Celebrated writer Ayaz Memon pays tribute and recalls the very first time he watched master offie Muralitharan bowl
Celebrated writer Ayaz Memon pays tribute and recalls the very first time he watched master offie Muralitharan bowl Sri Lankan legend Muttiah Muralitharan delivers a ball during a practice session at
All cricketers must retire at some time. It is only the departure of a few that robs the game of its allure and leaves followers with a deep sense of regret. Muttiah Muralitharan, who plays his last Test beginning Sunday, is one such.
Not only is Murali the world's highest wicket taker in Testsu00a0-- which is good enough to merit him premium position in cricket's Hall of Fameu00a0-- he is also a truly great exponent of spin bowling. As the history of the game shows for so many players, these two attributes are not necessarily sequential.
True, his career has been laced with controversy over his unusual action, but this must be assessed within the legitimacy that the laws of the game provide. Allegations of chucking have been the ruin of quite a few bowlers in the past, and I can't think of anyone who has survived the stigma for any length of time.
Galle on Saturday. PIC/AFP
Why, Murali was compelled to give a public demonstration at Lord's to show why his flexed-arm action was because of a congenital defect, not a slur on the game. It has been argued that the rising clout of the Asian bloc in world cricket enabled Murali to get away with a revised rule that permitted a 14-degree flex, but that is being churlish.
Murali has had his share of problems, faced a barrage of criticismu00a0-- not all well-meaningu00a0-- and fought back with a mind that is clearly tougher than the fingers of his right hand which tweak the ball like no other bowler before him or after to become the most prolific wicket-taker per Test match since Sydney Barnes.
Indeed, there are not too many instances in cricket's illustrious and long history where one bowler has virtually constituted his team's attack. Off hand, I can think of only three in modern cricket: Kapil Dev briefly perhaps in the early 80s, Richard Hadlee for a much longer period in the same era, and Murali for almost 15 of his 20-year career.
I first saw him in a Test where he didn't bowl a ball. If that seems like a conundrum, let me explain that the Kandy Test against India in mid-July of 1993 was washed out by rain after only 12 overs had been bowled with Sri Lanka batting. "But watch out for him,'' warned skipper Arjuna Ranatunga, "he's special''.
That wasn't immediately evident. Murali missed the second Test, but returned for the third to bowl almost 50 overs in a marathon performance where his stamina and accuracyu00a0-- rather than his spinning skillsu00a0-- were on display. But he was just 21, and still unsure of either his own ability or his place in the side.
He was still to get the strength in his shoulder and fingers which would help him provide the revolutions that can make the ball spin like a top on any surface. The fabled doosra, I reckon, was not even a distant dream. In those days Murali seemed happy to just be in the team.
Incidentally, the doosra is not Murali's 'invention' but Saqlain Mushtaq's. And if an off-spinner's conventional floater is also considered, then the doosra as old as spin bowling itself. But it is only Murali who made this delivery into a ticking time bomb which mesmerised batsmen were mesmerized to their doom.
In his early days, Murali was a rival to the more orthodox Ruwan Kalpage who had a lovely high action and could get the ball to turn a fair bit, but who for some reason could not get wickets regularly enough. The shrewd Ranatunga detected more magic and opportunity in Murali's freaky action. And thus a spin star was born.
Ranatunga's influence on Murali's career is too well-documented to bear repetition here. Suffice to say that his captain not stood firmly behind him during the controversial tours Down Under in the mid-1990s when he was called for chucking, the ebullient spinner's career would have been truncated.
One can write more reams more to the thousands already spent extolling Murali's virtues as a spinner but I would rather spend the time watching him bowl in his last Test. Just how great is he? Shane Warne thinks he is a legend; and also that his action is legitimate. Is that not good enough?
How Murali fared under his skippers
Arjuna Ranatungau00a0
42 Tests, 203 wickets @ 26.90
Sanath Jayasuriyau00a0 35 Tests, 230 wickets @ 20.22
Marvan Atapattu
11 Tests, 70 wicketsu00a0@ 19.42
Hashan Tillakaratne 10 Tests, 76 wickets @ 19.71
Mahela Jayawardene
28 Tests, 186 wickets @ 21.25
Kumar Sangakkara
5 Tests, 22 wickets @ 41.27
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