M Muralitharan has announced that he would retire from Cricket at the end of the first test at Galle against India. crickick.com brings out the statistical achievements in test cricket of this great bowler, the world has seen. It is noted with interest that some of his statistical feats/achievements are unparalleled in the annals of test cricket
He was born on April, 17, 1972 at Kandy and made his test debut against Australia at Col-RPS in Aug 1992 at the age of 20 years. His first test victim was CJ McDermott whom he had leg before wicket for 9. He returned with figures of 17.0-2-32-1 in the first innings and 34.0-7-109-2 and finished the match by bagging three wickets. He is one of the 201 bowlers who has leaked 100 plus runs on test debut in the annals of test cricket.
Muralitharan is one of the twelve Sri Lankan bowlers who have conceded 100 plus runs in a test innings on test debut. Others are – RGCE Wijesuriya, RJ Ratnayake, GF Labrooy, GP Wickramasinghe, KR Pushpakumara, KJ Silva, DNT Joysa, MRCN Bandaranayake, ASA Perera, PDRL Perera and UDU Chandana. He is one of 76 spin bowlers and one of the five Sri Lankan spinners to concede 100 plus runs in an innings on test debut. Others are – RGCE Wijesuriya, KJ Silva, MRCN Bandaratilake and UDU Chandana.
Muralitharan captured his first five wicket haul against South Africa at Moratuwa in Aug 1993 and till date he has captured his five wicket haul on 66 occasions and holds the record for most number of five wicket hauls in the annals of test cricket. The break up of 66 occasions read thus – vs South Africa {11}, vs India {06}, vs New Zealand {05}, vs Pakistan {05}, vs Zimbabwe {06}, vs West Indies {09}, vs England {08}, vs Australia {05} and vs Bangladesh {11}. It is interesting to note that Muralitharan has captured a five wicket haul against each country he has played. He is the only bowler in the annals of cricket to earn this distinction.
Muralitharan’s first ten wicket haul came against Zimbabwe at Kandy in Jan 98, when he returned with figures of 12 for 117. He has captured ten wickets in a match on 22 occasions – the most by a bowler in the annals of test cricket. The break up of 22 occasions read thus – vs England {04}, vs Bangladesh {04}, vs South Africa {04}, vs West Indies {03}, vs India {02}, vs Zimbabwe {02}, vs New Zealand {01}, vs Australia {01} and vs Pakistan {01}. It is interesting to note that he has captured a ten wicket haul against each opposition he has played. He is the only bowler in the annals of test cricket to earn this distinction.
Muralitharan has captured 792 wickets prior to the start of the first test. The break up of 792 wickets read thus – vs England {112}, vs Bangladesh {89}, vs South Africa {104}, vs West Indies {82}, vs India {97}, vs Zimbabwe {87}, vs New Zealand {82}, vs Australia {59} and vs Pakistan {80}. He remains the only bowler in the annals of test cricket to capture 50 plus wickets against each opposition he has played.
His break up of 792 wickets home and away would read thus – Home {485} and Away {307}. His 485 wickets on home soil represent the most wickets by a bowler on home soil in the annals of test cricket. Muralitharan has captured 44 five wicket hauls and 15 ten wicket hauls on home soil, both feats representing the most occasions by a bowler on home soil
Muralitharan has captured 307 wickets on away soil. He is the second bowler in the annals of test cricket to capture 300 plus wickets on away soil after SK Warne of Australia who has taken 362 wickets to his credit {SK Warne’s performance at neutral venue excluded}. Muralitharan has captured five wicket hauls on 22 occasions and ten wickets hauls on seven occasions, both feats representing the most occasions by a bowler on home soil
He has the distinction of capturing 50 plus wickets in a calendar year on six occasions – 2006 {90}, 2001 {80}, 2000 {75}, 2002 {55}, 1998 {68} and 2005 {52}. His 90 wickets in the calendar year 2006 makes him the second bowler in the annals of test cricket to aggregate 90 plus wickets, the first being SK Warne who took 96 wickets in 2005.
