Muttiah Muralitharan

About Muttiah Muralitharan

Muttiah Muralitharan (also spelt Muralidaran; born 17 April 1972) is a Sri Lankan cricketer who was rated the greatest Test match bowler ever by Wisden Cricketers' Almanack in 2002. He retired from Test cricket in 2010, registering his 800th and final wicket on 22 July 2010 from his final ball in his last Test match.

Test cricket:

Muralitharan took the wicket of Gautam Gambhir on 5 February 2009 in Colombo to surpass Wasim Akram's ODI record of 501 wickets.He became the highest wicket-taker in Test cricket when he overtook the previous record-holder Shane Warne on 3 December 2007.Muralitharan had previously held the record when he surpassed Courtney Walsh's 519 wickets in 2004, but he suffered a shoulder injury later that year and was then overtaken by Warne.

Muralitharan held the number one spot in the International Cricket Council’s player rankings for Test bowlers for a record period of 1,711 days spanning 214 Test matches

Muttiah Muralitharan Achievements

World Records and Achievements:

Muttiah Muralitharan holds a number of world records, and several firsts:

The most Test wickets (800 wickets) 

The most One-Day International wickets (534 wickets) 

The highest number of international wickets in Tests, ODIs and T20s combined (1320 wickets) 

The most 5-wicket hauls in an innings at Test level (67).

The most 10-wicket hauls in a match at Test level (22). He is the only player to take 10 wickets/match against every Test playing nation.

Only player to take 10 wickets in a Test in four consecutive matches. He achieved this feat twice.

Only player to take 50 or more wickets against every Test playing nation.

Muralitharan and Jim Laker (England), are the only bowlers to have taken 9 wickets in a Test innings twice.

7 wickets in an innings against the most countries (5).

Most Test wickets taken bowled (157),stumped (41) and caught & bowled (31). Bowled by Muralitharan (b Muralitharan) is the most common dismissal in Test cricket (excluding run out).

Most successful bowler/fielder (non-wicket keeper) combination – c. Mahela Jayawardene b. Muttiah Muralitharan (77).

Most Man of the Series awards in Test cricket (11).

One of only six bowlers who have dismissed all the eleven batsmen in a Test match. Jim Laker, Srinivasaraghavan Venkataraghavan, Geoff Dymock, Abdul Qadir and Waqar Younis are the others.

Most Test wickets in a single ground. Muralitharan is the only bowler to capture 100-plus Test wickets at three venues, the Sinhalese Sports Club Ground in Colombo, the Asgiriya Stadium in Kandy and the Galle International Stadium in Galle.

The only bowler to take 75 or more wickets in a calendar year on three occasions, achieving it in 2000, 2001 and 2006.

Most ducks (dismissals for zero) ever in international cricket (across Tests, ODIs, and T20Is): 59 ducks total.