Sa'adi Thawfeeq speaks to Muthiah Muralitharan, the big spinner who sent England on the path to destruction at the Oval with a record haul of 16 wickets.
Muthiah Muralitharan, the ``big spinner of the ball'' who possesses ``a very special talent'' is now looking towards the 300-wicket mark in Test cricket, after bowling Sri Lanka to an extraordinary ten-wicket win over England at the Oval last month.
``Basically, I thought 200 wickets was enough when I started off six years ago. But I am just 26 and I can go on for another five to six years. If I bowl well in this time, I will definitely make the 300-mark. It is not impossible,'' said the man who won a Test match for his country with his crafty fingers.
In 42 Tests, Muralitharan has a basketfull of wickets - 203, of which 68 of them have come this year in eight Tests. For a man so young it is an astonishing achievement, which defies the time-honoured view that fine spinners require steady maturing, like fine wine.
By taking 16 wickets at the Oval, Muralitharan became the second highest wicket-taker in Test cricket among the tribe of finger spinners with only West Indian Lance Gibbs ahead of him with 309 from 79 Tests.
It was a performance the spinner treasures most in his thriving career.
``That was the best bowling effort throughout my cricketing career. Even at school I never took 16 wickets in a match. It was also the first time I took nine wickets in an innings,'' said Muralitharan.
Apart from the England performance, Muralitharan thinks he bowled exceptionally well in South Africa where he got eight wickets in each of the two Tests, although Sri Lanka couldn't win.
No wonder his captain Arjuna Ranatunga rates him the world's best spinner in present day cricket.
What about Kapil Dev's world record of 434 wickets from 131 Tests?
``It's too far a figure to think of at the moment. I will take it match by match, get more wickets and try to win more Tests. We don't get many Test matches. We have to capitalise on whatever we get,'' said Muralitharan.
With still four months left for the end of the year, Sri Lanka have completed their Test program which comprised only eight Tests in comparison to 11 played last year. Sri Lanka don't play another Test until August 1999 when Australia are due here for a three-Test series. Such planning makes the task of bowlers like Muralitharan engraving their names in the record books that much harder, not that he cares for such personal glories.
Muralitharan has dismissed five or more batsmen in an innings 16 times: in other words, once every three Tests he goes through half of the other side. By any standards it is a remarkable effort because of the inconsistency of Test matches played by Sri Lanka and for the lack of support he gets from the other end.
For a young man who doesn't set any goals for himself, where does the motivation come from?
``When I play cricket or any other sport, I always play to win. When I don't win it disappoints me. When I don't get a wicket, it disappoints me. The disappointment gives me the courage to do well. That's why I think I keep performing well. When I am on the field I concentrate on what I have to do and what I have to achieve,'' said Muralitharan.
For a man who bowls fifty to sixty overs in a Test innings, the word tiredness is nonexistent.
``When I am bowling I don't have time to think of weariness. My whole concentration is centred on how to get the batsmen out. Sometimes I get impatient which makes it difficult for me to get him out. But Arjuna (Ranatunga) advises me not to get carried away by trying to get the batsman out in a few balls. He tells me to persevere and work on the batsmen and things like that,'' said Muralitharan.
``Regularly I talk to players like Arjuna and Aravinda (de Silva). They have about 16 to 17 years cricket behind them. When Bruce Yardley (the former Australian off-spinner who was coach) was there I used to speak to him about field placings. When I meet cricketers like (Erappali) Prasanna, Dilip Doshi and others, I just have a chat with them, sometimes over the phone and they give me plenty of advice.
``Cricket is a different game, you keep on learning all the time. You should not think that you know everything, just because you are successful. It is better to ask other players for their opinion because they give you so many new ideas.
``It is easy to take the first 20 or 30 wickets because the opposition doesn't know what you are bowling and what sort of a bowler you are. Then they start to read you from the cameras which makes it harder to get wickets from there onwards. Getting to the 100 was a bit difficult. From 100 to 200 I realised I had to improve myself to take wickets. So I tried out many varieties. Some worked, others didn't, but I kept on trying. That's why I think the second 100 wickets came much quicker (in 15 Tests) than the first 100 (in 27 Tests),'' said Muralitharan.
