There isn’t a great deal of intrigue involved when India and Sri Lanka meet these days, such has been the regularity with which the sides have met in recent times. The key factor in the current fixture in Gallle, however, is that it marks the final chapter in the Test career of Muttiah Muralitharan. Will he reach the 800 wicket barrier? Is now the right time to call it quits?
Murali lies waitng on 793. He couldn't reach 800, could he?
Both India and Sri Lanka posses household names in their ranks – Sehwag, Tendulkar and Dhoni compliment Sangakkara, Muralitharan and Malinga to form an all-star cast. Yet Murali’s is the name on everyone’s lips. He started the match on 792 Test wickets and had to wait until Day Three to twirl his arm over at the Indian batsmen. Tendulkar soon became number 793, succumbing lbw to Murali’s arm.
The great Sachin Tendulkar swooped to sweep the great Muttiah Muralitharan and something had to give – on this occasion it was Tendulkar’s judgement as he missed the ball and it crashed into his pads, leaving the umpire with no option but to grant Murali another scalp. And what a scalp! We can only hope that it is not his last.
No one would begrudge the maverick Murali an 800th Test wicket and it would certainly serve to illuminate this game as it meanders towards its inevitable conclusion of a draw following the total washout on Day Two. Should he manage to find another seven wickets here then he would also put Sri Lanka in a strong position. It seems unlikely, though, that in the remaining two days he will find the time to work his magic one last time to reach 800.
That once unthinkable mark will have to be reached by someone else, if indeed the game witnesses another with the same stamina, guile and talent as Muttiah Muralitharan. If only he were playing one more Test…
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