Posted:
Murali is perhaps the most consistent player in the world who has been successful match after match..He has given trouble to almost every oppositions in the world. He has this unique ability to turn the ball on almost any pitch. If the pitch gives him help tomorrow, Srilanka can expect a second world cup victory tomorrow against the ruthless opposition who has been having almost a cake walk on every team..You think Murali will baja Murali of Australia tomorrow😃 or it will be other way round😆 your thoughts..
Here is a Biographic sketch of Murali
| Muttiah Muralitharan |
| Muttiah Muralitharan (born April 17, 1972 in Kandy), often referred to simply as Murali, is a Sri Lankan cricketer. He is generally regarded as the greatest off-spin bowler in cricket history. However, Muralitharan's career has not been without controversy, with the legality of his bowling action being called into question; it has since been scientifically proven that his bowling action is legal. Muralitharan became politically active in 2004, becoming an ambassador for the United Nations World Food Program, and joining an anti-poverty campaign. He said he was "lucky to be alive" after narrowly missing the 2004 Indian Ocean Earthquake by just 20 minutes. One week later, he was reported to be helping distribute food to victims of the tsunami. He is one of few Tamils to have played for the Sri Lankan cricket team. Muralitharan married an Indian woman, Madhimalar Ramamurthy, in 2005. Cricket career Since his debut in 1992, Muralitharan has taken over 600 Test wickets and over 400 One-day International wickets, and was the first man to take 1,000 wickets in all international cricket. Currently his Test average is 21.73, which compares favourably with other contemporary spin bowlers like Shane Warne (25.41) and Anil Kumble (28.65). In 2002, Wisden carried out a statistical analysis of all Test matches in an attempt to rank the greatest cricketers in history, and Muralitharan was ranked as the number one bowler of all time. Muralitharan's unique bowling action begins with a "flapping wings" run-up, and culminates with an extremely wristy release which had him mistaken for a leg spinner early in his career by Allan Border. Aside from his off break, he also a bowls a fast topspinner which goes straight on, and is a master of the doosra, the surprise delivery which turns from leg to off with no discernible change of action. He is also able to bowl orthodox leg spin, as shown during the South African tour of Sri Lanka in 2006, managing to extract prodigious spin. In May 2004, he overtook West Indian Courtney Walsh's record of 519 Test match wickets to become the highest wicket-taker, a record he kept until Shane Warne, the Australian leg-spinner, claimed it in late 2004 after Warne came back from a one-year ban and an injury forced Murali to miss a considerable number of matches. However, Warne believes that the younger Muralitharan will eventually be the one to finish with the record, saying he believes that Muralitharan will take "1000 wickets" before he retires. Former record holder Courtney Walsh has also opined that this is possible if Murali retains his hunger for wickets. Murali himself believes there is a possibility that he will reach this milestone. Murali is believed to support Christchurch-based Super 14 side, the Crusaders after being spotted wearing a replica jersey in Hamilton. |
| Controversy of bowling action |
| Muralitharan's bowling action is controversial amongst the cricket community, as to some it appears that it contravenes the laws of the game by straightening the arm further than is allowed. The controversy came to a head after Australian umpire Darrell Hair called a "no ball" for an illegal action seven times during the Boxing Day Test match in Melbourne, Australia, in 1995. After discussions between the Australian Cricket Board and the Board of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka, Hair umpired no further games involving Sri Lanka in the season. Former Australian batsman, Sir Donald Bradman, quoted as saying it was the "worst example of umpiring that [he had] witnessed, and against everything the game stands for. Clearly Murali does not throw the ball". Muralitharan was later no-balled for throwing by Australian umpires Ross Emerson and Tony McQuillan in a one-day international against the West Indies, in Brisbane, Australia, in the same summer. Following this season, Muralitharan underwent biomechanical tests in Hong Kong and Australia under the supervision of bowling experts, who cleared his action as legal, citing a congenital defect in Muralitharan's arm which makes him incapable of straightening it any further, but giving the appearance of the arm "straightening" in the bowling action. Doubts about Muralitharan's action persisted however, and in 1999 he was once again called for throwing by umpire Ross Emerson in an ODI against England, at the Adelaide Oval in Australia. The Sri Lankan team almost abandoned the match, but after instructions from the president of the BCCSL, the game resumed. Muralitharan took his 500th Test wicket in the second Test against Australia in Kandy on March 16, 2004. At the end of the series his doosra delivery was officially called into question by match referee Chris Broad and Muralitharan was entered into a two-stage remedial process for bowlers with suspect actions under the supervision of the International Cricket Council ('ICC'). The delivery was examined by biomechanical experts who found it to exceed the current tolerance limit, regarding the degree of bend in the arm, of five degrees for slow bowlers. Despite this he won accolades from former Australian captain, Steve Waugh, who said he was "the Don Bradman of bowling". An extensive ICC study, the results of which were released in November 2004, was conducted to investigate the 'chucking issue'. A panel of former Test players, with the assistance of several biomechanical experts, revealed that 99% of all bowlers bent their arms when bowling. Only one player in the world (batsman Ramnaresh Sarwan) did not transgress the rules when tested. Muralitharan's off break and topspinner were deemed within the rules (2 to 5 degree straightening), but the doosra was still an area of concern.[citation needed] The results of the study has led to the ICC issuing a new guideline allowing for extensions or hyperextensions of up to 15 degrees thus deeming Muralitharan's doosra to be legal. Two vocal critics of Muralitharan's action were former Test cricketers: West Indian Michael Holding, a member of the ICC's Advisory Panel on Illegal Deliveries, and Australian Dean Jones. Holding had been quoted as being in "110% agreement" with Bedi regarding Muralitharan's action and Jones had said "by my interpretation, I think he throws it". Following the ICC study, Holding, a member of the panel that conducted the ICC study stated that, "The scientific evidence is overwhelming... When bowlers who to the naked eye look to have pure actions are thoroughly analysed with the sophisticated technology now in place, they are likely to be shown as straightening their arm by 11 and in some cases 12 degrees. Under a strict interpretation of the law, these players are breaking the rules. The game needs to deal with this reality and make its judgment as to how it accommodates this fact." Due to large amounts of criticism of Murali from Australia - primarily surrounding his bowling action - it now appears he is unlikely ever to tour there again, after being called for "chucking" three times there, his team were subject to a racist slur by former Australian batsman Darren Lehmann and being subject to personal attacks from important Australian figureheads.The legendary former Australian fast-bowler Dennis Lillee branded Murali as "pathetic" and "a real cop-out" after he made his decision to not tour Australia in a two Test series. Shane Warne, who prior to this incident had been complimental of Murali stated he was "thin-skinned." Even Australia's current Prime Minister John Howard has branded Murali a "chucker", and stated "they proved it in Perth with that thing". Murali has since been back to Australia for the Tsunami relief match and the 'Super Series', where he received rapturous applause at the MCG; a ground he had been heckled at earlier in his career. Following a recent Test match between Sri lanka and New Zealand, where Muralitharan played a major role in a Sri Lankan victory, former cricketer and now commentator Martin Crowe called for the ICC to review Murilatharan's bowling action, in particular his doosra delivery. |
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