Muralitharan - could break Warne's record.
sportinglife -
UK
Muttiah Muralitharan is seeking the sweetest of homecomings
in Kandy by breaking Shane Warne's Test bowling record.
Off-spinner Muralitharan, 35, needs to dismiss five English
batsmen in the series opener at Asgiriya to overhaul Australian
Warne's 708 Test wicket tally.
The son of a Kandy confectioner, fate and an under-par return
by his own standards in the recent series in Australia,
has left Murali chewing over the possibility of becoming
the most prolific bowler in history in front of friends
and family.
"It would be a special moment if I did it in my home
place because I grew up and played all my cricket here in
younger days," said Murali. "But it will depend
on how I bowl and how they bat."
It has been an extraordinary 15-year journey for a man who
has divided opinion in the world of cricket because of his
bent-arm bowling action.
He has been under scrutiny since his debut in 1992 and the
subject of bio-mechanical testing by the International Cricket
Council.
The latest experiments in 2004 helped salvage his reputation,
as sports science showed all bowlers kink their arm to some
degree.
Weeks later he overtook Courtney Walsh's then-record 519
Test wickets to temporarily hold the number one spot.
"When I first started playing for the national team,
against Australia, I thought if I played one Test I would
be happy," said Murali. "Rather than thinking
of end results I just played and the wickets came."
Some have suggested he may be capable of reaching four figures,
such is the rate at which he has claimed his victims, so
what does Muralitharan himself think?
"That is the biggest question," he said. "If
the body is right and my performance is as good as it has
been in the past I might play one, two or three years.
"You cannot target a number of wickets because you
have to bowl well and the batsmen have to make mistakes.
"If I wanted to get 1,000, I would have to play for
another four or five years. I am 35 now and realistically
it is not possible. "But you never know, if everything
in the next three years goes as fabulously as last year
when I took 96 wickets, then who knows."
Of his 115-cap career, he has a surprising choice as favourite
series: the home whitewashing by Australia in 2003-04.
"The series we lost 3-0 to Australia I got 28 wickets
and bowled well for three Test matches," he explained.
"Always we were leading in the first innings but they
always came back and won the matches. It was a fabulous
series.
"I never give up in the middle. I have always thought
if I keep on bowling I will get wickets, so it doesn't matter
if it takes me more than 40, if the captain wants me I carry
on."
Teams for the first Investec Test between Sri Lanka and
England at Asgiriya, Kandy, starting on Saturday:
Sri Lanka (from): DPMS Jayawardene (captain), ST Jayasuriya,
WU Tharanga, MG Vandort, KC Sangakkara, LPC Silva, J Mubarak,
HAPW Jayawardene (wicketkeeper), M Muralitharan, WPUJC Vaas,
CRD Fernando, SL Malinga, CM Bandara, WRS de Silva.
England (from): MP Vaughan (captain, Yorkshire), AN Cook
(Essex), IR Bell (Warwickshire), KP Pietersen (Hampshire),
PD Collingwood (Durham), OA Shah (Middlesex), RS Bopara
(Essex), MJ Prior (wicketkeeper, Sussex), P Mustard (Durham),
GP Swann (Nottinghamshire), SCJ Broad (Nottinghamshire),
RJ Sidebottom (Nottinghamshire), MJ Hoggard (Yorkshire),
MS Panesar (Northamptonshire), JM Anderson (Lancashire),
SJ Harmison (Durham).
Umpires: Aleem Dar and Asad Rauf (both Pakistan)
Match referee: JJ Crowe (New Zealand).
Courtesy - SNNI |