Muralitharan's career has been beset with controversy; his bowling action called into question on a number of occasions by umpires and sections of the cricket community.After biomechanical analysis in non-match conditions, Muralitharan's action was cleared by the International Cricket Council, first in 1996 and again in 1999.The legality of his doosra was first called into question in 2004.
Muralitharan was born in the village of Nattarampotha in Kundasale (near Kandy), the eldest of the four sons to Sinnasamy Muttiah and Lakshmi. Muralitharan's father Sinnasamy Muttiah, runs a successful biscuit-making business.
When he was nine years old Muralitharan was sent to St.Anthony’s College, Kandy, a private school run by Benedictine monks. He began his cricketing career as a medium pace bowler but on the advice of his school coach, Sunil Fernando, he took up off-spin when he was fourteen years old. He soon impressed and went on to play for four years in the school First XI. In those days he played as an all-rounder and batted in the middle order. In his final two seasons at St Anthony's College he took over one hundred wickets and in 1990/1 was named as the 'Bata Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year'
After leaving school he joined Tamil Union Cricket and Athletic Club and was selected for the Sri Lanka A tour of England in 1991. He played in five games but failed to capture a single wicket. On his return to Sri Lanka he impressed against Allan Border's Australian team in a practice game and then went on to make his Test debut at R. Premadasa Stadium in the Second Test Match of the series.
When his grandfather died at the age of 104 in July 2004, Muralitharan returned home from a tour of India to attend his funeral. Periyasamy Sinasamy's first wish to see Muralitharan claiming the world record for the most Test wickets was realised (passing the record set by Courtney Walsh), but not his desire to live to see his grandson married. Muralitharan's grandmother had died one month earlier at the age of 97. Muralitharan's manager, Kushil Gunasekera stated that "Murali's family is closely knit and united. They respect traditional values. The late grandfather enjoyed a great relationship with Murali."
Muralitharan married Madhimalar Ramamurthy an Indian national, on 21 March 2005. Madhimalar is the daughter of late Dr S. Ramamurthy of Malar Hospitals, and his wife Dr Nithya Ramamurthy. Their first child, Naren, was born in January 2006
Test wicket milestones
* 1st: Craig McDermott lbw 9 vs Australia – Match #1 – Test #1195
* 50th: Navjot Sidhu caught Ruwan Kalpage 43 vs India – Match #13 – Test
#1247
* 100th: Stephen Fleming bowled 59 vs New Zealand – Match #27 –
1359
* 150th: Guy Whittall caught sub (Mahela Jayawardene) 17 vs Zimbabwe
– Match #36 – Test #1395
* 200th: Ben Hollioake lbw 0 vs England – Match