As on date there are 17 occasions of a bowler capturing nine or more wickets in an innings in the annals of test cricket. Muralitharan is the second bowler in the annals of test cricket to capture nine wickets in an innings on two occasions. JC Laker of England is the other bowler. Muralitharan’s nine wicket hauls read thus – 9 for 65 vs England at The Oval in Aug 1998 and 9 for 51 vs Zimbabwe at Kandy in Jan 2002. His nine wicket hauls on two occasions earned him yet another distinction – he became the only bowler in the annals of test cricket to capture nine wickets in an innings on home soil as well as away soil.
Muralitharan’s 9 for 65 vs England at The Oval in Aug 1998 makes him one of the five bowlers who have captured nine wickets on away soil. Other four are – SF Barnes of England, RJ Hadlee of New Zealand, GA Lohmann of England and Sarfraz Nawaz of Pakistan
Muralitharan’s 9 for 51 vs Zimbabwe at Kandy in Jan 2002 makes him one of the eleven bowlers {12 occasions} who have captured nine or more wickets. Others are – Abdul Qadir of Pakistan, SP Gupte of India, N Kapil Dev of India, A Kumble of India, JC Laker of England {02 occasions}, AA Mailey of Australia, DE Malcolm of England, JM Noreiga of West Indies, JM Patel of India and HJ Tayfield of South Africa.
Muralitharan has captured 100 or more wickets under three captains he has played – ST Jayasuriya {230}, A Ranatunga {203} and DPMD Jayawardene {186}.
Muralitharan has captured 430 wickets in Sri Lanka’s winning tests {53}, 210 wickets in Sri Lanka’s losing tests {42} and 152 wickets in Sri Lanka’s drawn tests {37}. The numbers in the paranthesis indicate the number of tests won, lost and drawn has relation to Muralitharan’s performances.
Muralitharan has captured five wickets hauls on 40 occasions and ten wickets hauls on 18 occasions in Sri Lanka’s winning tests – 53 tests – both feats are records for most number of occasions by a bowler in the annals of test cricket.
Muralitharan’s best innings effort was against Zimbabwe at Kandy in Jan 2002 when he captured nine for 51. His best match effort came against England at The Oval in Aug 98 when he captured 16 for 220.
Muralitharan holds the record of conceding 100 plus runs on most occasions in the annals of test cricket. He has conceded 100 plus runs on 60 occasions. He has conceded 100 plus runs without capturing a wicket on three occasions.
There are 307 bowlers who have played for various countries since 28 Aug 1992, the day on which Muralitharan was baptized into the test arena {excluding Muralitharan} Since the list is too long, we shall restrict to bowlers who have captured 100 plus wickets for their respective countries. The number of bowlers then would work out to 14. The complete list read thus – M Muralitharan {792}, SK Warne {704}, A Kumble {616}, Harbhajan Singh {355}, DL Vettori {325}, Danish Kaneria {258}, SCG MacGill {258}, Saqlain Mushtaq {208}, Mushtaq Ahmed {166}, AF Giles {143}, PA Adams {134}, MS Panesar {126}, N Boje {100} and Mohammad Rafique {100}
M Muralitharan has an aggregate of 97 wickets against India. He needs three more wickets for his 100 wickets. He would then become the first bowler in the annals of test cricket to aggregate 100 plus wickets against India. His feat of 100 wickets against India would provide the 35th occasion of a bowler capturing 100 plus wickets against a specific opposition.
His 100 wickets against India would earn him the distinction of aggregating 100 plus wickets against three oppositions. He has already aggregated 112 wickets against England and 104 wickets against South Africa. He would become the second bowler in the annals of test cricket to total 100 plus wickets against three specific oppositions after SK Warne of Australia. SK Warne has an aggregate of 195 wickets against England, 103 wickets against New Zealand and 130 wickets against South Africa.
M Muralitharan and DPMD Jayawardene have been involved in a bowlers-fielder combination to dismiss 73 batsmen in tests which is the record for a bowler combination in the annals of test cricket. They have played 95 tests together to dismiss 73 batsmen.
