Because it was the Ashes, Shane Warne's ball became ‘ball of the century’: Muttiah Muralitharan

In Part 1 of his interview on ‘Home of Heroes’ on JioCinema, the world’s leading wicket-taker in both Tests and ODIs, Muttiah Muralitharan, talks about the possibility of his wicket tally being broken, the much-hyped rivalry against Shane Warne, and his friendship with Anil Kumble. 

On whether his Test record will be broken 

Records are meant to be broken. I heard this story of Lance Gibbs. When he became the first spinner to cross 300 wickets, they said if someone wants to break this record, that man will be a tired man. So, after that so many people have gone past the 300 mark, 400 mark, even 500 mark and ultimately reached 800-wicket mark. The only challenge players will have is, because T20 cricket is so popular these days, they get to play less number of Tests. So, if someone has to break the record, they have to play at least 140-150 Tests. 

Most difficult Test batter to bowl to 

I played a lot of Test matches against Brian Lara and at that time, it was really difficult to get him out. He scored many double hundreds against us. In the same way, I would rate Sachin (Tendulkar). In his early days, it was very difficult to get him out. I first played against him in 1993 and after around five years, I got his wicket for the first time (Asia Cup final, 1997). After that, I got him out on other occasions, but he was definitely one of the most difficult Test batters that I played against. Also, you need to count players like VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid. These guys are very tough players when it comes to Test cricket.   

About the Murali-Warne rivalry 

I want to correct it a bit, it was not just with Warne but Anil (Kumble) as well. Anil was lethal. In the early stages, he took more wickets than the two of us. He has taken more than 600 Test wickets and only now has James Anderson gone past him. Otherwise, for a long time, three spinners were the top wicket takers in Test cricket. It was not a competition; it was about who wanted to win for their respective countries. At the back of our minds, we never thought who the highest wicket-taker would be. However, in the latter part of our careers, we realized that whoever plays more, will get more wickets. Warne and Kumble were of almost similar age, and I was a few years younger. It gave me the advantage to surpass them as I played for a few more years after they retired. But the competition thing was all made up by the media as they wanted to create some hype. 

About the friendship between the three great spinners 

Between us, it was always friendship. Anil (Kumble) is one of my best friends, ever since our playing days. Even with RCB (Royal Challengers Bangalore), when I left Kochi (Kochi Tuskers Kerala, a former IPL franchise), he took me back to RCB. We shared that kind of a relationship. Even with Shane (Warne), I had a good relationship though it was not as close as with Anil. He came to Sri Lanka and helped our foundation and built awareness after the tsunami and also helped in getting sponsors and building houses for the needy. 

On whether he has a favourite wicket like Shane Warne’s ‘ball of the century’ that got Mike Gatting out 

Things like ‘ball of the century’ are blown up by the media. As players we don’t think on those lines. I bowled some deliveries that were special, but not only one or two. I can recall four-five deliveries. I got Martin Crowe out in Colombo in 1993. The ball pitched outside the off stump and hit the leg stump. Then there were the wickets of Sadagoppan Ramesh and Mark Butcher. I bowled a doosra to Darren Lehmann. The ball pitched outside the off stump. He thought it’s an off spin delivery and the ball hit the leg stump. Also, we must note the series in which Warne’s wicket came. It was the Ashes, and there was a lot of media interest, so it became the ‘ball of the century’.