Muralitharan Retirement Ends Golden Spin Era

It was the prefect send-off for Muralitharan. 800 Test wickets and a win over India under 4 playing days. And the man looked like he was still good to go for a few years more, and be the best too. The Muralitharan retirement (read: Muralitharan Retirement Confirmed) meant that the great era comprising himself, Shane Warne and Anil Kumble has ended. Arguably, these were the 3 best spin bowlers playing together for their respective countries. Sri Lanka, Australia and India will find it extremely difficult to produce champion spinners of the same level for a long time. Players such as these don't come around too often. Let's have a look at their amazing records, along with some other greats, to get a better idea.

Player	Test Wickets	ODI Wickets	Total
Muttiah Muralitharan (SL)	800	515	1315
Shane Warne (AU)	708	293	1001
Anil Kumble (IN)	619	337	956
Glenn McGrath (AU)	563	381	944
Wasim Akram (PK)	414	502	916
Shaun Pollock (SA)	421	391	812
Waqar Younis (PK)	373	416	798
Chaminda Vaas (SL)	355	401	756
Courtney Walsh (WI)	519	227	746
Kapil Dev (IN)	434	253	687

All great names up here. And it doesn't seem like any active player will be reaching anywhere close to these figures for a while. Makhaya Ntini has 390 Test scalps and 266 ODI wickets, whereas Harbhajan Singh has taken 355 Test and 242 ODI wickets. Far away one might feel. Also, having the privilege of witnessing a super trio such as Murali, Warne and Kumble play at the same time will not come again soon. That's what the Muralitharan retirement has done. But nevertheless, hat's off to you Mr. Muralitharan.