Murali goes up further, calls it a day

When Muralitharan announced his retirement before the match, there was anticipation whether he would get 8 wickets to get to 800 - as Murali himself said that it was just a number, though it would indeed be nice if he could reach it. Scaling Mount Improbable may not be easy, I thought because Indians usually play spin very well and had in fact played the other great spinner Shane Warne with tremendous, if not dismissive, ease. It is no wonder that

Before his debut, Sri Lanka managed two wins in 38 Tests. Muralitharan has since orchestrated 54 wins, claiming more than 40 per cent of his team's wickets in victories.

and hence not much of a surprise that he indeed reached 800 wickets with his last ever ball in Test cricket.

I think quite a big part of the credit of this achievement should go to Arjuna Ranatunga, under whose captaincy Murali played most of his matches. Arjuna deflected most of the criticism directed at his team and more importantly, kept Murali and his team insulated from the heat of at least the press. I still agree with Michael Holding during his talk on the great Aussie swansong that Warne was a better bowler in comparison. I never understood the chucking part right from the start as I didn't find his action 'strange' and Ian Chappell too seemed to have felt that such hair-splitting is crazy (I too thought that chucker is one who bends the elbow).


Indians, as always, show that they are more prudish than the British. It was disgusting to hear Bedi's comments. Great bowler, he may be, but Bedi's remark that Murali should play cricket for the handicapped was nothing but பேடித்தனம் :( No wonder, Ranatunga compared Bedi to a dog :) I also felt that pace bowlers like Shoaib Akthar will get more benefit out of chucking and was confused how a spin bowler can gain unfair advantage. At best, I can call Murali as 'unorthodox'. It was some sort of a comeback (at least in my eyes) that Bedi calls Murali a good human.

To the dead, the roses; to the living, the thorns.