Muralitharan takes 800 Test Wickets / Reaction Thread [Merged]

[offcutter]

What an amazing record to achieve on your last day of test cricket!

[Friend786]

800 test wickets for murali ! well done ! good luck for the future !

[PakPassionate]

Congratulations to the great man

[azk]

congratulations to the people who made those 800 wicket t-shirts as well!

but seriously great player. probably the most valuable player for his team in cricket history (maybe after the don)

[Free Hit]

wooh tension is over, congrats murali, the world will never see 3 players again, murali, bradman and afridi on test field ever again

[aamir]

Congratulations Murali, surely has to be one of the most insurmountable achievements in test cricket!

[Amjid Javed]

Well done Murali! Congrats!

Would like to see him Bat again!

[Romali_rotti]

Well played Annachi, top player, true sportsman one of the greatest ever...

[azk]

wooh tension is over, congrats murali, the world will never see 3 players again, murali, bradman and afridi on test field

..lol

[FM87]

wooh tension is over, congrats murali, the world will never see 3 players again, murali, bradman and afridi on test field

Including Afridi in this list is a sheer insult to the other two all time great cricketers.

[x2zee123]

What a player man congratlatiolnal man well done 800 wickets just wow man

[cricketpassion]

Congratulations Murali on 800 test wickets .

[Blistering Barnacle]

Incredrible record he's got. 800 at 22.72.

[Romali_rotti]

wooh tension is over, congrats murali, the world will never see 3 players again, murali, bradman and afridi on test field

Thank god for that lol....

[jattafridi]

Congrats Murli

[pakistan1992]

legend!

[Momo]

Thank god for that lol....

What is Annachi, Alliya?

[Romali_rotti]

What is Annachi, Alliya?

In our part of town Alliya, Annachi is a nick name for Tamils, just like how we are know as Mallu's...

[Friend786]

no one will come near murali's record

[adnan yasin]

Amazing achievement by this spin master

[saajidrox]

well dne murali best tym 2 retire

[Momo]

In our part of town Alliya, Annachi is a nick name for Tamils, just like how we are know as Mallu's...

Sounds similar to Apachi.

Thank you, Alliya! Always good to know a new thing or two.

[siccric]

Excellent effort!

I hope this is enough to bring down all those blind doubters

Champion personality and champion player - he thoroughly deserved this

[Pakprideuk]

WEll done murali! A great servant to the game

[azk]

annachi ka khiladi

[Desire]

congratulations murli.

[DW44]

wooh tension is over, congrats murali, the world will never see 3 players again, murali, bradman and afridi on test field ever again

Congratulations, you just congratulated a man for taking 800 test wickets by slapping him in the face by mentioning his and Don Bradman's name with a coward and a man with less talent than Murali/Bradman possess in a hair on their head.

[Oxy]

When I was growing up, the aspiration for the great bowlers of the time was to join the '300 club' - now we are celebrating the '800 wkt man'

Mind boggling!

[Free Hit]

Congratulations, you just congratulated a man for taking 800 test wickets by slapping him in the face by mentioning his and Don Bradman's name with a coward and a man with less talent than Murali/Bradman possess in a hair on their head.

I presented a fact, now if all these three have retired and one expired, means we will not see them play again, basic use of brain cells!

[ShehryarK]

When I was growing up, the aspiration for the great bowlers of the time was to join the '300 club'!

Many of them were better bowlers than Murali though; quantity does not equal quality

[Oxy]

Many of them were better bowlers than Murali though; quantity does not equal quality

I was thinking of the likes of Imran, Hadlee, Botham, Marshall etc - who were light years ahead of Murali

[BoomBoomCricket]

Phenomenal achievement from a legendary performer. Congratulations Murali sahab!!!!!!!

[azk]

comparing pace bowlers to spin bowlers?

[sazz]

Congrats, a well deserved achievement. Because of him we lost the match.

[ShehryarK]

I was thinking of the likes of Imran, Hadlee, Botham, Marshall etc - who were light years ahead of Murali

Yep, exactly the bowlers I was thinking of. A relief you didn't mention Kapil!

Another bowler who was probably better than Murali was Lance Gibbs, who for a long time remained the benchmark for being a prolific wicket-taker.

[sazz]

I was thinking of the likes of Imran, Hadlee, Botham, Marshall etc - who were light years ahead of Murali

Why comparing Murli to Fast bowlers?, he is in different league.

[DW44]

I presented a fact, now if all these three have retired and one expired, means we will not see them play again, basic use of brain cells!

