Muttiah Muralitharan birthday special: P Ojha becomes SL legend's record 800th Test wicket

Friday marks the 48th birthday of Sri Lankan spin king Muttiah Muralitharan. Muralitharan is one of the most legendary spin bowlers to have ever played the game of cricket and holds the records for the most wickets to be ever taken in Test and ODI cricket both. Muralitharan has 800 Test wickets and 534 ODI scalps to his name too. Muttiah Muralitharan was supposed to be in India at the moment, acting as the bowling coach of the SRH side in the IPL 2020. 

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Muttiah Muralitharan 800th Test wicket: How the SRH mentor reached an almost unthinkable record

India were touring Sri Lanka in 2010 and Muttiah Muralitharan had announced that the first Test at his hometown Galle would be his final one. The crowd at Galle was in great spirits as they bid adeau to one of their biggest heroes of all time. What made the match even more special was how the second Indian innings ended. India were nine wickets down when Muttiah Muralitharan got the No.11 batsman Pragyan Ojha to knick one to Mahela Jayawardene at first slip. The crowd roared and fireworks exploded, as of his very last Test ball, Muttiah Muralitharan had taken his 800th and final wicket in Test cricket.

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Muttiah Muralitharan 800th Test wicket: Watch

(Video credits: Sri Lanka Cricket)

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IPL 2020: Muttiah Muralitharan's contributions to SRH's success

2016 IPL champions Sunrisers Hyderabad owe a lot of their success to their bowling coach Muttiah Muralitharan. Since his appointment in 2015, the SRH team has emerged as a significant bowling powerhouse in IPL cricket. The team has been able to defend some really low totals over the years because of its exceptional bowling prowess.

Muttiah Muralitharan was set to return to India for IPL 2020 but due to the ongoing coronavirus outbreak, the BCCI has indefinitely postponed IPL 2020. Reports have recently emerged that a Muttiah Muralitharan biopic is in development. 

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