Test Cricket
Playing on the final day of his test career Muttiah Muralitharan put his name in cricketing history books by becoming the first bowler to take 800 Test wickets.
The 38 year old Muralitharan of Sri Lanker had begun the match against India with 792 wickets to his credit and was playing on his favourite ground at Galle.
His unusual style of bowling off spinners had been called into questions some years ago when he was accused of throwing the ball rather than bowling it however tests were carried out on the bowler and it was officially declared that he was in fact bowling correctly and that it was just an illusion caused by his bent arm which had been deformed since birth.
Muralitharan had reached his mammoth record of 800 wickets taken after playing in 134 test matches although he has also taken 515 wickets in 337 one-day internationals plus another 13 in Twenty20 international matches.
The cricketers nearest rival in the wicket taking league was Shane Warne of Australia who had taken 708 wickets from 145 test matches played.
Although now retired from Test cricket Muralitharan is still expected to play in limited-overs internationals which will include the World Cup next spring which is due to be staged in India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.