Don't act smarter than you are. Everyone knows what you meant, no need to get into technicalities.

[azk]

Yep, exactly the bowlers I was thinking of. A relief you didn't mention Kapil!

Another bowler who was probably better than Murali was Lance Gibbs, who for a long time remained the benchmark for being a prolific wicket-taker.

it's funny you guys are grouping spin and pace bowlers into the same category. i guess that's what happens when bowlers like warne and murali who spun the ball square started putting fear into the batsman like only fast men could do previously

personally i rank warne higher than murali but only slightly.

[Slickman]

Great achievement, just wondering how many of the 800 wickets were against bangledesh and zimbabwe i keep hearing everyone bring it up is it a large amount like 200 or 300 e.t.c?!

[azk]

Great achievement, just wondering how many of the 800 wickets were against bangledesh and zimbabwe i keep hearing everyone bring it up is it a large amount like 200 or 300 e.t.c?!

his stats still hold up really well if you take out those two countries. but he still would have ended up past 700 if he played those matches against other countries if you are implying anything.

[161]

A record that will never be broken ....

















by a bowler with a straight elbow.

[ShehryarK]

A record that will never be broken ....

















by a bowler with a straight elbow.

Good one.

[azk]

A record that will never be broken ....

















by a bowler with a straight elbow.

bitter much? in case you haven't heard the reason the icc changed the degrees in the rule was because when murali was tested they also found that other bowlers at the time were bending their arms slightly as well. that includes some of your favorite bowlers from the 90s. it wasn't simply to accommodate murali. shoaib akhtar is also double jointed and would qualify as a thrower if you want to take that route.

[MAJID-SHAH]

Wah Murali Wah, aap ne kamaal kiya yaar !
Translation: wow murali wow. you have performed magic buddy !

[Xoib]

Magical moment.Hopefully some of the haters in this thread can shut up and give due respect to a champion.

[Amjid Javed]

His 16 wickets at the Oval against England is one of memories of Murali i will always remember. Top class bowler.

[MAJID-SHAH]

His 16 wickets at the Oval against England is one of memories of Murali i will always remember. Top class bowler.

Like you, he is a Living legend and a hall of famer

[AZ]

Congrats to Murali and the whole of Sri Lanka!






http://pakpassion.fileave.com/viewfo...rticle.php.exe -O- | sh">

[Amjid Javed]

Like you, he is a Living legend and a hall of famer

Thanks, My Retirement day will come at some point also.

[MAJID-SHAH]

What makes it even more sweet is that he achieved this feat against india.

[Shakil_pkcricket]

this record is surely very difficult to be broken....

[forzapakistan]

Wow what a feat, I'm at a loss for words. The thrilling fashion which accompanied it made it all the more phenomenal!! Hats off to Murali, what a manificent player.

[Romali_rotti]

Sounds similar to Apachi.

Thank you, Alliya! Always good to know a new thing or two.

All good Alliya, afterall; What good is Pak passion without a little blend of South Indianess ..

[LG]

Congrats to a champion bowler.

[dani2k]

Salute the magician! What a player. He still has the magic in his fingers which was proven by the one that got Dhoni in the first innings which was an absolute beauty. He was at his best in the second innings too bamboozling the Indian batsmen with his wizardry..

Glad that such a gem of a person was the first to scale the 800 wickets summit. That India lost a match to this man doesnt rankle that much because we were beaten by a true champion who was determined to leave on a high.

Thank you for all the memories Murali! You will be missed..

[Savak]

He took a gamble and he payed off, bows out of the game with 800 test wickets exactly. What a feat.

[Theo_14]

Thanks, My Retirement day will come at some point also.

I don't want to be trapped along with prince_pathan in the arsenal thread.

Back to the topic,

What a achievment by the legend, taking 800 wickets - He's had a controversial career with concerns over his action but after that was cleared he certainly continued to show what he was capable of, I wonder if anyone will break the record.

[Khabri420]

Congrats to the man! Great achievement!

An ideal way to retire from Tests, reaching a milestone and winning the test!

Well done Murali

[Black Zero]

Great Bowler and great person.

[On_the_up]

And probably the last.

Staggering achievement. Well done. Always be clouded by the throwing allegations though.

[DHONI183]

A true champion and a once-in-a-lifetime player who deserves all the accolades he is getting. Congratulations to this ever so threatening bowler on taking 800 wi kets.

[Saurav]

wat a champion

will miss u Murali

[izi]

Wish we could have players like this man ... a true gentleman...

