Muralitharan: A genius bows out

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According to Sri Lanka Cricket, Muttiah Muralitharan, the world's leading wicket-taker, will retire from Test cricket this month. The 38-year-old Sri Lanka off-spinner will play the last Test of his career against India, starting July 18 in Galle.

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Muttiah Muralitharan is the highest wicket-taker in the five-day format. He has so far picked 792 wickets in 132 Tests at an average of 22.71.

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However, when it comes to India, his record tells a different story. He has so far played 21 matches and picked just 97 wickets.

In the last series played in India, he picked nine wickets that included Virender Sehwag's dismissal on 293 runs.

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Murali has picked maximum number of wickets against England. He has played 16 Tests against England picking 112 wickets.

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In what was the most
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distressing moment of his career, Australian umpire Darrell Hair called Muralitharan for throwing or chucking the ball while playing in a Test match in 1995.

The off-spinner, was no-balled seven times in three overs by Hair, who believed the then 23 year old was bending his arm and straightening it in the process of delivery, which amounted to chucking and was an illegal action in cricket.

Muralitharan's action was cleared by the ICC after biomechanical analysis at the University of Western Australia and at the University of Hong Kong in 1996. They concluded that his action created the 'optical illusion of throwing'.