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The unstoppable Murali
By S. R. Pathiravithana
I can imagine the sense of euphoria that Edward Hilary (later Sir Edward Hilary) was enveloped in when he became the very first human being to endure, conquer and finally tame Mount Everest. In the same vein how could you describe a person’s achievement that has stretched human endurance twice in his lifetime and has done things twice that no other man had done before or dared and failed? Intriguingly he is none other than Sri Lanka’s greatest exponent of right arm off spin – Muttiah Muralitharan who became the first man to capture five hundred Test victims and then went on to become the first man ever to capture ONE THOUSAND wickets in both forms of the game. However my gut feeling is that he may not stop at that and this is a tribute to this great son of Sri Lankan soil in my own humble way.

Once, I heard that Murali started his cricket as a medium pacer cum middle order bat at junior level. I am in no hurry to test the validity of this statement, but when I first saw him it was at the Royal-Antonian encounter at Reid Avenue and he was bowling off spin and taking wickets too. That year he had the entire school’s arena in a tangle which he had cast himself.

At times people call him haughty, but that is the way people worked on him so that he ended up feeling this way. It was some time ago, Murali was sent on his first overseas trip to England. He came back but had bowled only a few overs. Upon their return I asked the manager as to why Murali was not given to bowl. Then my friend replied “Between you and me that …… chucks, but don’t write”. I kept the bargain for both sides. First I did not believe my friend and at the same time I did not write on it. Next thing I knew was that he was in the Sri Lanka side.

Inspite of five wickets per Test, may be that he did not go to sleep in the night without a misgiving since that fateful boxing day of 1995, when he was called for ‘throwing’ by the Australian Umpire Darrel Hair. However this was not a impromptu decision made by that umpire on that fateful day. This was a culmination of events which took shape since the day he made his debut against the very same opponents in Sri Lanka some two years prior to that.

From this point onwards it was a yo-yo tragicomedy between the Lankan authorities and the rest of the World – especially the Australians. Finally when Sri Lanka was in Australia a few weeks ago, Murali proved to the World that his action was within the laws of cricket. It was hoped that the moaning would have come to an end. But as far as a section of the Australian spectators were concerned Murali was still a blatant ‘thrower’. This is something that wittingly or unwittingly what the Australian hierarchy taught them to believe.

Accolades never came to him on a platter. However the more they tried to subdue him, the harder he tried. One can safely say there was no other cricketer in history who was subjected to so much scrutiny and at every turn came out unscathed. This too is not just by luck, but, through precise technical and scientific analysis that always proved that his adversaries were wrong.

Born on the 17th of April 1972, Murali learned the ABC of cricket at St. Anthony’s College, Kandy. He made his Test debut against Australia at the R. Premadasa Stadium on 28th August 1992 and his first victim was none other than the present Sri Lankan coach Tom Moody who tried to leave a ball which pitched outside the off stump.

Because of him the ICC was forced to broaden their peripheries. They were forced to have a second look at unconventional bowling actions all over the world. ICC laws were amended and thus he pioneered in giving a ‘kiss of life’ to so many other bowlers, who would have got entangled in the traps laid, may be especially for him. At the same time he is grateful. Grateful to the man who stood by him when the storm of controversy nearly swept him off the field of cricket. He is Muralitharan’s former captain Arjuna Ranatunge. “If not for him I would not be here right now” Muralitharan said that when he became the first man to capture his 500th wicket in Zimbabwe. Then when he had this unique chance of capturing his 1000th international wicket in Bangladesh while playing his 100th test he repeated the same sentiments.

Muralitharan feels that the job of bowling and capturing wickets is getting harder by the day. He stated in Bangladesh that even the wickets in Australia which were fast and bouncy were more conducive to run making rather than wicket taking for any type of bowler. However, he feels that working harder at the trade is the only answer to this predicament.

The Muralitharan saga will go on for a few years more. But, there is one bitter truth. There can be only one Muralitharan. That bowling action can only belong to him because he was born with a deformity which has proved to be an asset to him rather than a drawback. So in the coming generation of bowlers no one must try to imitate his action and seek stardom. If they dare to do so they will find their careers are short. They must at all costs be original like Muralitharan.

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