#42 – Test #1423
* 250th: Naved Ashraf lbw 27 vs Pakistan – Match #51 –
Test #1489
* 300th: Shaun Pollock caught Tillakaratne Dilshan 11 vs South
Africa – Match #58 – Test #1526
* 350th: Mohammad Sharif caught and
bowled 19 vs Bangladesh – Match #66 – Test #1561
* 400th: Henry Olonga
bowled 0 vs Zimbabwe – Match #72 – Test #1585
* 450th: Daryl Tuffey
caught Sanath Jayasuriya 1 vs New Zealand – Match #80 – Test #1644
*
500th: Michael Kasprowicz bowled 0 vs Australia – Match #87 – Test #1688
* 520th: Mluleki Nkala caught Mahela Jayawardene 24 vs Zimbabwe – Match #89 –
Test #1698 – Breaks Courtney Walsh's world record
* 550th: Khaled Mashud
caught Thilan Samaraweera 2 vs Bangladesh – Match #94 – Test #1764
*
600th: Khaled Mashud caught Lasith Malinga 6 vs Bangladesh – Match #101 – Test
#1786
* 650th: Makhaya Ntini caught Farveez Maharoof 13 vs South Africa –
Match #108 – Test #1812
* 700th: Syed Rasel caught Farveez Maharoof 4 vs
Bangladesh – Match #113 – Test #1839
* 709th: Paul Collingwood bowled 45
vs England – Match #116 – Test #1851 – Breaks Shane Warne's world record
* 750th: Sourav Ganguly stumped Prasanna Jayawardene 16 vs India – Match #122 –
Test #1884
* 800th: Pragyan Ojha caught Mahela Jayawardene 13 vs India -
Match #132 - Test #1964
World records and achievements
Muttiah Muralitharan holds a number of world records, and several firsts:
| Table: Test bowling performance | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A Summary of Muralitharan's Test bowling performance against all opponents. | ||||||||||
| Versus | O | M | R | W | 5w | 10w | Best | Avg | S/R | E/R |
| Australia | 685.3 | 100 | 2128 | 59 | 5 | 1 | 6 for 59 | 36.07 | 69.7 | 3.1 |
| Bangladesh | 452.0 | 114 | 1190 | 89 | 11 | 4 | 6 for 18 | 13.37 | 30.4 | 2.6 |
| England | 1102.1 | 348 | 2247 | 112 | 8 | 4 | 9 for 65 | 20.06 | 59.0 | 2.0 |
| India | 1125.2 | 215 | 3297 | 103 | 7 | 2 | 8 for 87 | 32.32 | 66.1 | 2.9 |
| New Zealand | 753.2 | 203 | 1776 | 82 | 5 | 1 | 6 for 87 | 21.53 | 55.1 | 2.3 |
| Pakistan | 782.5 | 184 | 2027 | 80 | 5 | 1 | 6 for 71 | 25.46 | 58.7 | 2.6 |
| South Africa | 984.4 | 221 | 2311 | 104 | 11 | 4 | 7 for 84 | 22.22 | 56.8 | 2.3 |
| West Indies | 622.3 | 143 | 1609 | 82 | 9 | 3 | 8 for 46 | 19.62 | 45.5 | 2.6 |
| Zimbabwe | 786.5 | 259 | 1467 | 87 | 6 | 2 | 9 for 51 | 16.86 | 54.2 | 1.9 |
| Overall (9) | 7295.1 | 1787 | 18052 | 800 | 67 | 22 | 9 for 51 | 22.64 | 54.9 | 2.5 |
| Table: Five wickets in an innings | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A list of occasions Muralitharan has taken of five or more wickets in a test Innings. | |||||
| # | Date | Versus | Ground | Innings | Bowling |
| 1 | 25 Aug 1993 | South Africa | De Soysa Park | 1st | 5 for 104 |
| 2 | 6 Sep 1993 | South Africa | Sinhalese Sports Gr | 1st | 5 for 101 |
