Farewell to arms

How many wickets has he got? 792. He's confident then, one more Test.

Michael Clarke reckons Muttiah Muralitharan's last Test is enough time for him to reach 800 Test wickets (July 7, 2010)

When the India-Sri Lanka series was pigeonholed into a gap in the schedule leading up to next year's World Cup, it was almost as an afterthought before the main dish - India-Australia for the right to be the #1 ranked team in the world.

Then something nice happened - Muttaiah Muralitharan made it more meaningful. Sadly, he had to announce his retirement to get people to pay attention to yet another Indo-Sri Lanka series. But attention did get paid and Sri Lanka responded to the situation with chilling efficiency.

(Don't look now, but if Sri Lanka wins the Test series 2-0 or 3-0 they will be the #1 ranked team in the world.)

In spite of losing a whole day's play to rain, Sri Lanka thoroughly outplayed India, wrapping up a win in about 3.75 days of play. A sad indictment on an Indian team that is #1 in the rankings but is, in reality, a step or three below that. The batting is chock-full of superstars (when MS Dhoni is the #7, how can it not be?) but to call the bowling pedestrian is exaggerating it a little bit. And not in a good way.

In the absence of Zaheer Khan, the kingpin is a fellow who is so enamored with containment and bowling a doosra, he has lost his pehla skill. On top of that, he was definitely not feeling well, which begs the question - is a half-fit Harbhajan better than a fully-fit Amit Mishra? Current evidence suggests not. At least Mishra would have put up a fight while batting.

Sri Lanka did what it had to do upon winning the toss - put up a total whose sheer weight would result in wickets. As long as Virender Sehwag was at the crease, the Indians had the upper hand but the follow-on, averting which was India's best hope for a draw, was not prevented. In the second innings, Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar offered glimpses of their best in a visually-pleasing century partnership. But Lasith Malinga accounted for both of them and the tide had turned.

VVS Laxman was left to battle with the tail, and boy, did he ever!? The 7th wicket fell in the 64th over. The Indian inning was completed in the 116th over - for 52 overs the tail resisted almost everything thrown at it. Laxman batted for more than 3 hours and was pushing India towards safety when he ran himself out, courtesy of a fine pick-up-and-throw from Angelo Matthews. It was a masterpiece in concentration and steadiness. Laxman is India's go-to guy in the 2nd innings but, I fear, his days as a match-winner from that spot are receding. A lifetime of always looking over his shoulder and shepherding the tail have played on his mind and he is more cautious about his run-making, content to deal in singles and dabs. Laxman circa 2001 would have taken the fight to the Sri Lankans with a flurry of boundaries. Today, he is a solid wall and his serenity rubs off onto tailenders who are punching above their weight.

(AFP 2010)

After the 9th wicket fell, it was Murali's show. His quest for 800 almost threatened to derail the Test match as the Indian lead kept building. Thankfully, the Gods did not play their tricks and the rains stayed away. Murali (and Sri Lanka) deserved to win the Test and it was only fitting that, like Glenn McGrath and Richard Hadlee before him, Murali's last ball in Tests produced a wicket.

(AFP 2010)

That was his 800th wicket, a number that will not be crossed in my lifetime. Test cricket's deadliest wicket-taker - ever - has left the stage and we are poorer for it.

Opinion is sharply divided about Murali because of his bowling action. I don't care one bit. He earned every wicket he took and shouldered the hopes and pressures of his team like few others have had to. Shane Warne and his fans can moan and groan all they want about "cheap" wickets against Bangladesh and Zimbabwe, but then Murali never played a 5 Test series, and definitely not one every other year against England, against whom, by the way, Murali outdid Warne. So, who's to say Murali would not have crossed 1000 wickets had he been accorded that luxury. And Murali has a vastly superior record against India, the team that tormented Warne. To my tainted mind, that settles the debate about who was the bigger destroyer of batting line-ups.

Take a bow, Murali. I may watch the next IPL just to have a glimpse of you bowling for the Chennai Superkings. And that is saying something about the regard I have for you and your accomplishments.