.

It was also a dream within a dream for Muralitharan. His last performance for Sri Lanka in Tests concluded with jubilant team-mates chairing him around the arena. The crowd cheered, fireworks lit the sky while a band paid tribute to a legend. What a farewell Test!

This was the perfect script for Sri Lanka and Muralitharan.

“Cricket can be very cruel game. But if you can fight your way back as Muralitharan has done, go through all the things he has gone through and still come back hard, you are going to be a winner,” said Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

Dhoni had captured Muralitharan's indomitable spirit. The 38-year-old match-winner battled great odds during his eventful cricketing journey. In his moment of glory, he was willing to forget and forgive.

Forget and forgive

Talking about the Australian umpires who had called him for chucking, Muralitharan said, “I would like to forget and forgive. From what they saw from naked eye and in their mind, they felt my action was not clean.

But players must be given a chance to defend themselves. The ICC has done the right thing. It is only right that technology is being used to determine the correctness of bowling actions.”

Muralitharan imparts telling revolutions on the ball explaining the flight, dip and spin in his bowling. The man from Kandy has this unique ability to turn the ball on any surface.

Yet, it was a clever coach who, during Muralitharan's school days, convinced him from being a medium-pacer to becoming a spinner. The spin legend remembered his coach Sunil Fernando for his career-changing role here on Thursday.

He also acknowledged the contribution of former skipper Arjuna Ranatunga and his former team-mate, the formidable Aravinda de Silva, in shaping his career.

Muralitharan said, “I want to thank Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa for coming here and supporting me. It was great to have my family and friends around.”


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