It is his ability to turn the ball more than any ordinary spinner that gives Muralitharan the edge over other bowlers. What is so striking about him is his flight as much as the freakish ability to rotate the wrist with a permanently bent elbow, a result of a slight deformity at birth.
It is this irregularity that has persuaded some that he is a ``chucker''. The debate about his action became particularly noisy in December 1995 when Darrell Hair, the Australian umpire, no-balled him four times in two overs during the Melbourne Test, for throwing. It hurt Muralitharan so much that, briefly, the imbroglio became career-threatening.
Supported by his team mates, the Cricket Board and by medical and scientific evidence which suggests that his action is genuine, for all its apparent trickery, Muralitharan has put that unpleasant interlude firmly behind him and continued to provide international cricket with an art that had fallen into neglect.
Ranatunga has been a staunch defender of his match-winning bowler and Muralitharan broke a along association with him when he joined Janashakthi having worked together first at Union Assurance and then with P & A Brokers.
Muralitharan considers the Melbourne incident and the physical fitness fracas involving Aravinda de Silva in 1994, which led to the formation of groups within the team, as the two bad experiences in his career.
Muralitharan regards that it is his big spin and loop that makes the batsmen apprehensive against him. Sri Lanka manager in England, Ranjit Fernando told the British press that Muralitharan could turn the ball even on the M4. Muralitharan also bowls a straight ball. Some of the best deliveries that stand out in his memory are: The wicket of Tom Moody in his first Test. The tall Australian left the ball which pitched outside off stump only to see it turn sharply to hit the wicket.
Then, Martin Crowe, at the SSC grounds a year later. The New Zealand captain also played no shot at a ball pitching outside off stump only to be bowled leg stump. Brian McMillan was also dismissed in the same manner when South Africa toured Sri Lanka in 1993. Muralitharan considers these three balls as the best he has delivered in Test cricket.
He has also captured six to seven wickets bowling a well disguised leg-spinner. The first time he got a wicket bowling that delivery was against the Australian Academy. Justin Langer played the ball for an off-spin and was bowled. South African Jonty Rhodes was Muralitharan's first leg-spin victim in a Test when he was bowled around his legs attempting to sweep in the Test played at the Sara Stadium in 1993.
The eldest of four brothers, Muralitharan took a liking to the game mainly because he was boarded at St. Anthony's College, Katugastota. There were scheduled times for playing and for studies. From three to five in the afternoon he played softball cricket, thus developing an interest for the game. By the time he was eight, he was going for practices with the leather ball. His mentor Sunil Fernando encouraged him to bowl fast initially. But when he reached the age of 13, the coach found that he was not getting any bigger and taller, so he suggested that he start bowling off-cutters. Soon afterwards, he was bowling off-spin with a shortened run-up. He also learnt to bowl leg-spin as well.
Muralitharan's initial year in the first team was as an all-rounder batting at number five and hardly getting a bowl due to the presence of Ruwan Kalpage and Piyal Wijetunge, two of his contemporaries who went onto play for the country, but not with the same success.
The following year, when Kalpage left school, Muralitharan became the main off-spinner in the side and went on to take a hundred wickets. When Wijetunga also left a year later, Muralitharan shouldering all the responsibilities of a spinner took a record 127 wickets.
Damien Nadarajah was his captain and he encouraged Muralitharn to join Tamil Union. It was during this time that Muralitharan got the break to play against Australian Academy. He took eight wickets in the match played at the Sara Stadium. The same year, he improved on this performance by taking 6 for 68 against England 'A' at the Air Force grounds in Katunayake.
Shortly afterwards he was selected to tour England with the Sri Lanka team in 1991. He went through the tour wicketless, but it was an experience that was to help him a year later when he was given his first Test cap against Allan Border's Australians at the R. Premadasa Stadium. He has not looked back since.