| 3 | 18 Jan 1994 | India | K.D. Singh Stadium | 1st | 5 for 162 |
| 4 | 11 Mar 1995 | New Zealand | McLean Park | 2nd | 5 for 64 |
| 5 | 15 Sep 1995 | Pakistan | Iqbal Stadium | 1st | 5 for 68 |
| 6 | 11 Sep 1996 | Zimbabwe | Premadasa Stadium | 2nd | 5 for 33 |
| 7 | 19 Apr 1997 | Pakistan | Premadasa Stadium | 1st | 6 for 98 |
| 8 | 13 Jun 1997 | West Indies | Antigua Rec Ground | 1st | 5 for 34 |
| 9 | 20 Jun 1997 | West Indies | Amos Vale Ground | 2nd | 5 for 113 |
| 10 | 7 Jan 1998 | Zimbabwe | Asgiriya Stadium | 1st | 5 for 23 |
| 11 | 7 Jan 1998 | Zimbabwe | Asgiriya Stadium | 2nd | 7 for 94 |
| 12 | 27 Mar 1998 | South Africa | Supersport Park | 1st | 5 for 63 |
| 13 | 27 May 1998 | New Zealand | Premadasa Stadium | 1st | 5 for 90 |
| 14 | 10 Jun 1998 | New Zealand | Sinhalese Sports Gr | 2nd | 5 for 30 |
| 15 | 27 Aug 1998 | England | The Oval | 1st | 7 for 155 |
| 16 | 27 Aug 1998 | England | The Oval | 2nd | 9 for 65 |
| 17 | 22 Sep 1999 | Australia | Galle Stadium | 1st | 5 for 71 |
| 18 | 5 Mar 2000 | Pakistan | Arbab Niaz Stadium | 2nd | 6 for 71 |
| 19 | 14 Jun 2000 | Pakistan | Sinhalese Sports Gr | 1st | 5 for 115 |
| 20 | 20 Jul 2000 | South Africa | Galle Stadium | 1st | 6 for 87 |
| 21 | 20 Jul 2000 | South Africa | Galle Stadium | 2nd | 7 for 84 |
| 22 | 6 Aug 2000 | South Africa | Sinhalese Sports Gr | 2nd | 5 for 68 |
| 23 | 26 Dec 2000 | South Africa | Kingsmead | 1st | 5 for 122 |
| 24 | 26 Dec 2000 | South Africa | Kingsmead | 2nd | 6 for 39 |
| 25 | 14 Aug 2001 | India | Galle Stadium | 2nd | 5 for 49 |
| 26 | 29 Aug 2001 | India | Sinhalese Sports Gr | 1st | 8 for 87 |
| 27 | 6 Sep 2001 | Bangladesh | Sinhalese Sports Gr | 1st | 5 for 13 |
| 28 | 6 Sep 2001 | Bangladesh | Sinhalese Sports Gr | 2nd | 5 for 98 |
| 29 | 13 Nov 2001 | West Indies | Galle Stadium | 1st | 6 for 126 |
| 30 | 13 Nov 2001 | West Indies | Galle Stadium | 2nd | 5 for 44 |
| 31 | 21 Nov 2001 | West Indies | Asgiriya Stadium | 2nd | 6 for 81 |
| 32 | 4 Jan 2002 | Zimbabwe | Asgiriya Stadium | 1st | 9 for 51 |
| 33 | 12 Jan 2002 | Zimbabwe | Galle Stadium | 1st | 5 for 67 |
| 34 | 30 May 2002 | England | Edgbaston | 1st | 5 for 143 |
| 35 | 21 Jul 2002 | Bangladesh | P Saravanamuttu Stad | 1st | 5 for 39 |
| 36 | 21 Jul 2002 | Bangladesh | P Saravanamuttu Stad | 2nd | 5 for 59 |
| 37 | 3 May 2003 | New Zealand | Asgiriya Stadium | 2nd | 5 for 49 |
| 38 | 20 Jun 2003 | West Indies | Beausejour Stadium | 1st | 5 for 138 |
| 39 | 2 Dec 2003 | England | Galle Stadium | 1st | 7 for 46 |
| 40 | 8 Mar 2004 | Australia | Galle Stadium | 1st | 6 for 59 |
| 41 | 8 Mar 2004 | Australia | Galle Stadium | 2nd | 5 for 153 |
| 42 | 16 Mar 2004 | Australia | Asgiriya Stadium | 2nd | 5 for 173 |
| 43 | 24 Mar 2004 | Australia | Sinhalese Sports Gr | 1st | 5 for 123 |
| 44 | 6 May 2004 | Zimbabwe | Harare Sports Club | 1st | 6 for 45 |
