Who is the highest wicket taker in Test cricket?
Shane Warne
Brian Lara
Courtney Walsh
Muttiah Muralitharan
Muttiah Muralitharan
Deshabandu Muttiah Muralitharan . Muralidaran; born 17 April 1972) is a Sri Lankan cricket coach and former cricketer. Averaging over six wickets per Test, Muralitharan is one of the most successful bowlers ever.
Muralitharan's career was beset by controversy over his bowling action for much of his international career. Due to an unusual hyperextension of his congenitally bent arm during delivery, his bowling action was called into question on a number of occasions by umpires and sections of the cricket community. After biomechanical analysis under simulated playing conditions, Muralitharan's action was cleared by the International Cricket Council, first in 1996 and again in 1999.
Muralitharan held the number one spot in the International Cricket Council's player rankings for Test bowlers for a record period of 1,711 days spanning 214 Test matches. Muralitharan holds the world record for the most wickets in both Test and one-day cricket. He became the highest wicket-taker in Test cricket when he overtook the previous record-holder Shane Warne on 3 December 2007. Muralitharan had previously held the record when he surpassed Courtney Walsh's 519 wickets in 2004, but he suffered a shoulder injury later that year and was overtaken by Warne. Muralitharan took the wicket of Gautam Gambhir on 5 February 2009 in Colombo to surpass Wasim Akram's ODI record of 502 wickets. He retired from Test cricket in 2010, registering his 800th and final wicket on 22 July 2010 from his final ball in his last Test match.
Muralitharan was rated the greatest Test match bowler ever by Wisden Cricketers' Almanack in 2002. In 2017, he became the only Sri Lankan to be inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame. He won the Ada Derana Sri Lankan of the Year in 2017. He was the sixth international franchise player signed to the Caribbean Premier League and the first Sri Lankan player to be named to the new Twenty20 tournament.