So, Muttiah Muralitharan is finally Test Cricket’s highest wicket taker. He surpassed Shane Warne’s Tally of 708 wickets when he dismissed Paul Collingwood, in his home town Kandy. There has been a lot of debate over Murali’s achievement and on whether he is the the greatest spinner ever. A wide range of opinions have been expressed over the last couple of days and we have had different views. There is one thing which is definitely not going to change for a while and that is the fact that Muralitharan is the leading wicket taker and he does not have any one even remotely close to him.

The Debate Continues…

Muralitharan’s action has been in controversy ever since Darrel Hair no-balled him for chucking in Australia way back in 1995. Since then, his action has repeatedly come under the hammer and despite being cleared after a series of tests in Australia, his action still remains under suspicion.
Warne still number one

Is Muralitharan the greatest spinner in the history of cricket? This is a very debatable question and according to me it is a big NO. Shane Warne is easily the best spinner to have ever played. More than 25% of Murali’s wickets have come against Zimbabwe and Bangladesh compare to Warne’s 2%. Muralitharan has close to 60% of his wickets on home soil and has hardly performed well outside the Sub-Continent. The Australians and the Indians have kept him at bay and have never allowed him to get on top of them.

Warne has definitely won more matches from precarious circumstances for his country. Apart from Tendulkar at his very best not many cricketers have found Warne easy to cope with. On the other hand Murali is a vicious spinner of the ball and the one quality which Muralitharan has is he can spin the ball on any pitch on any given day. I feel this is largely due to his controversial action. Murali no doubt has been a great asset for Sri Lankan cricket and has been instrumental in getting his side to 2 World Cup Finals. Statistics will show that Muralitharan is the best but as the famous Siddhuism goes
” Statistics are like mini skirts…They do not reveal the Vital portions”.

The future

Murali is predicted to hit the 1000 mark and considering he might be around for another three to four years i think it is definitely within his reach. It is going to take another decade for any cricketer to match him and with 60 5 wicket hauls to his credit, he is definitely bound to reach a century. Murali is a wonderful bloke and a great player to watch but the controversy surrounding him and his action constantly keeps everyone guessing on who the greatest spinner is. Kudos to Murali for his feat and it is definitely going to take one hell of a player to surpass him.