Muttiah Muralitharan to retire from Test cricket: Sri Lanka spinner will play last game against India

[Mamu]

Murali has retired. Galle Test to be his last.

[Mamu]

Not exactly sure how many wickets he did actually take by 'bowling'. He will definitely remain a controversial figure for ages to come.

[Gunner_Mania]

He is at 792 at the moment.Will he get his 800?

[Roshanrocks]

:(( end of an era... Warne, Murali ...Kumble.... :hatsoff: I hope we see a new genration of spinners to match the height the top 3 set

[urbestfriend]

* Respect * A true gentleman on and off the field!

[Lord]

legend,both on n off the field:hail: Bedi must be happy:winky: n Surya bulb should also take the cue,but i guess he wouldnt:hysterical:

[Holysmoke]

He got scared looking at the form SRT is in. :hehe:

[Lord]

He is at 792 at the moment.Will he get his 800?

hope not,792 is a nice number to retire on

[Mr. Wicket]

was always on the cards after the last series we played em in.

[Sid]

He got scared looking at the form SRT is in. :hehe:

But really it was Sehwag who made him realise last year that time has come to hang his boots

[SachDan]

Why after the first test? :dontknow:

[Lord]

Why after the first test? :dontknow:

so that he confirms to everybody it was the right decision:--D

[Gunner_Mania]

Why after the first test? :dontknow:

He was asked to consider playing the full series, but he was unsure about being at his best if bowled heavily throughout the series.

http://www.cricinfo.com/srilanka/content/current/story/466299.html

[achilles]

Test Cricket will miss you, Murali. Cricket will be poorer without you. You've had one helluva ride and its been a privilege seeing you bowl. You'll be missed.

[King Tendulkar]

Legend!

[DomainK]

:(( end of an era... Warne, Murali ...Kumble.... :hatsoff: I hope we see a new genration of spinners to match the height the top 3 set

Yes. End of an era. With Murali's retirement, the golden era of spin bowling comes to an end. I feel sort of sad. None of the bowlers these days can come within light years of the fantastic trio of Warne, Murali and Kumble.

[Ram]

A true legend bows out from the game! :hatsoff: He is probably locked in a 3-way race with Mcgrath and Warne for the best bowler ever. He probably ties with Sachin for the greatest cricketer from Asia and is almost certainly the best bowler from our continent. At one point in the late 90s and early 2000s, the entire Sri Lankan team’s test fortunes rise and fell with Murali’s exploits on the field. Back then, he routinely reeled off 15 test-100 wicket seasons for fun. His 16 wicket haul against England at the Oval in 1998 was without doubt the highlight of career, a performance that made the entire world stand up and take note. To see the clueless English batsmen prod around like blind men in a traffic stop was truly a sight to behold! To put his record in perspective, just in the decade that ended, Murali had taken an incredible 565 test wickets with a staggering 49 five wicket hauls in tests and 335 wickets with an astonishing 8 five wicket hauls in ODIs. That's a astronomical 900 wickets in a single decade, which is 40% more than the next bowler on the list (Ntini)! That is unprecedented in the history of the game even, at least in the post WW II era. All this, in a decade that has been one of the kindest periods to the batsmen in recent times. But most importantly, he had to endure a vicious and vindictive media campaign that was out to malign his wicket-taking exploits, once it became clear that he was the only challenger to Warne as the best spinner of our times. He suffered from the ignominy of being publicly called on the pitch for throwing, TWICE. Mere mortals would have simply buckled under pressure, given up and resorted to name calling and playing the victim/race card, but he handled it with dignity and poise. He even went to the extent of subjecting himself to a clinical test in Australia to clear his name. He is also the Sri Lankan version of Sachin Tendulkar/Anil Kumble. A totally non-controversial, low-profile cricketer who wore the tag of the greatest cricketer of his nation loosely on his sleeve. Even though a majority of his career was during the time there was an intense civil war between Sinhala majority and the Tamizh minority in Lanka, he was still able to rise above ethnic differences and was celebrated by both the groups of people.

[Gunner_Mania]

^ Just curious, why do you always write essays in every post?

[Feed]

Muttiah Muralitharan to retire from Test cricket: Sri Lanka spinner will play last game against India Sri Lanka spinner Muttiah Muralitharan, leading wicket-taker in both Test and one-day forms of the game, has confirmed he will retire from Test cricket later this month.More... Muttiah Muralitharan to retire from Test cricket: Sri Lanka spinner will play last game against India By Sportsmail Reporter 6th July 2010 Last throw of the dice: Muttiah Muralitharan will retire from Test cricket Sri Lanka spinner Muttiah Muralitharan has confirmed he will retire from Test cricket later this month. Muralitharan, the leading wicket-taker in both Test and one-day international forms of the game, will play his final Test against India in Galle starting on July 18. The 38-year-old has taken 792 wickets in 132 Tests and 515 wickets in 337 ODIs. A statement on the Sri Lanka Cricket website read: 'The world's leading wicket-taker and champion spinner Muttiah Muralitharan has decided to retire from Test cricket after the first Test in Galle versus India commencing 18th July, 2010. 'Mr Muralitharan has had discussions with the National Selectors, SLC officials and has had the blessings of His Excellency the President Mahinda Rajapakse and the Minister of Sports, Hon. C B Ratnayake.' His decision to retire solely from Tests means he will still be available for next year's World Cup, co-hosted by Sri Lanka. Muralitharan had been due to retire from Tests in November but his manager Kushil Gunasekara revealed he had opted to bring that date forward. Gunasekara told cricinfo: 'Murali took a decision to retire from Test cricket during the West Indies series in November, but with an unscheduled Indian series coming up he has fast tracked his retirement from Test cricket. The chase: Muttiah Muralitharan needs eight wickets in his farewell Test against India to reach 800 wickets 'The selectors want Murali to be around just in case they don't find a suitable replacement for him for the 2011 World Cup. They probably want the spinners to work around Murali.'

[Laaloo]

Another retirement at the hands of the indians :--D