Murali takes 1000 wickets
Eat Cricket, Drink Cricket, Sleep Cricket
Give him five more years, and this headline might be doing the rounds
of newspapers one day.
Anyway, we knew this had to happen. The question was, when would it happen? Stand up boys and girls, ladies and gentlemen, and let’s give Muttiah Muralitharan a big round of applause on his 709-wicket haul.
Shane Warne, one of Murali’s biggest sporting rivals and who’s record he’s just broken, had to say this about him in his autobiography:
I have got to know Murali better since the tsunami. In my time I don’t think one player has been as important to his team as he is to Sri Lanka. There will be a big gap in the side when he retires. It is understandable that people will compare us because we are both spinners and we are the leading wicket-takers in Test cricket. I have been lucky to play in a side with excellent pace bowlers so I don’t have to carry the attack in the same way as Murali. True, Chaminda Vaas can be dangerous, but he is not in the same league as Glenn McGrath. For as long as he plays I can see Murali continuing to bowl nearly half of Sri Lanka’s overs and therefore take half of their wickets. My guess is that he will finish with about 1,000 Test wickets, for what that is worth.
To commemorate this great occasion, a portrait of Murali, painted by Phil Hale (see image), will be put up at the Lord’s in his honor.
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For some of you the world came to an end, I understand. (Now, don’t give me terrifying glances, ohkay?) Take heart, folks. You’ll get over it.
Tags: murali, muttiah, muttiah-muralitharan, the-LordsRelated Stories
POSTED IN: Cricket, Heroes of the Week
18 opinions for Murali takes 1000 wickets
Cricket Betting Blogger
Dec 3, 2007 at 5:24 pm
As an England supporter it is quite devastating to see him in such brilliant form, but I have to admit; that moment when he took out Collingwood’s stumps’ was rather special.
I can very much see that headline in bold, ‘doing the rounds’ as you said. For Shane Warne to compliment him as well really puts into perspective how good he is. One of the all time greats.
…If only he were English!
Dinnie
Dec 3, 2007 at 5:49 pm
Agree. Can’t rob him off the “all time great” title just because….
Ottayan
Dec 4, 2007 at 12:12 am
Dinnie,
That 1000 wickets seem improbable.
Murali haas expressed his desire to play untill the 2011 WC.
I wonder how many tests he will play between now and then?
Plus to get to 1000 runs he needs to play England,Zimbabwe and Bangladesh more than anyother teams. :)
Ottayan
Dec 4, 2007 at 12:13 am
Dinnie,
A correction - it should be read as 1000 ‘wickets’ and not ‘runs’ as I have mentioned in the last line.
Abhishek
Dec 4, 2007 at 6:17 am
Ottayan,
Murali takes wickets against any opposition. Even against India and Australia, he does take wickets though at a much higher runs/wicket average. I think it’s time to can the Murali-cheat/chucker/minnow-basher taunts! Even Warne couldn’t crack the India-connumdrum…
Ottayan
Dec 4, 2007 at 7:15 am
Abhishek,
Why should we can the ‘chucker’ taunts?
straight point
Dec 4, 2007 at 9:06 am
why cant we just see him beyond chucker or cheat tags…why its hard for us to see the qualities he posses…and shown on field…puzzles me to no end…i have tried to touch upon that in my recent post hope you will concur…
Ottayan
Dec 4, 2007 at 10:05 am
SP,
It is simple, why cant you accept he is a chucker? :)
Jokes apart, we are not talking about Murali the man, we are talking about him as a cricketer or to be specific, a bowler.
That is a different can of worms.
Dinnie
Dec 4, 2007 at 11:11 am
A chucker is someone who manipulates his bowling action deliberately.
Murali doesn’t bend his arm because he wants to; there’s a permanent deformity in his arm. The biomechanics who have observed his action on 3-D videos say there’s no way he can straighten it, and they find nothing wrong with the action.
Uncle J Rod
Dec 4, 2007 at 1:11 pm
How straight does his arm look in that painting?
Sam
Dec 4, 2007 at 9:17 pm
The frequency with which SL play BD, its not tht difficult to take 1000 wkts. Can you imagine he has played 23 Tests against BD and Zim. Ak has 10 and Warne has 2. So lots of easy wkts for him……
And Abhishek said he took wkts against Indians too…when ? I dint see……..
Ok i know he s a cheat and a chucker, but wont harp abt it here nemore. i m puttin few facts abt him ok. they r my observations,
1) he hasnt won any series overseas for SL (exclude BD, Zim, Pak) no Pak aint minnows, but outside this 3 countries, the dude hasnt had series winning successs… one rare win in NZ or Eng is fine. but no spinning away to successss rt. why ? why his wkts win games only in SL ?