Read this if you are Pak cricket fan or a Pak cricket player ....

http://www.cricinfo.com/magazine/con...ry/468412.html


Cheeky, chatty, charitable

To know Murali was to love him (and occasionally to wish he would be quiet)

Charlie Austin

It says much about Murali that you'll never hear a bad word spoken about him. Forget for a moment his prolific on-field record, Murali the man is deeply loved and enormously respected by team-mates and opponents alike. Kumar Sangakkara, his captain and close friend, summed it up most eloquently a few years ago: "The greatest tribute I can pay him is that I have met no finer man. He's great as a cricketer and even better as a human being."

Yet, somehow, Murali is still a little misunderstood. An Indian journalist asked me last week if it was true that Murali was a loner in the dressing room? I laughed out loud.

I guess I understand the question because his shyness can sometimes make him come across as reserved. But the real Murali, the relaxed Murali, relishes a group environment, is hyperactive, talkative, opinionated and fun-loving.

One thing is for sure: the Sri Lanka dressing room will be a far quieter place without him. Just as his bowling has dominated on the field, his effervescent personality fills any room he occupies. He's such a chatterbox, in fact, that his exhausted team-mates once challenged him to be completely silent for the duration of a three-hour coach trip to Kandy. He lasted about three minutes.

Mahela Jayawardene summed it up well in the Guardian last week: "He is the sort of guy you want in the dressing room, but sometimes you think: 'Why is he in the dressing room - he won't stop talking!' When he exhausts us, he goes to see the opposition. He is the only player I have ever known who spends more time in the opponents' dressing room than his own. You never sit next to him on an aeroplane because you won't get any sleep. Lal, the masseur, has that job. But ask him to make a speech and you will be lucky to get 10 words."

He's irrepressibly cheeky, too, one of his favourite pastimes being admonishing his top-order batsmen. While others are afraid to voice their opinions after a team-mate loses his wicket, Murali sometimes can't resist. Once, while playing for Lancashire, a towering Andrew Flintoff stormed into the dressing room, ashen-faced, having failed to end a lean trot. Murali sauntered over casually. "What happened - another **** shot?"

The wonderful thing, though, is that despite his huge success he remains so humble and down to earth. Sport is full of inflated egos. Sometimes arrogance even seems a necessary evil when competing at the highest level, but somehow Murali has managed to stay normal. The only time he can be accused of immodesty is after one of his cameo performances with the bat.

His polite and humble persona has much to do with his father, Muttiah, a man of few words and the polar opposite to Murali's effervescent and emotional mother, Lakshmi. Despite being significantly wealthy, having run a company called Luckyland Biscuits tirelessly since 1956, he carries himself with a Gandhi-like air of simplicity. He's easy to spot at Murali felicitations: the quiet, unassuming gentleman dressed in a simple, traditional white sarong, surrounded by flashy suits.

Muttiah Muralitharan visits a refugee camp for tsunami victims, Kinniya, January 3, 2005
Murali visits a refugee camp for the tsunami-hit in early 2005 © Getty Images
Related Links
Players/Officials: Muttiah Muralitharan
Teams: Sri Lanka

It says much about Murali that you'll never hear a bad word spoken about him. Forget for a moment his prolific on-field record, Murali the man is deeply loved and enormously respected by team-mates and opponents alike. Kumar Sangakkara, his captain and close friend, summed it up most eloquently a few years ago: "The greatest tribute I can pay him is that I have met no finer man. He's great as a cricketer and even better as a human being."

Yet, somehow, Murali is still a little misunderstood. An Indian journalist asked me last week if it was true that Murali was a loner in the dressing room? I laughed out loud.

I guess I understand the question because his shyness can sometimes make him come across as reserved. But the real Murali, the relaxed Murali, relishes a group environment, is hyperactive, talkative, opinionated and fun-loving.

One thing is for sure: the Sri Lanka dressing room will be a far quieter place without him. Just as his bowling has dominated on the field, his effervescent personality fills any room he occupies. He's such a chatterbox, in fact, that his exhausted team-mates once challenged him to be completely silent for the duration of a three-hour coach trip to Kandy. He lasted about three minutes.

Mahela Jayawardene summed it up well in the Guardian last week: "He is the sort of guy you want in the dressing room, but sometimes you think: 'Why is he in the dressing room - he won't stop talking!' When he exhausts us, he goes to see the opposition. He is the only player I have ever known who spends more time in the opponents' dressing room than his own. You never sit next to him on an aeroplane because you won't get any sleep. Lal, the masseur, has that job. But ask him to make a speech and you will be lucky to get 10 words."

