Muralitharan - spin king of the world

Elmo Rodrigopulle

At precisely 11.54 a.m. on December 3, 2007 at the Asgiriya Stadium, the ball that would create history began its flight from the Murali launching pad. It was a deceptive take off. First it seemed a simple and easy to play. Then it twirled straightened as the eye blinked. Then some mysterious power made it turn again.

In a split second, a nightmare in broad daylight, commenced the descent. The magical doosra wrapped round the batsman. There was a moment of breathtaking stillness in our minds. And then our own Murali was crowned.

It almost seemed that the angels in flight had waved the magic wand. Muttiah Muralitheran, the Spin King of Sri Lanka was ordained the Spin King of the World. As the crowd rose to soak in this historic moment, the applause was deafening.

To some it was an expression of admiration. To others it was an outlet of emotion. To me, as a scribe for well over forty years, it was a substitute for tears of joy. King Murali acknowledged the moment with his trademark dazzling smile.

There was no pride, but a joy that the coronation was more for the tiny island of Sri Lanka than it was for him.

In my time, our minds were etched with images and memories of the great spinners on the planet: Richie Benaud, Sonny Ramadin, Alf Valentine, Lance Gibbs, Johnny Gleeson, Anil Kumble, Bishen Singh Bedi, Chandreskhar, C. I. Gunasekera and Abu Fuard. And then of course what seemed the invincible stylish giant Shane Warne.

They were immortal and invincible, and really unplayable, as cricket's folklore was narrated and handed down from generation to generation.

Before these giants of my time, people sang the praises Sir Donald Bradman, the terrible Ws - Weekes, Worrell, Walcott, Gordon Greenidge, Viv Richards, Steve Waugh, Mark Taylor, Mike Proctor, Eddie Barlow, Graeme Pollock and Glen McGrath.

That Murali was able to outshine these legends that were recorded in the framed and famed pages of the Wisden, is a tribute to his perseverance. We all know how his detractors bowled the Doosra at him to discredit his skill and talent. But his grit, strive for excellence, and his unyielding confidence made him the King who at this moment richly deserved the crown.

Throughout the past few days, the thousands of spectators in this beautiful grounds, were really not watching cricket for its sake. Our eyes and minds joined the millions of TV viewers in Sri Lanka and other parts of the world to focus on Murali.

Will he break the record or not? The task seemed to rest lightly on his shoulders. His deliveries had the usual array of variations: and had England captain Michael Vaughan caught at silly mid off by Chamara Silva with a line and length that was striking; he had Ian Bell driving an off break for Silva to take a diving catch at mid-on, guessing whether to play defensively or hit out;he had Kevin Peterson confused with what seemed a simple lob which turned out to be a tantalising top spinner.

He equalled the great Shane Warne's record of 708 wickets when wicket keeper Prasanna Jayawardene took a great catch down the leg side when Ravi Bopara got a touch.

I come back where we began this story of today and the launch of history from the Murali take off pad had already bowled 33 overs. Skipper Mahela Jayawardena brought him in at a key point when the second new ball was slightly old and the Brits were 264 for 7.

The batsman was Paul Collingwood and at the other end was Matthew Hoggard. A tight field was a slip, a short leg, a well protected leg side field, a cover and an extra cover. Prasanna Jayawardena's breath was almost being felt on the wickets.

Muralitheran surveyed the field: positioned himself with seven paces behind the wickets; lobbed the ball, in his characteristic manner from the left palm to right; bent his body at the angle that gave him the leverage to deliver; shuffled his feet; his eyes fixated at the single object of the batsman, the count down began, a skidding doosra and Paul Collingwood had his off stump knocked back and the rest is history now.

Muralitheran then went on to add the wicket of Matthew Hoggard stumped by Jayawardena for 15 and finished with the amazing figures of 6 for 55 off 35 overs and take his tally to 710 wickets.

When asked, after the day's play, how he felt about this huge moment of glory he responded with that disarming smile "this not for me, this is for Sri Lanka".

At that moment, angels in their flight, surely, gazed upon this terrific sportsman for his simplicity and sang, "We bless you and your country"!