Muttiah Muralitharan has so far had a nightmare tour of India. As the greatest wicket taker in cricket history prepares to play his part in the upcoming one day series we ask how long the veteran can carry on.
It was good to see Muttiah Muralitharan enjoying himself, finally, during the last test of Sri Lanka's series in India. He thrashed an entertaining fourteen in just nine balls, including three boundaries, that made no difference to the result of the match but did at least restore that familiar smile at the end of what had been a torrid tour. Nine wickets at sixty-five apiece is not the kind of bowling return he is used to.
But it does reflect the fact that he is not quite the potent force he once was. His overall averages in Tests (22.71) and One Day Internationals (22.93) remain exceptional. But in the last year, his wickets have cost 38.47 in Tests and 29.45 in One Day Internationals. And his economy rate in the fifty over game is 4.77 runs per over for the last twelve months, compared with a career rate of 3.91. The stats show a steady, if not dramatic decline, from his peak between 2004 and 2007.
And at the age of 39, any sign of deterioration, even in a bowler with such an illustrious career, will lead to whispers about retirement. Murali has said he will retire from limited overs cricket after the 2011 World Cup and from Test matches next autumn. Given that the Sri Lankan selectors have allowed Sanath Jayasuriya to plod on almost indefinitely, it would be odd if they denied Murali his swansong, even though there is now a second rival for his place in Rangana Herath.
It is remarkable that a man who has for so long borne the weight of Sri Lanka's bowling continues to give his all in every format of the international game, despite the fact that he has secured every record a bowler could wish to achieve: the most wickets in Tests and One Day Internationals; the most five wicket and ten wicket hauls; the only bowler to take fifty wickets against every Test playing nation and, for good measure, the highest number of ducks in Test cricket!
Lets hope that neither injury nor the selectors axe prevent Murali from leaving the international stage at a time of his own choosing. He is one of the gentlemen of cricket, who always seems to enjoy playing and who has borne much of the malice aimed at him with dignity and fortitude. He has been no-balled for throwing, has had his doosra cited and has suffered intolerable abuse from crowds, particularly in Australia. Yet he has submitted to every examination of his bowling, even practising in public with a metal arm brace that prevented him from straightening his arm.
Some still claim that he is a chucker, based purely on the fact that his action looks a bit iffy. But it has been proven that he has a congenital defect of the arm that creates the optical illusion that he is throwing the ball. In fact it is part of Murali's legacy that the controversy surrounding his being no-balled for throwing in 1995 and 1998 led to research that found that 99% of bowlers straighten their arm during delivery. Those accused of chucking can now have their actions assessed scientifically, rather than being at the whim of an umpire's opinion.
It remains to be seen whether Murali will feature in the first one day international in Rajkot on Tuesday, having missed both this week's Twenty20 games due to ligament damage sustained whilst playing football. Despite his recent struggles in India, he remains Sri Lanka's best limited overs bowler and they will be relying on him getting the series off to a good start. The home side are 1.74 favourites to win the opening game of five, but they have injury worries of their own, with Yuvraj Singh likely to miss Tuesday's opener. Kumar Sangakkara's tourists are 2.28 to gain victory.
