Murali Rewrites Record Books
On the ground where he played as a youth, Muttiah Muralitharan entered the record books as he surpassed Shane Warne’s tally of 708 in the morning session against England.
Asgiriya Stadium was awash in applause and fire-crackers as Sri Lanka’s 35 year-old spinner broke the world record for Test wickets when he bowled Paul Collingwood.
The masses of fans that arrived to celebrate the landmark were made to wait for a bat as Collingwood and Sidebottom dug in, forcing Sri Lanka to take the new ball. Murali was pulled out of the attack briefly but soon returned to finally get his man.
Expectations were that the wicket would fall Down Under during last month’s two-Test series against Australia, but Murali was denied by the home batsmen, which turned out to be a blessing in disguise as he was able to get the final wicket in front of his home crowd.
“This was a great moment for me because it happened in front of my wife, my parents, my brothers, my cousins – everyone was here watching me,” said Murali.
“Breaking the world record here was special because from the age of 15 I played so many matches in this ground for my school – St. Anthony’s College.
“This is the place where I got my 100th wicket in a season for my school, when I was 19 years old. So it is a special moment to get the record here and that is why I couldn’t get many wickets in Australia, because it had to happen here in my hometown.”
“It is obviously an amazing feat but it’s not nice to be the victim of the record wicket,” said Collingwood. “He is a legend in the game and so difficult to play against.
“I forgot all about the record. But when I heard the ball hit stumps and the fireworks go off, I knew it was something special.”
Murali is hopeful that the record will stand for years to come and acknowledges that surpassing Warne was due to not only skill but the longevity of his career.
“When Warne was still playing and I always said ‘Whoever plays longer will have the record’. He stopped after the last Ashes and I am still going.”