Hindustan Times
Murali’s gift
Few cricketers have divided opinion like Muttiah Muralitharan, who announced recently that the first Test against India, starting on July 18, will be his last. If you like cricket, or like so many in this country, feel more strongly about the great game, you will be well advised to take a break from whatever you’re doing when that date comes around and turn the TV on.
One thing is for sure, whether you hate Murali or love him, you’re never going to see another like him.
The debate over the legality of his action is as heated, long and unending as it is pointless. Put bluntly, under the laws of the game currently in force, Murali does not chuck.
Experts like the legendary Bishan Bedi waste no opportunity to make disparaging remarks about the offie, comparing him variously to a “javelin thrower” and “shot putter.” Australian umpires who gleefully called Murali for chucking, stick to their guns, despite irrefutable evidence from the best biomechanical institutes in their own country that ran successive tests on Murali’s action. Why, even the odd politician, like the recently in-the-news John Howard had an opinion about Murali’s action. Murali was a great competitor, he had some unique skills but…you get the point.
My question is, do they get the point?
At the end of a career that has lasted two decades, Murali has gone out of his way to put himself under any scrutiny his critics wanted. He has wheeled his arm over in an unbending brace, bowled shirtless with sensors plugged into him that fed data into supercomputers, and played at grounds where fans who knew little about the nuances of the laws of the game booed his every delivery.
With a record number of wickets in both forms of the game, Murali needs do no more to win over the respect of his opponents or the adoration of his team-mates. That is something he has enjoyed for years.
I’ve had the privilege of meeting him several times, and interviewing him on a few occasions, but none sticks out like the time India were in Sri Lanka a couple of years ago. Prior to meeting Murali for a coffee at the plush hotel where the team were staying at Galle, a friend and I had travelled a short distance to a village called Seenigama. It’s a sleepy hamlet, and would barely have attracted attention, had the tsunami of Boxing Day 2004 not reduced the village to rubble.
It was here that Murali, and his aptly named Foundation for Goodness done some of their most sterling work. From building a cricket oval that will produce champions one day, to constructing schools, houses, a hospital…and pretty much anything else a village that size might aspire to, Murali and his team showed what was possible when good intentions are backed by deeds.
Whether it was appearing in adverts in exchange for cement or actually spending hours to see a dream become reality Murali had achieved what few cricketers can.
Those that see a bent elbow every time they watch Murali bowl, are missing the point entirely. It’s neither a clever trick nor a defect. It’s a gift put to the best possible use.
If you can’t see that, and think Murali is a cheat, there’s only one loser in the picture, and it’s not Murali.
(12 votes, average: 4.25 out of 5)
Loading ...
