Muttiah Muralitharan born 17 April 1972 in Kandy, Sri Lanka), often referred to as Murali, is a Sri Lankan cricketer who was rated the greatest Test-Match bowler ever by Wisden Cricketers' Almanack in 2002.
Muralitharan is Test cricket's highest wicket-taker, having overtaken the previous record-holder Shane Warne on December 3, 2007. Muralitharan had held the record before when he surpassed West Indies' Courtney Walsh's 519 wickets in 2004. But he suffered a shoulder injury later that year and was then overtaken by Warne. He is also second in the list of wicket-takers in One Day Internationals.
Averaging over six wickets per Test, Muralitharan is one of the most successful bowlers in the game and the greatest player in Sri Lanka's history. He plays domestic cricket for the Tamil Union Cricket and Athletic Club, and county cricket for Lancashire as an overseas player.
Muralitharan's career has been beset with controversy; his bowling action called into question on a number of occasions by umpires and sections of the cricket community. After biomechanical analysis in non-match conditions, Muralitharan's action was cleared by the International Cricket Council, first in 1996 and again in 1999. The legality of his doosra was first called into question in 2004. This delivery was found to exceed the ICC elbow extension limit of five degrees, assigned for spinners at that time. Based on of official studies into bowling actions, the International Cricket Council revised the elbow flexion limits applying to all bowlers in 2005. Muralitharan's doosra falls within the revised limits.
Muralitharan was left out of the one-day touring squad to West Indies in early 2008, leading to speculation that he may be focusing on Test cricket in the future whilst Sri Lanka built a younger squad for One Day Internationals.
Career statistics
Tests ODI FC LA
Matches 121 310 219 378
Runs scored 1,156 524 2,087 693
Batting average 11.56 5.86 11.28 6.41
100s/50s 0/1 0/0 0/1 0/0
Top score 67 27 67 27
Balls bowled 40,287 16,822 62,929 20,095
Wickets 746 475 1,309 575
Bowling average 21.77 22.85 19.06 22.97
5 wickets in innings 65 9 115 10
10 wickets in match 21 n/a 32 n/a
Best bowling 9/51 7/30 9/51 7/30
Catches/stumpings 68/– 122/– 119/– 142/–
Anil Radhakrishna Kumbleborn 17 October 1970 in Bangalore, Karnataka) is an Indian cricketer. He is a right-arm leg spin (legbreak googly) bowler and a right-hand batsman. He is currently the leading wicket-taker for India in both Test and One Day International matches. At present he is the third highest wicket-taker in Test cricket and one of only three bowlers to have taken more than 600 Test wickets. Kumble has had success bowling with other spinners, notably Venkatapathy Raju and Rajesh Chauhan in the 1990s and Harbhajan Singh since 2000.
Kumble was appointed the captain of the Indian Test cricket team on 8 November 2007. His first assignment as captain was the three-test home series against Pakistan that India won 1-0. Then he led the Indian Test team on its tour to Australia for the 2007-08 four-test series of The Border-Gavaskar Trophy that India lost 1-2. Kumble succeeds his state team mate Rahul Dravid, who resigned as the captain in September 2007 . Since his debut in international cricket in April 25, 1990, he has taken over 600 Test wickets and 330 ODI wickets. Although often criticized as not a big turner of the ball, Kumble is the second highest wicket taker among leg spinners in Test cricket behind leg spinner Shane Warne of Australia and the third of all bowlers after Warne and off spinner Muttiah Muralitharan of Sri Lanka and has claimed over 600 Test wickets. He is one of only two bowlers in the history of cricket to have taken all 10 wickets in a test innings, the other being Jim Laker of England. Kumble is currently ranked the 5th best bowler in Tests by the International Cricket Council. He was awarded the Padma Shri, one of India's highest civilian honours, by the Government of India in 2005.
Career statistics
Tests ODI FC LA
Matches 127 271 238 380
Runs scored 2427 938 5475 1456
Batting average 18.24 10.53 22.16 11.20
100s/50s 1/5 0/0 7/17 0/0
Top score 110* 26 154* 30*
Balls bowled 39450 14496 65399 20247
Wickets 608 337 1120 514
Bowling average 29.06 30.89 25.54 27.58
5 wickets in innings 35 2 72 3
10 wickets in match 8 n/a 19 n/a
Best bowling 10/74 6/12 10/74 6/12
Catches/stumpings 57/– 85/– 117/– 122/–
No comments:
Post a Comment