Muttiah Muralitharan

Muttiah Muralitharan is unarguably the best off-spinner to have ever played the game. A smiling assassin on the field and a true gentleman off the field, Muralitharan took 1347 international wickets (most by any bowler). The spinner was regarded as Sri Lanka’s ambassador on the world map. While Muralitharan was also the centrepiece of various controversies and none were created by him. 

Born in Kandy, Muralitharan was fast-tracked into the Sri Lanka side for the tour of Australia in 1992-93. The spinner made an immediate name for himself due to bowling variations, revolution on the ball, and most importantly because of his rare ability to purchase spin on any condition. Later that season, a 20-year-old spinner helped Sri Lanka win the Test series over England and New Zealand which meant Muralitharan became a rock-solid force of the Sri Lanka bowling crew. 

The spinner was awarded his ODI cap at home in a clash against India in 1993. As Muralitharan’s career progressed, he became the go-to bowler for his first skipper, Arjuna Ranatunga. He played a huge part in Sri Lanka’s maiden (and only) World Cup triumph, which they clinched in 1996. Muralitharan was also there when Sri Lanka finished as runner’s up during the 50-over events of 2007 and 2011, with 2011 final being his last international outing. 

Apart from having such a celebrated 19-year-long career, Muralitharan also had his fair share of controversial moments. When the wizard burst onto the scene, his wrist-spinning off-spin got under the radar on various occasions. On the Boxing Day Test, the Sri Lankan was questioned by the umpire, Darrell Hair, and was no-balled nine times in the game, in 1995. That incident resulted in ICC allowing the spinner to bend their elbows to 15 deCrickxos and Muralitharan went through after some modifications. 

However, another controversy was awaiting. In 2004, he was again asked to reframe his bowling action, after it was found that the spinner was exceeding the 15 deCrickxos angle while bowling his doosra. After that, Muralitharan passed all tests to come back strongly. Despite these two controversies, the spinner is and will be regarded as one of the finest to have ever played the game, if not the best.

(As of April 2021)