| 45 | 13 Jul 2005 | West Indies | Sinhalese Sports Gr | 2nd | 6 for 36 |
| 46 | 22 Jul 2005 | West Indies | Asgiriya Stadium | 2nd | 8 for 46 |
| 47 | 12 Sep 2005 | Bangladesh | Premadasa Stadium | 2nd | 6 for 18 |
| 48 | 10 Dec 2005 | India | Feroz Shah Kotla | 1st | 7 for 100 |
| 49 | 28 Feb 2006 | Bangladesh | Chittagong Div. Stad | 2nd | 6 for 54 |
| 50 | 8 Mar 2006 | Bangladesh | Shaheed Chandu Stad. | 1st | 5 for 79 |
| 51 | 3 Apr 2006 | Pakistan | Asgiriya Stadium | 1st | 5 for 39 |
| 52 | 25 May 2006 | England | Edgbaston | 1st | 6 for 86 |
| 53 | 2 Jun 2006 | England | Trent Bridge | 2nd | 8 for 70 |
| 54 | 27 Jul 2006 | South Africa | Sinhalese Sports Gr | 2nd | 6 for 131 |
| 55 | 4 Aug 2006 | South Africa | P Saravanamuttu Stad | 1st | 5 for 128 |
| 56 | 4 Aug 2006 | South Africa | P Saravanamuttu Stad | 2nd | 7 for 97 |
| 57 | 15 Dec 2006 | New Zealand | Basin Reserve | 2nd | 6 for 87 |
| 58 | 25 Jun 2007 | Bangladesh | Sinhalese Sports Gr | 1st | 5 for 15 |
| 59 | 11 Jul 2007 | Bangladesh | Asgiriya Stadium | 1st | 6 for 28 |
| 60 | 11 Jul 2007 | Bangladesh | Asgiriya Stadium | 2nd | 6 for 54 |
| 61 | 1 Dec 2007 | England | Asgiriya Stadium | 1st | 6 for 55 |
| 62 | 9 Dec 2007 | England | Sinhalese Sports Gr | 1st | 5 for 116 |
| 63 | 3 Apr 2008 | West Indies | Queen's Park | 1st | 5 for 79 |
| 64 | 23 Jul 2008 | India | Sinhalese Sports Gr | 1st | 5 for 84 |
| 65 | 23 Jul 2008 | India | Sinhalese Sports Gr | 2nd | 6 for 26 |
| 66 | 26 Dec 2008 | Bangladesh | Shere Bangla Stadium | 1st | 6 for 49 |
| Table: Best ODI bowling performances | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Muralitharan's best ODI bowling performances – A List of 4 or more wickets in a match. | |||
| Date | Versus | Ground | Wkts |
| 6 Apr 1995 | Bangladesh | Sharjah Stadium | 4 for 23 |
| 28 Sep 1996 | Kenya | Gymkhana Club Ground | 4 for 18 |
| 1 Oct 1996 | South Africa | Nairobi Club Ground | 4 for 35 |
| 15 Apr 1998 | Pakistan | Willowmoore Park | 5 for 23 |
| 20 Aug 1998 | England | Lord's | 5 for 34 |
| 15 Dec 1999 | Zimbabwe | Harare Sports Club | 4 for 16 |
| 14 Jul 2000 | South Africa | Premadasa Stadium | 5 for 44 |
| 27 Oct 2000 | India | Sharjah Stadium | 7 for 30 |
| 31 Jan 2001 | New Zealand | McLean Park | 5 for 30 |
| 23 Mar 2001 | England | Rangiri Dambulla Std | 4 for 29 |
| 12 Dec 2001 | Zimbabwe | Premadasa Stadium | 4 for 32 |
| 9 Apr 2002 | New Zealand | Sharjah Stadium | 5 for 9 |
| 16 Sep 2002 | Netherlands | Premadasa Stadium | 4 for 15 |
| 15 Jan 2003 | Australia | Brisbane Cricket Gr | 4 for 27 |
| 24 Feb 2003 | Kenya | Gymkhana Club Ground | 4 for 28 |
| 18 May 2003 | Pakistan | Rangiri Dambulla Std | 5 for 23 |
| 22 Apr 2004 | Zimbabwe | Queens Sports Club | 4 for 32 |
| 29 Apr 2004 | Zimbabwe | Harare Sports Club | 5 for 23 |
| 20 Oct 2006 | New Zealand | Brabourne Stadium | 4 for 23 |