Out of his 792 wickets, Muralitharan has an aggregate of 165 wickets thorugh bowled dismissals which is the record for most dismissals bowled in the annals of test cricket. He is the only bowler to have 150 plus wickets as bowled victims
Out of his 792 wickets, Muralitharan has 431 wickets as “caught victims” which is again a record for most dismissals caught of a bowler in the annals of test cricket. He is the second bowler to have 400 plus batsman caught, after SK Warne who has 418 such dismissals
Muralitharan and A Kumble share the record of most caught and bowled victims with 35 dismissals each.
Muralitharan is one of the three bowlers who have dismissed 300 plus batsman caught by a fielder- Muralitharan {384}, SK Warne {345} and A Kumble {313}. Muralitharan has most dismissals amongst the three – 384
47 batsmen have been dismissed stumped of the bowling of Muralitharan which is again a record in the annals of test cricket for most stumped dismissals of a bowler
Muralitharan remains the only bowler in the annals of test cricket to capture 100 plus wickets at three grounds. He has captured 166 wickets at Sinhalese Sports Club Ground, Colombo 117 wickets at Asgiraya Stadium, Kandy and 103 wickets at Galle International Stadium, Galle.
Muralitharan has conceded 17989 runs prior to the start of the ensuing series against India and require 11 more runs for him to concede 18000 runs. He would become the second bowler in the annals of test cricket to concede 18000 runs after A Kumble who has conceded 18355 runs
Muralitharan returned with figures of 54.0-3-224-2 against Australia at Perth in Dec 1995 which is one of the 26 occasions of a bowler conceding 200 plus runs in an innings in the annals of test cricket as on date.
Muralitharan remains the only bowler in the world to capture at least one five wicket haul against each opposition he has played at home.
Muralitharan is one of the six bowlers who have dismissed all the eleven batsmen in a test match. Jim Laker. S Venkataraghavan, G Dymock, Abdul Qadir and Waqar Younis are the other bowlers to perform such a feat
Muralitharan is one of the six bowlers who have captured 100 plus wickets against two specific oppositions. The six bowlers are – CEL Ambrose of West Indies {128 vs Australia and 164 vs England}, LR Gibbs of West Indies {103 vs Australia and 100 vs England}, Muralitharan of Sri Lanka {112 vs England and 104 vs South Africa}, GD McGrath of Australia {157 vs England and 110 vs Australia}, CA Walsh of West Indies {135 vs Australia and 145 vs England} ad SK Warne of Australia {195 vs England, 103 vs New Zealand and 130 vs South Africa}
Muralithran remains the only bowler in the world to capture eight or more wickets on five occasions. The other bowler who had captured eight or more wickets on four occasions was GA Lohmann of England. Muralitharan’s eight or more wickets haul on five occasions read thus – 9 for 65 vs England at The Oval in Aug 1998, 8 for 87 vs India at Col-SSC in Aug 2001, 9 for 51 vs Zimbabwe at Kandy in Jan 2002, 8 for 49 vs West Indies at Kandy in Jul 2005 and 8 for 70 vs England at Nottingham in Jun 2006.
Muralitharan and JC Laker remain the only two bowlers in the world to capture nine or more wickets in an innings on two occasions. Muarlitharan {9 for 65 vs England at The Oval in Aug 2008 and 9 for 51 vs Zimbabwe at Kandy in Jan 2002} and JC Laker {10 for 53 and 9 for 36 vs Australia at Manchester in Jul 1956.
Muralitharan is the only visiting bowler to capture nine wickets in an innings on English soil. His 9 for 65 at The Oval against England remain the best innings effort by a visiting bowler on English soil.
RAL Massie of Australia, JC Laker of England and M Muralitharan of Sri Lanka are the three bowlers who have captured eight plus wickets in an innings on two separate occasions on English soil. Massie’s and Laker’s efforts have come in the same match.
Muralitharan’s two ten wicket match hauls have gone in a losing cause. The two occasions are – 11 for 212 vs Australia at Galle in Mar 2004 and 10 for 115 vs England at Birmingham in May 2006. He is one of the six bowlers in the annals of test cricket to witness two or more ten wickets to go in vain. DL Vettori of New Zealand, H Trumble of Australia, SK Warne of England and T Richardson of England are the four bowlers to witness their two ten wickets hauls in a losing cause, while Wasim Akram of Pakistan remains the only bowler to see his three ten wickets going in a losing cause.