Muttiah Muralitharan is not only the greatest spinner that Sri Lankan cricket has ever seen but is easily among the Top 3 spinners in world cricket history. The amount of wickets he has taken and the longevity he has shown in his career in both the test and ODI formats is simply incredible and a true role model for all the budding young spinners around the world. He is also one of the most humble players ever even after being as great as he is and that is the best thing about him.
Muttiah Muralitharan and Shane Warne had a great Rivalry between themselves as to who is the better spinner and in the end Murali got almost 100 more test Wickets than his Australia counterpart so his stats and records will be immense. So, let’s look at the Profile Stats and records of the once in a lifetime cricketer known as Muttiah Muralitharan.
Muttiah Muralitharan Profile :
Personal Information :
The full name of Muttiah Muralitharan is Deshabandu Muttiah Muralitharan and he was born in Kandy which is now in Sri Lanka and like all the other great players he too from a young age was hooked into cricket and especially the art of spin bowling and his incredible talent was noticed by everyone when he was young so there was no doubt that he would be great. He is called Murali fondly by all his teammates and peers. His height was 5 ft 7 inches which means he did not get much bounce as compared to the others but his skills got him the most number of wickets.
International Career :
Muttiah Muralitharan played for Sri Lanka at the highest level from 1992-2011 and in those 19 years he has left a forever lasting legacy. His first test match was on 28th August 1992 against Australia and after ruling for 18 years his last test match was against India on 18th July 2010. His debut ODI match was against India on 12th August 1993 and his last ODI was the 2011 World Cup final in 2011 vs India as well capping off an incredible career. Truly one of the most extraordinary Cricketers of all time and we were lucky to get to watch him play at his prime.
Career Stats :
Competition | Test | ODI |
Matches | 133 | 350 |
Runs scored | 1256 | 674 |
Batting average | 11.67 | 6.80 |
100s/50s | 0/1 | 0/0 |
Top score | 67 | 33* |
Balls bowled | 44,039 | 18,811 |
Wickets | 800 | 534 |
Bowling average | 22.72 | 23.08 |
5 Wickets in an innings | 67 | 10 |
10 wickets in a match | 22 | 0 |
Best bowling | 9/51 | 7/30 |
Catches | 72 | 130 |
Muttiah Muralitharan Records :
He has the most Test wickets (800 wickets)
He has the most One-Day International wickets (534 wickets)
He has The highest number of international wickets in Tests, ODIs and T20s combined (1347 wickets)
The most 5 Wicket hauls in an innings at Test level (67)
The most 10 Wicket hauls in a match at Test level (22). He is the only player to take 10 wickets/match against every Test playing nation.
Fastest to 350, 400, 450, 500, 550, 600, 650, 700, 750, 800 Test wickets, in terms of matches played
Only player to take 50 or more wickets against every Test playing nation
Most Man of the Series awards in Test cricket (11)
The only bowler to take 75 or more wickets in a calendar year on three occasions, achieving it in 2000, 2001 and 2006.
Most balls bowled in international cricket career (63132)
Also Read | Greatest Sri Lankan Cricketers
