Ace Sri Lankan spinner Muttiah Muralitharan bagged his 500th Test wicket by claiming the scalp of Michael Kasprowicz on the opening day of the second Test against Australia in Kandy.
Muralitharan became only the third bowler in Test history to achieve this landmark after West Indian Courtney Walsh and Australia's Shane Warne (who did so in the first Test of the current series in Galle).
Murali is the fastest among the three members of 500-wicket club.
Walsh needed as many as 129 Tests for his 500 wickets, while Warne achieved the feat while playing in his 108th Test. Murali's 500th wicket came in his only 87th Test. Incredible indeed!
While Murali's performance in away matches is quite impressive, his performance at home is mind-blowing. He has taken 176 wickets in 36 away matches at an average of 4.88 wickets.
In home matches, he has 324 wickets in 51 Tests at an average of 6.35 wickets per match with 28 five-wicket innings hauls and 10 ten-wicket match hauls!
No wonder Steve Waugh called him the 'Don Bradman' of bowling.
A statistical review of Murali's performance in Test cricket:
Performance in each series:
| Opponent | Season | M | Balls | Mdns | Runs | Wkts | Ave | Best | 5WI | 10WM | SR | RpO |
| Australia | 1992-93 | 2 | 439 | 12 | 225 | 4 | 56.25 | 2-109 | - | - | 109.75 | 3.08 |
| New Zealand | 1992-93 | 1 | 313 | 9 | 156 | 7 | 22.29 | 4-134 | - | - | 44.71 | 2.99 |
| England | 1992-93 | 1 | 366 | 15 | 173 | 5 | 34.60 | 4-118 | - | - | 73.20 | 2.84 |
| India | 1993-94 | 2 | 283 | 12 | 136 | 4 | 34.00 | 4-136 | - | - | 70.75 | 2.88 |
| South Africa | 1993-94 | 3 | 1045 | 47 | 356 | 16 | 22.25 | 5-101 | 2 | - | 65.31 | 2.04 |
| West Indies | 1993-94 | 1 | 95 | 4 | 47 | 4 | 11.75 | 4-47 | - | - | 23.75 | 2.97 |
| India* | 1993-94 | 3 | 860 | 20 | 420 | 12 | 35.00 | 5-162 | 1 | - | 71.67 | 2.93 |
| Pakistan | 1994-95 | 1 | 282 | 6 | 165 | 1 | 165.00 | 1-123 | - | - | 282.00 | 3.51 |
| Zimbabwe* | 1994-95 | 2 | 522 | 28 | 168 | 3 | 56.00 | 2-60 | - | - | 174.00 | 1.93 |
| New Zealand* | 1994-95 | 2 | 516 | 35 | 141 | 7 | 20.14 | 5-64 | 1 | - | 73.71 | 1.64 |
| Pakistan* | 1995-96 | 3 | 826 | 27 | 410 | 15 | 27.33 | 5-68 | 1 | - | 55.07 | 2.98 |
| Australia* | 1995-96 | 2 | 552 | 10 | 348 | 3 | 116.00 | 2-224 | - | - | 184.00 | 3.78 |
| Zimbabwe | 1996-97 | 2 | 633 | 27 | 195 | 14 | 13.93 | 5-33 | 1 | - | 45.21 | 1.85 |
| New Zealand* | 1996-97 | 2 | 486 | 17 | 241 | 6 | 40.17 | 3-43 | - | - | 81.00 | 2.98 |
| Pakistan | 1996-97 | 1 | 318 | 19 | 98 | 6 | 16.33 | 6-98 | 1 | - | 53.00 | 1.85 |
| West Indies* | 1996-97 | 2 | 588 | 32 | 247 | 16 | 15.44 | 5-34 | 2 | - | 36.75 | 2.52 |
| India | 1997-98 | 2 | 888 | 31 | 369 | 9 | 41.00 | 4-99 | - | - | 98.67 | 2.49 |
| India* | 1997-98 | 2 | 726 | 38 | 311 | 3 | 103.67 | 3-174 | - | - | 242.00 | 2.57 |
| Zimbabwe | 1997-98 | 2 | 851 | 49 | 262 | 17 | 15.41 | 7-94 | 2 | 1 | 50.06 | 1.85 |
| South Africa* | 1997-98 | 2 | 839 | 30 | 400 | 16 | 25.00 | 5-63 | 1 | - | 52.44 | 2.86 |
| New Zealand | 1997-98 | 3 | 930 | 41 | 374 | 19 | 19.68 | 5-30 | 2 | - | 48.95 | 2.41 |
| England* | 1998 | 1 | 683 | 41 | 220 | 16 | 13.75 | 9-65 | 2 | 1 | 42.69 | 1.93 |
| Australia | 1999-00 | 3 | 847 | 24 | 349 | 15 | 23.27 | 5-71 | 1 | - | 56.47 | 2.47 |
| Zimbabwe* | 1999-00 | 3 | 995 | 50 | 329 | 9 | 36.56 | 3-44 | - | - | 110.56 | 1.98 |