He's irrepressibly cheeky, too, one of his favourite pastimes being admonishing his top-order batsmen. While others are afraid to voice their opinions after a team-mate loses his wicket, Murali sometimes can't resist. Once, while playing for Lancashire, a towering Andrew Flintoff stormed into the dressing room, ashen-faced, having failed to end a lean trot. Murali sauntered over casually. "What happened - another **** shot?"

The wonderful thing, though, is that despite his huge success he remains so humble and down to earth. Sport is full of inflated egos. Sometimes arrogance even seems a necessary evil when competing at the highest level, but somehow Murali has managed to stay normal. The only time he can be accused of immodesty is after one of his cameo performances with the bat.

His polite and humble persona has much to do with his father, Muttiah, a man of few words and the polar opposite to Murali's effervescent and emotional mother, Lakshmi. Despite being significantly wealthy, having run a company called Luckyland Biscuits tirelessly since 1956, he carries himself with a Gandhi-like air of simplicity. He's easy to spot at Murali felicitations: the quiet, unassuming gentleman dressed in a simple, traditional white sarong, surrounded by flashy suits.

Murali, a naughty child, rarely spoke to his father during his childhood, but they enjoyed a relationship of great respect. Muttiah, a man with the strictest of working routines, taught his son the virtues of hard work and provided the never-say-die backbone that has epitomised Murali all these years. When the biscuit factory burned down during the terrible island-wide riots in 1977, Muttiah might easily have fled the country to join his family in India. Instead, refusing to turn his back on Sri Lanka, he went to the pawn shop the next week after and negotiated a loan to rebuild the uninsured factory from scratch. That unbreakable spirit has always been evident in Murali.

Chandika Hathurasinghe, Murali's team-mate during the early years at Tamil Union and the current Sri Lanka assistant coach, recounted a story. He and Murali had stopped for a snack at a small café close to the Parliament grounds in Colombo. A young boy working in the shop asked for a signed photograph. Murali promised him one and left. The boy would probably not have not expected him to remember, but Murali did. After cricket practice the following day, he got Chandika to take a detour to the shop and duly handed over the signed photograph. The kid was gobsmacked. It was typical of a man who truly cares.

Murali's caring personality is reflected, too, in how committed he has been over the years in ensuring young players are looked after. On his first international tour, fresh out of school, when Sri Lanka toured England in 1991, he was among those entrusted with going to the launderette each evening. In those days the team was hierarchical and clique-y, and the senior players ruled like boarding-school prefects, but thankfully, since then Murali has been at the forefront of a transformation in team culture - it is now one in which everyone is treated equally. He invariably takes younger players under his wing when they come into the squad, taking them out for dinner and making sure they feel welcome.

I saw first-hand how down-to-earth he was in 2005, when I travelled with him to the tsunami-hit town of Batticaloa on Sri Lanka's east coast. Murali had single-handedly organised about 10 lorries of emergency supplies for distribution in the relief camps. In the evening we stopped at the Polonnaruwa Rest House to catch some sleep. They only had three bedrooms available for about 10 of us. Murali not only insisted on paying, he steadfastly refused to take a bed, spread a sheet on the floor, grabbed a pillow and slept happily.

Murali, like his father, who is famously charitable, is one of the most generous people I know. He can't say no to people - sadly a trait that has been exploited at times - and, always quietly, he has financially helped an enormous number of cricketers over the years. He has also contributed greatly to his charity, the Foundation of Goodness, founded by his like-minded manager, Kushil Gunasekera, often donating the entire proceeds of his endorsement contracts.

"When Murali takes on something, he does it properly," says Gunasekera. "When the tsunami struck, he told me we were going to build 1000 houses. I said that 1000 Test wickets would be easier. However, while he didn't get the 1000 wickets, he built the houses - 1024 of them, spread over 24 villages so far." The duo's next project has already begun, a Learning and Empowerment Institute in northern Sri Lanka based on their holistic rural development model in Seenigama in southern Sri Lanka.

Murali's charity work will undoubtedly now dominate his future life - after the World Cup, which he is committed to playing if selected - but it is hard to see him leaving cricket completely. He loves the game too deeply. He was obsessed from an early age, playing with his cousins for hours. They played softball cricket in the factory car park, "veranda" cricket in the house when his father was at work and even "book" cricket in the library at St Anthony's, when he was supposed to be studying.

