Muttiah Muralitharan will always be recognized as one of the greatest bowlers in the history of test cricket! With already 532 wickets to his credit even a target of 650 test wickets is very much achievable for him! And to be honest I’m not too thrilled about it!
It will be a shame if the credit of highest number of test wickets goes to a man, who just isn’t in control of his actions. I’m not talking just about bowling action here, but also of the actions off the field!
Just a few days back he has accused the Australian pace battery – Glenn McGrath, Jason Gillespie and Brett Lee as chuckers. This is one of the most outrageous and immature statements I’ve heard for a long time! Does he have any idea on what he is talking about?
He is reproving the bowling action of the most feared and respected pace attack in world cricket right now! Although Brett Lee was doubted for chucking early in his career but he has got his action cleared from the ICC and no one has any right to doubt the integrity of his bowling action! This statement from Murali isn’t just a doubt on the credibility of Lee’s action but it’s also a doubt on the credibility of that ICC panel which scrutinizes bowling actions! Maybe he is still surprised how they cleared his own dodgy action!
Coming to Glenn McGrath and Jason Gillespie now. The bowling action of these two fast bowlers is one of the cleanest. Especially the action of McGrath is an ideal one if a young schoolboy wants to take up fast bowling. Not a very long run up, very close to the stumps, high elbow and a very clean rotation of the arms. Even the two Indian fast bowlers Ajit Agarkar and Avishkar Salvi have admitted that they have taken a leaf out of McGrath’s book as far as bowling action is concerned.
I don’t find any problem with the action of Jason Gillespie either as far as chucking is concerned. It’s a very honest action. But I won’t advice youngsters to try and imitate him because the kind of action he has it puts a huge strain on your back and ankle which makes you highly prone to injuries. Other than that there is no problem at all!
Coming back to Murali now. I’ve never been a too big fan of him. No matter how much the cricket experts praise him and no matter how many Wisden awards he gets, I am just not comfortable with the way he bowls! Just as former test cricketers Bishan Singh Bedi and Michael Holding mentioned, that his action resembles more to a shot-put player in Olympics rather than a cricket bowler!
Murali has stated in his defense that his bowling action is weird due to some in-born handicap in his hand! We deeply sympathize with him for his handicap but that doesn’t mean we allow him to play cricket! Aren’t other handicapped people doing something else rather than playing cricket? I have nothing against him and I’m not saying he is chucking deliberately but his handicap is providing him with an undue advantage to turn the ball, no matter what the wicket condition maybe, which simply isn’t acceptable!
He should thank his stars that ICC cleared his action and allowed him to play for his nation! But at least he shouldn’t question any one else’s credibility when he himself is traveling in the same boat!
Instead of taking out his rage in this childish way he should have concentrated more on beating the Aussies on the ground which sadly he just wasn’t capable of! Aussies thumped Sri Lanka 3-0 in a three test series in Sri Lanka on wickets, which were tailor made for Murali! And in the series, which was played in Australia, he didn’t get a chance to bowl since he boycotted the tour, as he was afraid of facing the Australian media and crowd! It’s a shame that this person doesn’t feel the pride when he plays for his motherland and quitted the tour because of his fear (even though he knew that the whole bowling attack was dependent on him).
To conclude I’d just like to advice him that if he has nothing sensible to say then it’s better that he keeps his mouth shut!
© Tanmay Singh, 2004