Muttiah Muralitharan’s Magical career, “Mr. 800”
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Muttiah-Muralitharan-c78157 finished his career in perfect fashion. He entered his last test match with a challenge aim to achieve 800 wickets. Murali needed eight wickets in his final test against India to reach a landmark which no one has achieved. It looked next to impossible when the first two days of the test match were spoiled because of rain. Things quickly changed when Sri Lanka posted a score of 520-8 and declared in the first innings of the match. Murali was quick to capitalize on the remaining time and picked up 5 wickets in the first innings.
India got out for only 278 and once again was forced to bat. A follow on is always a difficult position to be in and the Indian line up once again collapsed but this time it was Malinga who picked up five wickets. http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750 was nine down and Murali needed the last wicket to reach 800 wickets. The Indian tail continued to fight and Murali patiently waited for his moment. There were moments when it looked as if Murali might not achieve his historic figure but his patience finally paid off and he got his 800 wickets. Pragyan Ojha might be feeling lucky to be Murali’s 800th victim because his name will remain in the records book for a long time to come.
Muralitharan received a heroic send off by a jam packed stadium. It will take ages to beat Murali’s record. Some suggest that it may never be broken, since test cricket is not played much these days.
Let’s look at some of the achievements that the legendary spinner had during his brilliant career.
Muralitharan holds the record of most test wickets in test cricket with a massive margin. Murali got 800 wickets in 133 test matches. Shane Warne is the second best with 708 wickets. The superb off spinner also holds the record for most five-wicket hauls in an innings. Murali picked up 67 five wicket hauls during his career. Mutthiah also holds the record for most 10-wicket hauls in test matches. On 22 occasions he picked up 10 wickets in a test match. The magician spinner also holds the records for most wickets taken bowled in tests, most wickets taken caught in tests and most wickets taken stumped. Murali also holds the record of achieving 10-wicket hauls in four consecutive test matches.
Let’s take a look on some of the memorable years of Murali’s marvellous career.
Muttiah Muralitharan made his debut in 1992 against Australia in Colombo. In 1995 Murali was no balled by umpire Darrell Hair for throwing in http://www.senore.com/Cricket/West-Indies-c760. In 2006 he reached the 600-wicket mark. On 6th July, Murali announced he would retire after the end of first test against India starting from 18th. On 22nd July he achieved his 800-wicket milestone and bowed out of test cricket as the world’s highest wicket taker.
Murali was carried off the field on his teammate’s shoulders, in a gesture to bid farewell to the greatest bowler of all times. Murali was the only Tamil of Indian origin to represent http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sri-Lanka-c758 yet he always played the role of unifying the team. He was not only a hero with the ball but was highly respected in the cricketing world for his friendly and down to earth nature.
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