When a Man of the Series had to be selected, there was hardly any doubt in the matter. The Indians made the task easier by hardly performing in creditable fashion. Muthiah Muralitharan stood tall over the others. The facts and figures speak for themselves:

Murali bowled 177.3 overs, the next closest was Vaas with 130.4 overs. For India, Zaheer Khan with 98.5 overs sent down the most number of balls.

The Lankan offie bowled 51 maiden overs, once again Vaas was second with 40 while India could offer only Prasad with 23 overs.

Murali scalped 23 wickets, more than twice the haul of the next in line, Prasad, who had just 11. The average? Murali 19.30 versus Prasad 28.

A best bowling analysis of 8/87 sealed the award, with the nearest contender claiming 5/42.