Muttiah Muralitharan: A unstoppable Warrior who turn the throwing stone into milestone

Deshabandu Muttiah Muralitharan was born on April 17, 1972, in Kandy to a Tamil family. He got involved in cricket at the age of nine at St. Anthony's College. But the astonishing part is, this spinner who made history was a medium pace bowler at that time! At the age of 14, he started developing himself as an off-spinner on the advice of his coach Sunil Fernando. At the end of his school career, he joined the Tamil Union Club in 1991.

Muralitharan soon caught the attention of the selectors of the Sri Lankan cricket team after joining professional cricket. The main reason for this was his very different bowling action, he was the first wrist-spinning off-spinner in the history of cricket. Moreover, Murali's arsenal was very diverse, in addition to the off-break, the combination of top-spin and Dushra made him a mysterious spinner. The selectors decided to bring him to the national team very quickly after finding a bowler of such a rare talent where usually all the wrist spinners are leg spinners but here he is an off-spinner.

That is why he was called up to the Sri-Lanka 'A' team in 1991. However, Murali was wicketless despite playing five matches. But, the Sri-Lankan cricket board was adamant in their decision to bring him to the national team. Murali made his international debut on 27 August 1992 in the Colombo Test against Australia. however, the debut was not so memorable, he took three wickets in two innings.

Muralitharan's performance was also averaging in his debut ODI against India in August of the following year, taking one wicket for 38 runs in 10 overs. But in that same month, he took five wickets for the first time in his career in a Test match against South Africa.

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Murali did not take a long time to prove himself that he is an equally effective bowler not only at the home ground but also on the away pitch. The off-spinner was played one of the key roles in Sri Lanka's first Test victory on the foreign ground by taking five wickets for 64 runs in the second innings of the Napier Test against New Zealand in 1995.

In the same year, he took 19 wickets in a three-match Test series against Pakistan at home and proved himself that he is also a formidable opponent against subcontinental teams.

The biggest shocking moment to Muralitharan's career came in 1995 in the Boxing Day Test against Australia. In that match, umpire Darrell Hair repeatedly called Muralitharan's ball as no-ball by referring as chucking. At one stage, Ranatunga did not bring back Murali for bowling. The Sri-Lankan team made a formal complaint against Hair at the end of the match, but the ICC did not take that allegation seriously. As a result, Sri Lanka decided to play without Murali in the last match of the series.

Murali did not give up at all, however, to prove himself right, he took part in a biomechanical test in Australia, where his bowling action was declared valid. In fact, Murali's elbow is inherently curved, he could never straighten the whole elbow. And that's the exact reason Murali's bowling creates the illusion that chucking ball, but that's not the case at all.

Meanwhile, Sri-Lanka won the 1996 World Cup by beating everyone. Murali's contribution to that world cup victory maybe not catches the eye, but it was he who laid the foundation for the victory behind the tournament. He took 7 wickets in 6 matches in that World Cup. Though the performance looked mediocre in all respects, Murali showed the real magic in holding back the run rate. He spent only 3.8 runs per over in that World-cup!

In 1996, he took 36 wickets in 13 ODIs at an average of 23.97. In 1997, Muralitharan became the first Sri Lankan bowler to take 100 wickets in a Test.

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Murali's bowling action was again questioned in January 1999, this time by umpire Roy Emerson. As a result, he had to undergo biomechanical tests, again and again, this time his bowling action was proved to be valid. He also performed well in the 1999 World Cup, but the Lankans had to leave the world cup after the group stage.

Muralitharan took nine wickets for just 51 runs in the first innings of the Candy Test against Zimbabwe in January 2002. This is the best bowling figure of his Test career. In that series the 72nd match of his Test career, he took 400 wickets which were the fastest in that time.

The spin magician showed an outstanding performance in the Champions Trophy held at home, 2002, bowled three innings, and took10 wickets, which is the highest number of wickets in that event. Based on his great performance, Sri Lanka won the title jointly with India.

Muralitharan took 17 wickets at an average of 18.76 in 10 matches in the 2003 World Cup, spending only 3.64 runs per over! This time, however, the team could not win the title like the Champions Trophy, the Sri Lankans had to leave from the semi-finals of that World Cup.

Referee Chris Broad questioned the legitimacy of Murali's 'Dushra' ball in the Test series against Australia in March 2004. As a result, he went for a biomechanical test for the third time, where it was seen his hand bend to 14 degrees while he was bowling the 'Dushra'. But according to the rules of that time, spinners could bend a maximum of 5 degrees, medium pacers 8.5 degrees, and pacers a maximum of 10 degrees. However, after this test, the ICC noticed that according to the prevailing rules, the action of the majority bowlers bowling action will be considered illegal. So the ICC allows all types of bowlers to bend their arms a maximum of 15 degrees. As a result, Murali's Dushra was also declared valid. After this incident, there was no question about Murali's bowling action.

Muralitharan became the second-highest wicket-taker in the 2007 World Cup, by taking 23 wickets in 10 matches. However, the Sri Lankans failed to replicate the success of the 1996 World Cup, by losing to Australia in the final. After this World Cup, he has moved away from his ODI career and has been focusing on Tests.

Muralitharan became the second bowler after Warne to take 700 wickets in Tests in July 2007 and In December of that year, Muralitharan became the highest wicket-taker in the Tests, beating English batsman Paul Collingwood in the Candy Test, breaking Warne's record of 708 wickets.

The legend became the first man in the world to take 800 wickets in a three-match Test series against India in July 2010 and he announced the end of his long 18-year Test career in the first Test of that three-match Test series.

Sri-Lanka lost to India by 8 wickets in the final of the 2011 World Cup. Muttiah Muralitharan bid farewell to international cricket through this match.

Conclusions

This ability to bowl at a single line-length did not come overnight, Muralitharan was able to acquire this quality through constant perseverance and hard work. The way he put himself on the throne of excellence by overcoming various controversies off the field is really admirable. No matter what the obstacles, if one is honest in one's work, success will come - Muttiah Muralitharan will be immortalized in the pages of history as a perfect example of this.