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The announcement by off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan that he would retire from Test cricket after another 16 months came as a shock for many cricket enthusiasts. As for the cricket writers covering the series, they were concentrating on Muralitharan’s exploits with the bat as Sri Lanka had beaten Pakistan in the opening One-dayer in Dambulla until Murali stunned them with the news about his retirement plans, forcing them to focus on the champion bowler’s fascinating cricket career.
The next day, National newspapers flashed the news of Murali’s retirement (see box), which overshadowed Sri Lanka’s ODI win and it was so natural that no Sri Lankan has had the impact of Murali so far in Test cricket. His decision to retire was really an unexpected news. It is no exaggeration to state that Muralitharan has won more Test Matches for Sri Lanka than the trio of Sanath Jayasuriya, Aravinda de Silva and Arjuna Ranatunga all put together. Truly, Murali has been a legend of Sri Lankan cricket.
Injury Worries –
What may have forced Murali to eventually throw the towel? The injury he sustained ahead of the Pakistan Test series, which he eventually skipped, would have played a major part. Although his resting from the series was initially thought to be precautionary, it later dawned that Muralitharan will require surgery.
He has decided to go through with the injury for the next few months and is likely to go through the surgery after retiring from Tests. Murali, however, intends to play ODI cricket until the 2011 World Cup, but apparently wants to continue to play T-20 cricket for a few more years, due to the lucrative contract he has with Chennai Super Kings at the Indian Premier League.
After Murali? –
But the big question is that ‘what predicaments will Sri Lanka face after Murali’s retirement?’ Left-arm spinner Rangana Herath played a key role in Sri Lanka’s series win against Pakistan recently and many felt the fact that he had been living in the shadow of Muralitharan, who has denied Herath his due opportunities at the big league.
But if Herath is able to make half of the contribution that Murali has made, that too on a consistent basis, Sri Lanka would be better off, because Murali has not only excelled in spinner-friendly pitches in the sub-continent, but also in most other ‘not so friendly’ pitches of the other parts world as well.
November Ultimatum –
The only places where he has not been able to help Sri Lanka win are Australia and South Africa, but the faults are not entirely of his. Despite playing Test cricket for 17 years now, Murali has played only five Test Matches in Australia while the South Africans have seen him on their soil only in six Tests. But his record in South Africa is exceptional as he has picked up 35 wickets in six games at 26.02.
Murali has given an ultimatum of November, 2010, which means his dreams of a Test win in South Africa and Australia will remain unfulfilled as they have no matches for Sri Lanka during such time, and so will be Murali’s hopes to become the first man in the world to claim 1000 wickets in Tests.
But yet, he would retire with 800 plus Test wickets, a mark that would still be hard to break. Of the bowlers who are active in Test cricket at the moment, the closest rival to Murali is South Africa’s Makhaya Ntini who has a ‘mere’ 388 Test scalps. If it took Brian Lara 12 long years to break Alan Border’s record for most Test runs, it will possibly take at least a quarter of a century for a Test bowler to surpass Murali’s sensational feat.
Working Harder –
As for the Sri Lankan supporters, they should be prepared to live without Murali. He’s a committed family man, who loves spending time with his wife and son. Single-handedly Murali has already helped Sri Lanka win so many encounters and cricket lovers should now be able to put up with the days where their bowlers will have to work that bit harder for Test wins without Murali’s assistance.
Some may say that Sri Lanka won the first ever series against Pakistan without him and that shouldn’t be a huge problem to win sans Murali. But it won’t be the same against either the Australians or the South Africans. You wouldn’t expect them to give in so easily going down from winning positions.
What the Pakistan Test series has done is to give a misconception that other spinners too could do the job like how Murali did. Other too could do a decent job, but whether they would be as effective as Murali will be a lingering question. His enthusiasm, his desire to keep improving and the role he played as a fine Sri Lankan ambassador overseas will all be missed when the man retires.