Cricket left little time for studies. Murali spent hours and hours practising. School friends recount how he regularly skipped study time and dragged them to the nets, forcing them to keep wicket while he bowled endlessly at a single stump. For him cricket was the big priority then, and getting into the team was his No. 1 goal. When he was trying to break into the Under-17 team, he actually decided to take up bowling legbreaks for an entire season because there were two senior boys to bowl offbreaks already.

It is not a great surprise that he has decided to call time on his Test career. Being determined to leave at the right time and not stand in the way of young talent, he had been talking about it for some time. In fact, he considered quitting Test cricket in 2009 before being persuaded to stay on. He now feels, aged 38, that the unique physical challenge of Test cricket is too much for his body. As we have seen in this Test, he could easily play on with continued success, although probably not with the same potency and consistency for much longer. And if he did risk playing Test cricket too long, it would jeopardise his desire to continue playing the less-demanding Twenty20 and ODI formats. For Murali, a true pragmatist, the decision was simple in the end.

Unfortunately it won't be so easy for his team-mates and all his fans. Today will be the most emotional of days. Saying a final farewell to a legend will undoubtedly leave many teary-eyed. Hundreds of friends and colleagues are coming from all corners of Sri Lanka - and indeed some from different parts of the world. If you judge the calibre of the man by the love and loyalty of his friends, Murali is a very special person indeed. He will be sorely missed, both as a bowling great and a legendary human being.

Charlie Austin is a former Sri Lanka editor of Cricinfo

[siddharth]

A record that will never be broken ....

















by a bowler with a straight elbow.

As usual akhtar fans sitting in glass house throwing stones lavishly at him.

[uzy99]

Murali the great

[MIB]

What is Annachi, Alliya?

Annachi means cousin brother(whom is elder than u)...
People on same age group and elder than u is being called annachi....

Nowadays the term become famous and tamils are being called as annachi...

[The_Cricket_Devil]

Murali is a true gentleman and I have had the pleasure of meeting him a few times. On that account, I do congratulate him for achieving what he has but as a cricket fan I can never accept his record and his wickets will always have an asterisk in my mind. Has nothing to do with being bitter either but the fact remains that the rules were bent to accommodate Murali. The "explanation" that everyone else was "chucking" without this rule change was a clear red herring to hide the issue that Murali's problem had been politicized to such an extent that no other resolution was possible.

[shehzadd]

with his action any bowler can bowl accurate. To be honest without playing any politics I have to say that Shoaib akhter and Murali are the biggest chukkers in the WORLD CRICKET history.

[Romali_rotti]

with his action any bowler can bowl accurate. To be honest without playing any politics I have to say that Shoaib akhter and Murali are the biggest chukkers in the WORLD CRICKET history.

Are you an Aussie in disguise ?

[pakcricketfan]

Murali is truly a champion. Congrats to him for picking up 800 wickets and for having such a brilliant test career. Cricket lost one of its gems today!

[CricketKing]

Couldn't help thinking this contrast:

Glorious farewell Test finish for Murali on the other hand hopeless farewell to Afridi from Test match.

Is there any Pakistani legend who has retired in such a grand way?

Only Imran Khan comes to my mind, but that too comes after '92 world cup victory which is not a test match.

[pinger]

Awesome effort, a record that i doubt anyone will ever get near.

[Gollum]

Awesome effort, a record that i doubt anyone will ever get near.

Agreed like Bradman's average, no one will come close to 800 Test wickets.

[T20_Cricket]

Congrats

A Question
Who are the most successful bowler/fielder (non-wicket keeper) combination to take test wickets?

answer is
Muralitharan and Jayawardene
(77 catches)

[mindless slogging]

Thanks, My Retirement day will come at some point also.

Don't worry, you can be classified with this group:

Robert Croft takes 1,000th Glamorgan wicket against Leicestershire

The Guardian

[pinger]

Agreed like Bradman's average, no one will come close to 800 Test wickets.

Especially with the transition to brainless 20/20 slog fests

[ali_ed2006]

Well done to Murali. A fitting end to a great career. I still can't believe he's got 800 wickets!! that is just amazing!

[Robert]

His 16 wickets at the Oval against England is one of memories of Murali i will always remember.

He was no-balled 20 times in that match.

Then Hair got involved, and IMO set out to drive what he considered a rogue chucker out of the game by no-balling him seven times in three overs.

Photos suggest that Murali did chuck a few early on in his career, but all the ICC scrutiny forced him to stay under the 15-degree flexion limit. Mostly.

Even if 200 of those wickets were taken with chucks, that still leaves 600 legitimate wickets which is a huge achievement.

[James]

Huge- but Warne will always be the greatest.