Background

Sri Lanka's only Tamil player of Indian origin, Muttiah represents Sri Lanka in international cricket. When he was a child, he practiced medium-paced bowling. However, he began bowling off-spin when he was 14 years old.

Despite his impressive performance, he received a spot on St. Anthony's College's first XI for four consecutive years. With more than a hundred wickets under his belt in his last two years of high school, Muralitharan played with numbers.

The Bata Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year in 1990/1 was a player who was an all-rounder and batsman in the middle order, coupled with a bowler who had immense spin skills.

First Appearance

In 1991, Muralitharan was selected for Sri Lanka A's tour of England, but despite playing five matches, he could not pick up a single wicket.

Following an impressive performance against Allan Border's Australia during a practice match in 1992, he was called up to the test team. It was in August 1992, in the second test of the home series against Australia that he made his test debut.

Muttiah Muralitharan swept away the bad luck for a country that was relatively new to test cricket. As a matter of fact, his skills did.

In the next test he played, he took five wickets and the third seven. As a result, he took his team from losing two out of 38 matches, to win two games out of five.

Ascend to Glory

Throughout his career, Muttiah Muralitharan has achieved some of the most amazing records in ODIs and tests. Over the course of his career, he has so far taken 800 test wickets from just 230 innings and 534 ODI wickets from 341 innings. His bowling averages are 22.73 and 23.08, respectively. In both his domestic and international career, he outplayed big test cricketing nations like England, South Africa, and India.

He has created and reached such a level of glory that is unbreakable until this day. Although he retired from playing cricket after his retirement, he still holds the record for most wickets in tests and ODIs. Muralitharan was always all about wickets from the start of his career. He then changed his form considerably, with a staggering seven wickets per match in 2000 and a total of six wickets per match in 2002.

Low Point

In the middle of a match, Muralitharan was accused of chucking the ball by the umpires, leading to a probationary suspension, which dropped him from the team. In response, the International Cricket Council (ICC) conducted a comprehensive investigation into Muralitharan's bowling action. In its judgment, the ICC found that there was no wrongdoing on the part of the off-spinner.

Secondly, he was accused of having a connection with a Mumbai bar dancer Tarannum Khan, and through her, with the match-fixing agents

Muralitharan's Record

Muralitharan has picked up 800 wickets in 133 test matches, an average of 6 wickets per match. Records the highest number of five-wicket hauls, with 67.

In Test cricket, Muralitharan has bowled 44039 balls. He is the only Test player to have taken 10 or more wickets in a match against all nine other nations who play Test matches. He also held the record of 50 wickets against all the nations that played Test cricket in his time

In the International Cricket Council's Test bowler’s rankings, he held the top spot for 1711 days spanning 214 Tests. The legendary spinner's home and away Test wickets total 493 and 307 respectively. In-home Tests, Murali holds the top spot, while away from home, he is second only to Shane Warne.

Retirement

Muttiah Muralitharan played his last Test on July 22, 2010, and ended his 18-year career. He retired from the format with 800 wickets from 133 Tests, including 67 five-wicket hauls.