And there it was… the much awaited world record, as Murali bowled a beauty of a delivery that went the wrong way to fool Collingwood and take his stumps. And there he was smiling with the satisfaction that he is now the world’ best bowler. Interestingly, Murali had told that he actually bowled a regular off-spinner that went the other way due to the surface of the pitch… so now even the pitches are siding with him :). Target: 1000 wickets is his next goal and why not.

Muralitharan completed his feat in just 116 matches with an average of 21.67 with an economy rate of 2.41. With 61 five wickets haul and 20 ten wickets hauls in a test, his figures clearly stand as the one of the best of all times. From a sheer statistics point of view, only Curtley Ambrose (405 wickets, av. 20.99. eco. 2.30) and the great Malcolm Marshall (376 wickets, av. 20.94, eco 2.68), indicate having a better wicket taking ability. Shane Warne is not far away from these figures and the people of this era should be privileged to have watched two of the greatest bowlers of all times spin their magic.

Controversies surrounding Murali’s bowling action is perhaps something which will continue to haunt him for the rest of his life. But aren’t we being a bit too unfair to him by constantly heckling him for that? The Sri Lankan grouse was that this whole issue of chucking started surfacing only years after he played and when he started picking wickets in heaps. Until then, no one bothered. And besides, he went through all the bowling suspect action tests and the governing body ICC, cleared him with a controversial 15 degrees allowance to all bowlers. But then, what is the ICC? A governing private body with representative private boards from all cricketing countries and like a democracy, each board can vote to decide the direction the game of cricket can progress. So was it his fault that he was given the allowance to continue bowling? And besides realistically, it takes much more for a bowler to have such a phenomenal success that he has had over these years, to be passed off as one that resulted sheerly in his slightly bent action. This slender advantage which many perceive he has, is too naive to be the sole reason for his success. Besides, he was cleared on the grounds of not having an unfair advantage. Should it not be clearly the ICC, a private body, which should be heckled and kicked? Changes have been made and it is now legal to all… there is no point in taking it all out on Murali… kick the ICC instead.

Warne’s latest dig on Murali predominately taking ‘cheap wickets’ of teams like Zimbabwe and Bangladesh, may also seem hollow. Sure he ran through smaller sides like a bear with a picnic basket, with quite a few matches played against them but unlike Warne, he did not have the likes of a Mcgrath and a Lee who would rip the top half of a team, which therefore states that his abilities were not cheap by any means.

Having said all this, there is one thing that Muttiah Muralitharan would never take from Warne… ever… 1000 wickets or not…. Shane Warne was without a shadow of doubt in my opinion, one of the greatest entertainers in the history of the game. Everything stops, as Warne bowls, always at the centre of attention, beautiful deliveries, mind-games played, sarcastic comments and bunny plays, those manipulative appeals and those antics on and off the field, which all brings character and flavour to the game. While Muralitharan is just one of those that simply got down to business calm as ever silently carrying the burden and hopes of an entire island nation, as the lone strike bowler.