Deshabandu Muttiah Muralitharan
Right-arm off-break spinner, known for the unconventional "doosra" delivery
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
Deshabandu Muttiah Muralitharan: bowler, born 17 April 1972, Kandy, Ceylon (Sri Lanka). Career: 800 Test wickets at 22.72.
Player information
| Full name | Deshabandu Muttiah Muralitharan |
| Born | 17 April 1972, Kandy, Ceylon (Sri Lanka) |
| Role | Bowler |
| Style | Right-arm off-break spinner, known for the unconventional "doosra" delivery |
| Teams | Sri Lanka, Tamil Union, Lancashire and Kent (county), Chennai Super Kings (IPL, won 2010 title), Kochi Tuskers Kerala, Melbourne Renegades, Chittagong Kings, Jamaica Tallawahs (T20 franchises) |
Overview
Muralitharan built his enormous wicket haul on an unusually varied and deceptive array of spin, anchored by the doosra (a delivery that turns the opposite way to a conventional off-break) which he helped popularise as a modern spin-bowling weapon. He carried a comparatively thin Sri Lankan bowling attack for much of his career, frequently bowling long, high-workload spells that would be considered extreme by most modern standards. Despite the biomechanical controversy over his action early in his career, he went on to be honoured by Sri Lanka's own parliament and is regarded, alongside Shane Warne, as one of the two defining spin bowlers of his generation.
Test career
| Format | Mat | Wkts | Avg | Best | 5WI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Test | 133 | 800 | 22.72 | 9/51 | 67 |
ODI career
| Format | Mat | Wkts | Avg | Best | 5WI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ODI | 350 | 534 | 23.08 | 7/30 | 10 |
T20I career
| Format | Mat | Wkts | Avg | Best | 5WI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| T20I | 13 | 13 | 24.0 | 2/20 | — |
T20I sample is small (13 matches) — a footnote to a career defined by Test and ODI cricket.
Records
- All-time leading Test wicket-taker (800) and all-time leading ODI wicket-taker (534) — the only bowler to lead both formats simultaneously.
- His 800th and final Test wicket came off the last ball he ever bowled in Test cricket (18 July 2010 v India).
- Most 5-wicket innings hauls in Test history (67) and most 10-wicket match hauls (22).
Team honours
- 1996 ICC Cricket World Cup winner
- Runner-up, 2007 and 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup
- 2002 ICC Champions Trophy winner (shared, rain-affected final)
- Runner-up, 2009 ICC World Twenty20
- IPL title with Chennai Super Kings (2010)
Individual awards
- ICC Cricket Hall of Fame (2017, first Sri Lankan inducted)
- Wisden Leading Cricketer in the World (2000, 2006)
- Named in ICC World Test XI/ODI XI multiple years
- Pallekele International Cricket Stadium renamed in his honour
Career notes
Retired from Test cricket after his 800th-wicket match (July 2010) and from all international cricket after the 2011 World Cup.
Sources
Note: Called for throwing by umpire Darrell Hair during the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne, December 1995. Subsequent biomechanical testing (1996, 1999, 2004) found his unusual degree of elbow extension was largely explained by a congenital arm deformity that prevents him from fully straightening his arm, creating an optical illusion of throwing; a 2004 study of his doosra specifically measured elbow extension around 14 degrees, and in 2005 the ICC set a legal tolerance of 15 degrees of elbow extension for all bowlers, which legalised his action going forward. This controversy remains part of the historical record and is central to cricket punditry's long-running Warne-vs-Muralitharan "greatest ever" debate.