Muttiah Muralitharan, one of the best off-spin bowlers in world cricket, was born on April 17, 1972, in Kandy, Sri Lanka. Though he started his cricketing career as a medium-pacer, Sunil Fernando, his coach in school, advised him to take up spin bowling. He honed his cricketing skills at St. Anthony’s College and took more than one hundred wickets to be named as the ‘Bata Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year’ during the 1990-91 season. He is married to Madhimalar Ramamurthy and they have a son, Naren.
Muttiah Muralitharan made his Test debut on August 28, 1992 against Australia and took three wickets giving away 141 runs in his first Test. His unique wrist-spinning style sets him apart from other spin bowlers and keeps the batsman wary of his deliveries. Muttiah Muralitharan played a pivotal role in Sri Lanka’s Test victories against England and New Zealand during the 1992-93 season. He claimed his first five-wicket haul, 5/104, in Test cricket against South Africa in August 1993. He picked his 100th Test wicket on March 16, 1997 against New Zealand. In January 1998, during Zimbabwe’s tour of Sri Lanka, Muttiah Muralitharan claimed his first ten-wicket haul in the Kandy Test match. In December 2000, by dismissing Shaun Pollock of South Africa, he picked his 300th Test wicket. On March 16, 2004, he reached the 500-wicket mark in Test cricket while playing against Australia, becoming the youngest and fastest bowler to do so.
In May 2004, he broke the West Indies bowler Courtney Walsh’s record of 519 wickets in Test matches. On December 3, 2007, he claimed his 709th wicket against England in his 116th Test match to become the highest wicket taker in Test cricket, surpassing Australian bowler, Shane Warne. As of 2008, Muttiah Muralitharan has played 123 Tests, taking 756 wickets at an average of 21.96. He has claimed 65 five-wicket and 21 ten-wicket hauls, the most by any bowler in Test cricket.
Muttiah Muralitharan began his One Day International (ODI) career on August 12, 1993 against India. On October 27, 2000, he captured seven Indian wickets in Sharjah, conceding just 30 runs, in one of the best bowling figures in ODIs. He was an integral part of the Sri Lankan squad that won the World Cup in 1996. He participated in the 1999, 2003 and 2007 editions of the World Cup, taking 53 wickets in 31 matches. Though Sri Lanka lost to Australia in the 2007 World Cup finals, Muttiah Muralitharan took 23 wickets in the tournament, to finish as the second highest wicket-taker after Glenn McGrath of Australia. In the 314 ODIs that he has played as of 2008, he has picked up 479 wickets at an average of 23.02.
Muttiah Muralitharan was signed by the Chennai Super Kings team in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2008 campaign for $600,000. He played fifteen Twenty20 (T20) matches taking 11 wickets at an average of 36.72.
He is the proud recipient of 19 Man of the Match awards in Test cricket and 11 Man of the Match awards in ODIs. Muttiah Muralitharan was named the Wisden Leading Cricketer in the World in 2000 and 2006. In July 2007, he secured the 4th place in Test bowling on the LG International Cricket Council (ICC) Player Rankings, the highest ever rating achieved by a spinner in Test cricket. The Sri Lankan Parliament honoured Muttiah Muralitharan on January 10, 2008, for creating the world record for the highest number of wickets in Test cricket.