| Pakistan* | 1999-00 | 3 | 1279 | 50 | 516 | 26 | 19.85 | 6-71 | 1 | 1 | 49.19 | 2.42 |
| Pakistan | 1999-00 | 3 | 684 | 28 | 306 | 12 | 25.50 | 5-115 | 1 | - | 57.00 | 2.68 |
| South Africa | 2000-01 | 3 | 1366 | 52 | 480 | 26 | 18.46 | 7-84 | 3 | 1 | 52.54 | 2.11 |
| South Africa* | 2000-01 | 2 | 669 | 28 | 260 | 12 | 21.67 | 6-39 | 2 | 1 | 55.75 | 2.33 |
| England | 2000-01 | 3 | 1416 | 66 | 421 | 14 | 30.07 | 4-66 | - | - | 101.14 | 1.78 |
| India | 2001-02 | 3 | 1065 | 51 | 444 | 23 | 19.30 | 8-87 | 2 | 1 | 46.30 | 2.50 |
| Bangladesh | 2001-02 | 1 | 271 | 10 | 111 | 10 | 11.10 | 5-13 | 2 | 1 | 27.10 | 2.46 |
| West Indies | 2001-02 | 3 | 1306 | 53 | 536 | 24 | 22.33 | 6-81 | 3 | 2 | 54.42 | 2.46 |
| Zimbabwe | 2001-02 | 3 | 1219 | 84 | 294 | 30 | 9.80 | 9-51 | 2 | 1 | 40.63 | 1.45 |
| Pakistan* | 2001-02 | 1 | 354 | 17 | 127 | 8 | 15.88 | 4-55 | - | - | 44.25 | 2.15 |
| England* | 2002 | 2 | 756 | 32 | 297 | 8 | 37.13 | 5-143 | 1 | - | 94.50 | 2.36 |
| Bangladesh | 2002-03 | 1 | 268 | 12 | 98 | 10 | 9.80 | 5-39 | 2 | 1 | 26.80 | 2.19 |
| South Africa* | 2002-03 | 2 | 611 | 19 | 251 | 7 | 35.86 | 3-83 | - | - | 87.29 | 2.46 |
| New Zealand | 2002-03 | 2 | 971 | 59 | 320 | 13 | 24.62 | 5-49 | 1 | - | 74.69 | 1.98 |
| West Indies* | 2003-04 | 2 | 460 | 14 | 209 | 9 | 23.22 | 5-138 | 1 | - | 51.11 | 2.73 |
| England | 2003-04 | 3 | 1390 | 109 | 320 | 26 | 12.31 | 7-46 | 1 | 1 | 53.46 | 1.38 |
| Australia | 2003-04 | 2 | 555 | 18 | 260 | 15 | 17.33 | 6-59 | 2 | 1 | 37.00 | 2.81 |
| - | TOTAL | 87 | 29523 | 1326 | 11390 | 500 | 22.78 | 9-51 | 41 | 13 | 59.05 | 2.31 |
(* away series)
Performance against each country:
| Opponent | Tests | Balls | Mdns | Runs | Wkts | Best | 5WI | 10WM | Ave | SR | RpO |
| Australia | 9 | 2393 | 64 | 1182 | 37 | 6-59 | 3 | 1 | 31.95 | 64.68 | 2.96 |
| Bangladesh | 2 | 539 | 22 | 209 | 20 | 5-13 | 4 | 2 | 10.45 | 26.95 | 2.33 |
| England | 10 | 4611 | 263 | 1431 | 69 | 9-65 | 4 | 2 | 20.74 | 66.83 | 1.86 |
| India | 12 | 3822 | 152 | 1680 | 51 | 8-87 | 3 | 1 | 32.94 | 74.94 | 2.64 |
| New Zealand | 10 | 3216 | 161 | 1232 | 52 | 5-30 | 4 | 0 | 23.69 | 61.85 | 2.30 |
| Pakistan | 12 | 3743 | 147 | 1622 | 68 | 6-71 | 4 | 1 | 23.85 | 55.04 | 2.60 |
| South Africa | 12 | 4530 | 176 | 1747 | 77 | 7-84 | 8 | 2 | 22.69 | 58.83 | 2.31 |
| West Indies | 8 | 2449 | 103 | 1039 | 53 | 6-81 | 6 | 2 | 19.60 | 46.21 | 2.55 |
| Zimbabwe | 12 | 4220 | 238 | 1248 | 73 | 9-51 | 5 | 2 | 17.10 | 57.81 | 1.77 |
| TOTAL | 87 | 29523 | 1326 | 11390 | 500 | 9-51 | 41 | 13 | 22.78 | 59.05 | 2.31 |
| At Home | 51 | 17801 | 838 | 6495 | 324 | 9-51 | 28 | 10 | 20.04 | 54.94 | 2.19 |
| Abroad | 36 | 11722 | 488 | 4895 | 176 | 9-65 | 13 | 3 | 27.81 | 66.60 | 2.50 |
Mode of dismissals:
| Mode | Home | Away | Total | % |
| Bowled | 85 | 37 | 122 | 24.40 |
| Caught in the field | 139 | 84 | 223 | 44.60 |
| Caught behind | 20 | 7 | 27 | 5.40 |
| Caught & bowled | 13 | 7 | 20 | 4.00 |
| Stumped | 17 | 10 | 27 | 5.40 |
| LBW | 50 | 30 | 80 | 16.00 |
| Hit-wicket | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0.20 |
| TOTAL | 324 | 176 | 500 |
Murali's bunnies:
| Batsman | Country | Dismissed |
| GW Flower | Zimbabwe | 10 |
| Waqar Younis | Pakistan | 9 |
| MV Boucher | South Africa | 9 |
| Yousuf Youhana | Pakistan | 8 |
| DJ Cullinan | South Africa | 7 |
| GP Thorpe | England | 7 |
| JN Rhodes | South Africa | 6 |
| MN Samuels | West Indies | 6 |
