Veteran Sri Lankan off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan does not consider his swansong Test against India a "big match" and says he would not feel sad if he retires without touching the unprecedented 800-wicket mark.
Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) has planned a grand farewell for Muttiah Muralitharan, who will play his swansong Test against India from Sunday, but will not prepare a tailor-made pitch to assist the spin wizard.
Paying glowing tribute to retiring Muttiah Muralitharan, former Pakistani star Saqlain Mushtaq on Friday said the Sri Lankan spinner is the best of his era and world cricket may not see a bowler like him in next 100 years.
Mahela Jayawardene (240) and Thilan Samaraweera (231) set a fourth-wicket Test record stand of 437 runs as Sri Lanka piled up 644 for seven declared on the second day of the first Test against Pakistan in Karachi on Sunday. Pakistan were 44 for one in reply, opener Salman Butt (23) edging Muttiah Muralitharan to Jayawardene at first slip after Sri Lanka had declared in the final session.
Ace spinner Muttiah Muralitharan has also been included in the team's 15-man squad.
Sri Lanka clinched a consolation 68-run victory against India in the fifth and final one-day international in Colombo on Sunday to avoid a series whitewash. Sri Lanka piled up 320 for eight with opener Tillakaratne Dilshan top-scoring with 97, then bowled out India for 252. India won the series 4-1.
India created history on Thursday, recording their ninth one-day victory on the trot after thrashing Sri Lanka by 67 runs in an inconsequential fourth One-Day International in Colombo. A career-best 150 by Gautam Gambhir paved the way as the tourists posted an imposing 332 for 5, after winning their fourth successive toss, and then dismissed Sri Lanka for 265 in 48 overs.
Indian off-spinner and Test prospect Mohnish Parmar, who has a similar bowling style to Sri Lankan spinning great Muttiah Muralitharan, must rectify his action to correct flaws, India's cricket board said. Parmar, 20, emerged as the most successful in Indian first-class cricket this season with a tally of 52 wickets from just 11 matches.
309 - Number of Test wickets taken by Harbhajan Singh, same as that of West Indian Lance Gibbs. Among the off-spinners only Muttiah Muralitharan (756) has taken more.
Legendary Sri Lankan off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan, who has the highest number of Test wickets under his belt, is planning to quit cricket's longer version after the tour of West Indies in October.
A look at Muttiah Muralitharan's wicket ways after the Sri Lankan off-spinner claimed a world record 709 Test wickets.
Foolish to focus only on Mendis: Dravid The Sri Lankan attack is not all about Ajantha Mendis. It will be foolish to focus only on the mystery spinner and ignore others, like Muralitharan and Vaas, warned former India captain Rahul Dravid.
Sehwag, with 491 runs, at an average of 122.75 in four innings, including two hundreds and one fifty, is the leading run-getter in the present series, a record for India against Sri Lanka in a Test series.
Sri Lanka will be looking to cross the 400-run mark, which should be good enough on a track that has decent pace and bounce in it, star opener and century-maker Tillakaratne Dilshan said in Mumbai on Wednesday.
Sri Lanka suffered an injury scare on Tuesday when Muttiah Muralitharan was taken to hospital after complaining of side strain. However, he was ruled fit for the third Test against India, in Mumbai, starting on Wednesday.
Muttiah Muralitharan is the highest Test wicket taker of all time and it is highly unlikely that anyone in contemporary cricket or in the near future can even approach the world mark the champion Sri Lanka bowler would set before retiring.
England's James Anderson became the leading fast bowler in Test history as he bowled Mohammed Shami to seal victory for England over India at the Oval on Tuesday.
Australian media reported that the Indian off-spinner features in the list of seven bowlers with highly suspect action drawn by ICC.
Australia captain Allan Border criticised the move and current skipper Ricky Ponting also expressed reservations.
Statistical highlights on the fifth and final day of the first cricket Test between India and Sri Lanka in Ahmedabad.
India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni is optimistic of the team's chances at the upcoming Asia Cup.
Former Sri Lanka captain Arjuna Ranatunga on Monday said he believes that ace off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan can end up with more than 1000 Test wickets if he plays for another few years. The 47-year-old was effusive in his praise of India ODI captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and said India are on the right track in their preparation for the 2011 World Cup.
The opening day of the first Test between India and West Indies belonged to senior Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin.
Sachin Tendulkar, who dropped a rung to 14th in the batsmen's rankings, leads a pack of five Indians in the top-20.
India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni won the toss and elected to bat against Sri Lanka in the final of the tri-series at the R Premadasa Stadium, in Colombo, on Monday. India, who lost to Sri Lanka by 139 runs on Saturday in the last group match, made one change bringing in youngster Virat Kohli in place of Dinesh Karthik.
Sri Lanka seized control of the second Test against New Zealand on Friday as they reached 157 for two, a lead of 339 runs, at stumps on Day 3.
Sri Lanka clinched a resounding 202-run victory on the final day to take a 1-0 lead in their two-match Test series against New Zealand on Saturday.
Sri Lanka won the third ODI to take an unassailable 3-0 lead over England in the five-match series
Muttiah Muralitharan goes into the first Test against a second-string Zimbabwe side within sight of one of cricket's most celebrated records.
The Australian fast bowler said his bowling action was also "questioned" at the start of his career and he could relate to Murali's feelings.
Bowler Chaminda Vaas could play his final Test after being recalled to the Sri Lankan side to face Pakistan starting on Monday. Vaas, 35, is expected to announce his retirement from Test cricket before the start of the third Test, which would be his 111th game in a 15-year career that has bagged 354 wickets.
Sri Lanka recalled 35-year-old bowler Chaminda Vaas for the third and final Test against Pakistan, starting on Monday. The left-armer, who has taken 354 wickets in 110 test matches, was not selected for the first two Tests won by Sri Lanka.
Playing in his 124th Test, the 37-year-old became the first Indian and the third bowler overall to complete the feat.
Cricket's ruling body is commissioning research into the bowling action of spinners to counter suggestions that certain bowlers are being protected.
The ace Indian leg spinner is only the fifth bowler to reach the milestone.
After criticising Sri Lanka's Muttiah Muralitharan as a 'chucker', India's former left-arm spinner Bishan Singh Bedi has trained his gun at compatriot Harbhajan Singh, saying "he is no different".
South Africa's Dale Steyn climbed to third in the International Cricket Council Test bowling rankings following his match-winning performances against New Zealand. The 24-year-old fast bowler took 20 wickets in his team's 2-0 series win over New Zealand, moving up five spots to lie just behind team mate Makhaya Ntini in the rankings.
Instead of celebrating the narrow win against Kings XI Punjab, Chennai Super Kings captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni was fuming after poor catching threatened to cost them the high-scoring IPL thriller on Thursday.
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