Sri Lanka’s Muttiah Muralidharan has become the highest wicket taker in the history of cricket, overtaking Shane Warne‘s tally of 708, in his home-town Kandy. It is an extraordinary feather in the hat of a small nation which only began playing international cricket a couple of decades ago. And it is an even more extraordinary feat for a smiling assassin who has been his team’s only match-winning weapon.
The numbers tell the tale: Warne took 145 Tests; Murali has done it in just 116 Tests. His average of just a little over 21, his number of five- and ten-wicket hauls, and his role in giving Sri Lankan cricket a semblance of respectability are all obvious. But the shadow of chucking hangs over Murali, just as it has all his career. Bishen Bedi, who has bracketed Indian offspinner Harbhajan Singh with Murali, has called chucking “a bigger disgrace than match-fixing.”
Questions: Will any bowler every overtake The Kandy Man? Is chucking the main reason for Murali’s success or his turn and guile? Will the chucking allegations forever cloud his accomplishments? If life-threatening bowlers like Shoaib Akhtar and Brett Lee can hurl their beamers joyfully, is Bedi barking up the wrong tree? Is chucking a bigger menace than match-fixing or is Bedi plainly jealous? Above all, does Muralidharan’s record of 708 wickets count?
Photo courtesy: BBC
Will any bowler every overtake The Kandy Man?
Maybe, but not for at least a couple of decades…
Is chucking the main reason for Murali’s success or his turn and guile?
Nope, because no one has been able to prove that he chucks
Will the chucking allegations forever cloud his accomplishments?
Unfortunately, yes… at least for most australians and BS Bedi
If life-threatening bowlers like Shoaib Akhtar and Brett Lee can hurl their beamers joyfully, is Bedi barking up the wrong tree?
Bedi’s business is to bark up as many trees as possible, right or wrong be damned.
Is chucking a bigger menace than match-fixing or is Bedi plainly jealous?
Chucking can be checked with umpires…. not so match fixing crime syndicates..
Above all, does Muralidharan’s record of 708 wickets count?
He’s deserved everyone of them, and more.
Still unsure whether his record should be celeberated or condemned!
there is no credence to BS Bedi’s comments…rub him wrong and he will say Kumble also chucks when bowling a fast one
If Muralitharan’s record doesn’t count, what should? B S Bedi’s Bull Shit?
The tragedy of cricket on the subcontinent has been that ex-cricketers think that they were the cat’s whiskers and that there will never be another like them unless it is their own son.
Geniuses like Chandrashekar have been able to come to terms with Kumble, Gavaskar with Tendulkar and so on. It is the Bedis of the world who have a problem that there could be bowlers better than them. This was the same gentleman who never recovered from the 1978 Pakistan series when one-day cricket was new, and Zaheer Abbbas, Javed Miandad, and Asif Iqbal ran riot.
On the other hand, Warne, Murali, Kumble have thrived not just on covered tracks but in both test and one-day cricket, where powerful batsmen in small stadiums in conditions and playing rules designed to help them thrive.
Bedi has a point about the illegal becoming legal or being made legal to accommodte the likes of Muralitharan. But nothing can take away his amazing record. Don Bradman scored a century in every third innings. Murali has a five-wicket haul in every third innings. How magnificent is that? Here’s a challenge. Let Bedi throw like Murali. Let’s see how many Bedi can bag.
If Muralitharan’s record doesn’t count, what should? B S Bedi’s Bull Shit?
rofl!!!
Muruli is really great! He is a better bowler than Wannni! Wanni has alwas had plenty of runs to bowl with and some very top class bowlers like Glen to support him from the other end. Muruli has been a lone wolf! He has taken 40% + of the wickets playing for SL Many a times he has had to bowl only in one innings as the opposition had a huge score. Most of the times he has been a match winner.Taking 4 wickets is as good as scoring 100. 5 wickets is like 200. 10 in a match is like a double hundred in each innings of a match. i have played plenty of cricket and I know how it is to get a wicket whether you throw or bowl round arm. As per Bedi the chuckers bowl like the javilian throwers. But in athaletics you have to throw the javilian and not bowl it as it is an advantage. When Zena Zetopec was in mysore some time in th 50’s she showd this to us in the MC stadium. I was a small boy and I happened to run with Zetopec. Whether you throw or bowl it is not easy to get wickets in a match, let alone 710! Long live Muruli!!
As Tarle says BS is the right initial for Bedi.
Why are you berating your own heroes? Isn’t the rest of the Indian media already doing that? Questioning Murali’s achievement is like asking the Sun it’s right to shine. Instead of writing such degrading pieces, try and write a celebratory one.
It is unfortunate some of you are insulting Bedi for being forthright. He is consistent in his opinion on this right from the beginning. The fact that ICC amended the law is a proof that the system buckled under the blackmail of the cricketing cows of the subcontinent. If the power to declare a chucker was with the umpire likes of Murali would have been declared as such a long ago.
Even every recently during Delhi test it was alleged Shoaib was chucking and Dravid was victim of one such beamer hurled at 150 km.
Question of taunting Bedi to chuck and get wickets is the obverse side of what Bedi himself is telling bowl straight and show you take 700 wickets ! It works both ways. Everything is an art . You ask Lata Mangeshkar about remix she may squirm but you cannot taunt her to sing one for that !
Preposterous headline indeed. Anything to do with Murali being a Tamilian? *wink* *wink*. Come on churumuri, be a sport!
Heard Murali’s favourite Hindi movie??
Chuck de, India !!
ettin.sagaNi is what it is. only people who couldn’t bowl half an over to save their lives would doubt murali’s genius.
here is a challenge. i will bat and you can bowl 40K odd balls. can throw, chuk do whatever you want. get me out 708 times in 40k balls and earn right to critique muralidhara.
hi,
I donot understand the logic of giving only headline & a snippet in RSS feeds (u used to provide full story within feed earlier), it is well known fact among bloggers to give full story…also all the popular blogs give full stories, if u want to monetize ur traffic, give an ad at the end every story….
I think BS bedi is absolutely right in condemning Mr Murali Who is in whole definition of bowling is a great chucker. He cant be consider as spin bowler. Since he was considered by the means of biomechanical tools he and harbhajan should be considered as bimechanical Bowlers(read Thrower) There record should be kept seperate under Biomech bowler not under spinner. That will give some respect to genuine bowlers like shane warne bedi anil kumble etc. I dont know how many lives this little monster (murali) has destroyed. Just to save the career of one cricketer 100’s of other cricketer’s carreers were ruined because stupidity and corruption of ICC. One should keep it in mind that when Murali was cleared very first time our most corrupt person Mr dalmia was the president of ICC. The decision was made to please the vote back of srilanka. Other thing that I dont understand is When prime minister of Australia called Murali a chucker no one in the world criticise him or called him jealous of Murali but if poor Mr Bedi is callng spade a spade whole world is getting Crazy/insane!
Thanks
If Murali’s bowling action was accepatble, why amend the ICC rules. Has Ranjan Madugale has anything to with it? He can have his wickets but for my Bedi is right.
I agree Hoysala there is a pattern here. u r on track..
Murali is taking wickets using his skill. He had passed through all the acid test.
murali is a chucker. i can easliy prove it coz i can bowl normal off-spin and keep a straight arm but when ibowl unorthodox off-spin like murali using the wrist it is impossible to keep your arm straight. i don’t have a deformity in my arm or anything like that i’m just a normal person and i’m not racist or anything like that, i think ajanta mendis is a great bowler, the only reason i dislike murali is because he does chuck the ball not because of the colour of his skin e.t.c. HE DOES CHEAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1