2) he hasnt had much success in India, WI, SA and Aus. In fact SL dont tour WI that much. 2 tours in its history of 25 yrs. Yet he is entitled to be greatest bowler ?
3) he hasnt had success against top batsmen of his generation — Lara, Tendulkar, Dravid, Inzy, Ponting, Hayden, Langer…getting headless chickens who dont know how to play spin isnt a much big deal rt. For 10 yrs he dint bowl to Tendulkar in a test and when he did in 2005 TEN got better of him.
4) How many Tests has he won for SL ? Hardly 25…(leave out BD and Zim)…
all this pointers aint that of a greatest bowler. so he s just a bowler who gets cheap wkts and dust bowls in Lanka. take him out to India or WI, he would hop and dance, but wont jump in wkts!!!
Abhishek
Dec 5, 2007 at 4:24 am
Somebody had posted a detailed analysis of all the points mentioned above - I’m too lazy to look it up (don’t remember which blog) and print it here. But I’m sure that if you guys look up Statsguru, you’ll see for yourself. One stat I do remember is his bowling average vs India (32 odd) as compared to Warne’s corresponding figure (47 odd). Also, he’s taken something like 65-70 wickets against India from 14-15 matches. It’s less than his overall wickets/match ratio but it still is respectable, especially considering the skill level of Indians in playing spin.
I don’t see the point in getting into a flame war about the legality of his action. People who aren’t yet convinced will never be. Talking about cheap wickets vs BD and Zim is a moot point. Why are Warne’s wickets against England and South Africa given more weightage? Their prowess against spin (especially in the 90s) is well known!
Sam
Dec 5, 2007 at 5:09 am
Yeah true. Most of wkts in dust bowls of Lanka against hobblers and wobblers make him greatest bowler ever ? then we do a great injustice to the great fast bowlers of the yore and the present who managed to take wkts in all conditions and won their teams more matches than any one.
if likes of Murali are to be greats, then what are the likes of Macko, Big Bird, Holding, Walsh, Ambrose, Lillie, great 4 all rounders, mcGrath, Donald supposed to be ? Lame ducklings ?
And why are Warne s wkts against SA and Eng supposed to be cheap ? Dint England manage to win Ashes 2005 despite Warney taking 40 wkts ?
And I have felt a bowler s greatness lies in how many matches he wins for his country. Murali lacks way behind in this aspect. He s got 67 wkts vs India, but how many of them in winning cause ? he s just won 2 games vs India, when Sachin and Laxman dint tour SL in 2001.
How many matches has Murali won for SL against top brass home and away ? Aus, Ind, WI and England ?
Count them and you find he s way behind. Its just sympathy and the hype that he s getting in his kitty, else he is just a ordinary bowler who bowls illegal deliveries.
Abhishek
Dec 5, 2007 at 6:53 am
I promised myself that I wouldn’t get dragged into a flame war, but…
Visit this blog page:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/tms/2007/12/popular_murali_deserves_succes.shtml
There’re all kinds of statistics there - you might want to check the numbers that are excluding Zim and BD.
And BTW, nobody is refuting the other bowlers’ greatness. But when you call Murali “just a (sic) ordinary bowler who bowls illegal deliveries”, not only is it in factually incorrect since his action is legal as per the law, but you also ignore the fact that Sri Lanka didn’t win as many matches as the other bowlers because of a lack of support for Murali. All of the above bowlers had support both in the bowling as well as batting departments!
Cricket’s history is full of legends who have not been part of winning teams. Doesn’t diminish their stature! The names of George Headley, Bert Sutcliffe, Vijay Hazare, Vijay Merchant, Lala Amarnath, Amar Singh come to mind… In fact, since you mentioned the four allrounders, I’d like to point out that two of them (Hadlee and our very own Kapil) were in teams that didn’t have great winning records. I don’t think anybody thinks any less of them!
Abhishek
Dec 5, 2007 at 6:55 am
Dinnie,
My apologies to you for ranting about! This is it though, no more retaliation from me, no matter what the provocation…
Stuart
Dec 5, 2007 at 9:15 am
Lets just celebrate Murali as a great bowler. The ICC says he is legal, and that is good enough to me. Congrats. to Murali for getting the record - well deserved.
Sam
Dec 5, 2007 at 1:39 pm
Abhishek, thanks for the link and i dint provocate you. as u stick to ur views i do to mine. for me he s a chucker and would always be. Muttiah Chuckalidharan.
Dinnie
Dec 5, 2007 at 2:13 pm
No hard feelings, Sam, Abhishek, and everyone.
Blogs are for ranting.
Oh, and picture abhi baki hai…
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