Muttiah Muralitharan: 800 Test Wickets & 534 ODI Wickets — The Greatest Wicket-Taker in Cricket History
Muttiah Muralitharan was born on 17 April 1972 in Kandy, Sri Lanka. He holds the world records for the most wickets in both Test cricket (800 at 22.72 in 133 Tests) and ODI cricket (534 at 23.08 in 350 matches). He was an off-spin bowler who also invented the Doosra — an off-spinner's delivery that turns in the opposite direction (like a leg-break). He took his 800th Test wicket on his retirement match in 2010, clean bowling India's Pragyan Ojha off the last ball of the innings at Galle. He played in Sri Lanka's famous 1996 ICC Cricket World Cup-winning team. His bowling action was repeatedly called by umpires and cleared by the ICC after biomechanical testing. He took 7 wickets in a session against England, including 9/65 in a Test innings. He won the ICC Cricketer of the Year three times. He retired from Tests in July 2010.
Muttiah Muralitharan was born on 17 April 1972 in Kandy, Sri Lanka. He made his Test debut in 1992 against Australia and went on to become the highest wicket-taker in the history of both Test cricket (800 wickets at 22.72) and ODI cricket (534 wickets at 23.08). He was an off-spin bowler who delivered the ball with a distinctive wrist action — one that led to repeated controversies about his bowling action — and who invented the Doosra, a delivery that turns away from the off-spinner's natural direction (leg to off for a right-handed off-spinner) and therefore behaves like a leg-break to right-handed batters.
The Doosra and Bowling Action Controversy
Muralitharan's bowling action was called (no-balled for throwing) by Australian umpire Darrell Hair in Melbourne in December 1995 — an extraordinary moment that set off years of controversy. The ICC commissioned biomechanical studies and in 2004 concluded that the human elbow naturally flexes slightly during the bowling action, and that Muralitharan's action fell within the accepted tolerance for arm straightening (15 degrees). The Doosra — a word from Urdu/Hindi meaning 'the other one' — was his most dangerous delivery: an off-spinner delivery that turns away from the right-handed batter's body rather than into it, delivered with a wrist flip rather than a pure finger turn. Muralitharan is credited with inventing and popularising the Doosra in the late 1990s.
800 Test Wickets: The Record That May Never Fall
Muralitharan reached 800 Test wickets in the final match of his Test career — at Galle in Sri Lanka, against India in July 2010. He needed one more wicket entering the last day and clean bowled Pragyan Ojha off what proved to be the last delivery he faced. The dismissal brought his tally to exactly 800 — a theatrical conclusion to the most prolific wicket-taking career in Test cricket history. He ended with 800 wickets at 22.72 from 133 Tests. The second highest in Test history is Shane Warne (708 wickets). Muralitharan's gap of 92 wickets over the second-placed bowler is enormous by Test standards. He is widely regarded as one of the two greatest bowlers in cricket history alongside Warne.
Frequently asked questions
How many Test wickets did Muttiah Muralitharan take and what is his bowling average?
Muttiah Muralitharan took 800 Test wickets at an average of 22.72 in 133 Tests for Sri Lanka — the most Test wickets ever taken by any bowler. His best bowling in an innings was 9/51. Shane Warne (Australia) is second with 708 wickets. Muralitharan also holds the ODI record with 534 wickets at 23.08 in 350 matches. He retired from Test cricket in July 2010, taking his 800th wicket on the final ball of his final Test innings at Galle.
What is the Doosra and who invented it?
The Doosra (Urdu/Hindi: 'the other one') is a delivery bowled by an off-spin bowler that turns in the opposite direction to the conventional off-break — away from the right-handed batter rather than into them. It mimics a leg-spinner's turn but is bowled with an off-spinner's grip and a wrist flip. Muttiah Muralitharan is credited with inventing and popularising the Doosra in the late 1990s. It is a difficult delivery to bowl within the ICC's arm-straightening rules (15-degree tolerance) and is bowled by very few off-spinners at international level. Saqlain Mushtaq (Pakistan) also bowled the Doosra in the same era.