MUTHIAH MURALITHARAN IN FIGURES
Series-by-Series in Tests Season Opp (Venue) T O M R W Best Avg 5wI 10wM 1992-93 v Aus (H) 2 73.1 12 225 4 2/109 56.25 0 0 1992-93 v NZ (H) 1 52.1 9 156 7 4/134 22.28 0 0 1992-93 v Eng (H) 1 61 15 173 5 4/118 34.60 0 0 1993-94 v Ind (H) 2 47.1 12 136 4 4/136 34.00 0 0 1993-94 v RSA (H) 3 174.1 47 356 16 5/101 22.25 2 0 1993-94 v WI (H) 1 15.5 4 47 4 4/47 11.75 0 0 1993-94 v Ind (A) 3 143.2 21 420 12 5/162 35.00 1 0 1994-95 v Pak (H) 1 47 6 165 1 1/123 165.00 0 0 1994-95 v Zim (A) 2 87 28 168 3 2/60 56.00 0 0 1994-95 v NZ (A) 2 86 35 141 7 5/64 20.14 1 0 1995-96 v Pak (A) 3 137.4 26 410 15 5/68 27.33 1 0 1995-96 v Aus (A) 2 92 10 348 3 2/224 116.00 0 0 1996-97 v Zim (H) 2 105.3 27 195 14 5/33 13.92 1 0 1996-97 v NZ (A) 2 81 17 241 6 3/43 40.16 0 0 1996-97 v Pak (H) 1 53 19 98 6 6/98 16.33 1 0 1996-97 v WI (A) 2 98 32 247 16 5/34 15.43 2 0 1997-98 v Ind (H) 2 148 31 369 9 4/99 41.00 0 0 1997-98 v Ind (A) 2 121 39 311 3 3/74 103.66 0 0 1997-98 v Zim (H) 2 141.4 50 262 17 7/94 15.41 2 1 1997-98 v RSA (A) 2 139.5 30 400 16 5/63 25.00 1 0 1997-98 v NZ (H) 3 155 41 376 19 5/30 19.78 2 0 1998 v Eng (A) 1 113.5 41 220 16 9/65 26.91 2 1 Total 42 2173.2 552 5464 203 9/65 26.91 16 2 Record against each Country Opp T O M R W Best Avg 5wI 10wM R/O St/Rt v Aus 4 165.1 22 573 7 2/109 81.85 0 0 3.46 142 v NZ 8 374.1 102 914 39 5/30 23.43 3 0 2.44 58 v Eng 2 174.5 56 393 21 9/65 18.71 2 1 2.24 50 v Ind 9 459.3 103 1236 28 5/162 44.14 1 0 2.68 98 v RSA 5 314 77 756 32 5/63 23.62 3 0 2.40 59 v WI 3 113.5 36 294 20 5/34 14.70 2 0 2.58 34 v Pak 5 237.4 51 673 22 6/98 30.59 2 0 2.83 65 v Zim 6 334.1 105 625 34 7/94 18.38 3 1 1.87 59 Home 21 1073.4 273 2558 106 7/94 24.13 8 1 2.38 61 Away 21 1099.4 279 2906 97 9/65 29.95 8 1 2.64 68 TOTAL 42 2173.2 552 5464 203 9/65 26.91 16 2 2.51 64 As batsman and fielder Batting: Tests 42, Innings 57, Not Outs 24,
Highest Score 39 v India (SSC), 1997-98,
Runs 458, Average 13.87. Fielding: 22 catches. Top Ten Spinners in Test cricket Wkts Bowler Tests Avg 313 SK Warne (Aus) 67 24.77 309 LR Gibbs (WI) 79 29.09 297 DL Underwood (Eng) 86 25.83 266 BS Bedi (Ind) 67 28.71 248 R Benaud (Aus) 63 27.03 242 BS Chandrasekhar (Ind) 58 29.74 236 Abdul Qadir (Pak) 67 32.80 216 CV Grimmett (Aus) 37 24.21 203 M Muralitharan (SL) 42 26.91 197 A Kumble (Ind) 46 28.43 (All figures complete till Eng v SL, Oval Test, 1998) Ten wickets or more in a match (2) 16/220 v England (Oval) 1998 12/117 v Zimbabwe (Kandy) 1997-98 Five wickets or more in an innings (16) 9/65 v England (Oval) 1998 7/94 v Zimbabwe (Kandy) 1997-98 7/155 v England (Oval) 1998 6/98 v Pakistan (R. Premadasa Stadium) 1996-97 5/23 v Zimbabwe (Kandy) 1997-98 5/30 v New Zealand (SSC) 1997-98 5/33 v Zimbabwe (R Premadasa Stadium) 1996-97 5/34 v West Indies (Antigua) 1996-97 5/63 v South Africa (Centurion Park) 1997-98 5/64 v New Zealand (Napier) 1994-95 5/68 v Pakistan (Faisalabad) 1995-96 5/90 v New Zealand (R. Premadasa Stadium) 1997-98 5/101 v South Africa (SSC) 1993-94 5/104 v South Africa (De Soysa Stadium) 1993-94 5/113 v West Indies (St. Vincent) 1996-97 5/162 v India (Lucknow) 1993-94 Fielders off whom Muralitharan has benefitted 14 catches - HP Tillekeratne 12 catches - ST Jayasuriya, RS Mahanama 9 catches - DPM Jayewardene 7 catches - RS Kalpage 6 catches - AP Gurusinha, RS Kaluwitharana 5 catches - PA de Silva 4 catches - GP Wickremasinghe, DP Samaraweera, A Ranatunga, HDPK Dharmasena, MS Atapattu 3 catches - PB Dasanayake 2 catches - DK Liyanage 1 catch - SD Anurasiri, RP Arnold, UC Hathurusingha, WPUJC Vaas, KJ Silva, UU Chandana, SC de Silva, CM Bandara, SA Perera. Modes of dismissal Bowled - 53 Caught - 105 Lbw - 22 Caught & Bowled - 12 Stumped - 10 Hit Wicket - 1 Milestone Victims 1st wkt (1st Test) - CJ McDermott, Australia (lbw) 50th wkt (13th Test) - NS Sidhu, India (ct) 100th wkt (27th Test) - SP Fleming, New Zealand (b) 150th wkt (36th Test) - GJ Whittall, Zimbabwe (ct) 200th wkt (42nd Test) - DG Cork, England (ct) Number of Tests taken between fifty wickets 1 to 50 - 13 Tests 51 to 100 - 14 Tests 101 to 150 - 9 Tests 150 to 200 - 6 Tests Muralitharan in 1998 Opponents (Venue) O M R W v Zimbabwe (Kandy) 29 18 23 5 42.5 13 94 7 v Zimbabwe (SSC) 32 10 72 2 37.5 9 73 3 v South Africa (Cape Town) 45 8 135 4 41 10 108 4 v South Africa (Centurion) 30 8 63 5 23.5 4 94 3 v New Zealand (R Premadasa St) 38.2 9 90 5 36 5 139 4 v New Zealand (Galle) 23 9 33 0 16 7 24 3 v New Zealand (SSC) 23.1 3 60 2 18.3 8 30 5 v England (Oval) 59.3 14 155 7 54.2 27 65 9 Total 550.2 162 1258 68 Tests 8, Average 18.50, 5wInns 7, 10wM 2, R/O 2.28, S/R 49. Other Top Wicket-takers for 1998 Bowler Tests Wkts Avg AA Donald (RSA) 10 58 19.62 ARC Fraser (Eng) 10 43 20.74 SM Pollock (RSA) 10 39 25.30 CEL Ambrose (WI) 6 30 14.26 Waqar Younis (Pak) 5 29 20.17 SK Warne (Aus) 5 24 33.16