| 18 Apr 2007 | Ireland | Queen's Park (New) | 4 for 19 |
| 24 Apr 2007 | New Zealand | Sabina Park | 4 for 31 |
| 30 Jun 2008 | Bangladesh | National Stadium | 5 for 31 |
| 20 Nov 2008 | Zimbabwe | Harare Sports Club | 4 for 14 |
| 30 Nov 2008 | Zimbabwe | Harare Sports Club | 5 for 29 |
| Table: Man of match in test cricket | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Muttiah Muralitharan has won 19 Man Of Match awards in test cricket. | |||||||
| # | Date | Versus | Ground | Inns | Batting | Bowling | Catches |
| 1 | 15 Sep 1995 | Pakistan | Iqbal Stadium | 1st | *8 | 5 for 68 | 0 |
| 2nd | *10 | 2 for 83 | 2 | ||||
| 2 | 7 Jan 1998 | Zimbabwe | Asgiriya Stadium | 1st | 17 | 5 for 23 | 0 |
| 2nd | DNB | 7 for 94 | 0 | ||||
| 3 | 27 Aug 1998 | England | The Oval | 1st | 30 | 7 for 155 | 1 |
| 2nd | DNB | 9 for 65 | 0 | ||||
| 4 | 5 Mar 2000 | Pakistan | Arbab Niaz Stadium | 1st | 22 | 4 for 77 | 1 |
| 2nd | *2 | 6 for 71 | 0 | ||||
| 5 | 20 Jul 2000 | South Africa | Galle Stadium | 1st | *2 | 6 for 87 | 0 |
| 2nd | DNB | 7 for 84 | 1 | ||||
| 6 | 6 Aug 2000 | South Africa | Sinhalese Sports Gr | 1st | *0 | 3 for 70 | 0 |
| 2nd | DNB | 6 for 68 | 0 | ||||
| 7 | 29 Aug 2001 | India | Sinhalese Sports Gr | 1st | DNB | 8 for 87 | 0 |
| 2nd | DNB | 3 for 109 | 0 | ||||
| 8 | 6 Sep 2001 | Bangladesh | Sinhalese Sports Gr | 1st | DNB | 5 for 13 | 0 |
| 2nd | DNB | 5 for 98 | 1 | ||||
| 9 | 13 Nov 2001 | West Indies | Galle Stadium | 1st | 14 | 6 for 126 | 1 |
| 2nd | DNB | 5 for 44 | 2 | ||||
| 10 | 21 Nov 2001 | West Indies | Asgiriya Stadium | 1st | 4 | 4 for 54 | 0 |
| 2nd | DNB | 6 for 81 | 0 | ||||
| 11 | 4 Jan 2002 | Zimbabwe | Asgiriya Stadium | 1st | 1 | 9 for 51 | 0 |
| 2nd | DNB | 4 for 64 | 0 | ||||
| 12 | 21 Jul 2002 | Bangladesh | P Saravanamuttu Stad | 1st | 0 | 5 for 39 | 0 |
| 2nd | DNB | 5 for 59 | 0 | ||||
| 13 | 2 Dec 2003 | England | Galle Stadium | 1st | 38 | 7 for 46 | 0 |
| 2nd | 13 | 4 for 47 | 0 | ||||
| 14 | 6 May 2004 | Zimbabwe | Harare Sports Club | 1st | 26 | 6 for 45 | 1 |
| 2nd | DNB | 2 for 37 | 2 | ||||
| 15 | 12 Sep 2005 | Bangladesh | Premadasa Stadium | 1st | 3 | 3 for 42 | 0 |
| 2nd | DNB | 6 for 18 | 0 | ||||
| 16 | 2 Jun 2006 | England | Trent Bridge | 1st | 33 | 3 for 62 | 0 |
| 2nd | 2 | 8 for 70 | 0 | ||||
| 17 | 25 Jun 2007 | Bangladesh | Sinhalese Sports Gr | 1st | DNB | 5 for 15 | 1 |
| 2nd | DNB | 4 for 87 | 1 | ||||
| 18 | 11 Jul 2007 | Bangladesh | Asgiriya Stadium | 1st | DNB | 6 for 28 | 2 |
| 2nd | DNB | 6 for 54 | 0 | ||||
| 19 | 23 Jul 2008 | India | Sinhalese Sports Gr | 1st | DNB | 6 for 84 | 1 |
| 2nd | DNB | 6 for 26 | 0 | ||||
| Table: Man of match in one day internationals | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Muttiah Muralitharan has won 14 Man Of Match awards in one day internationals. | ||||||
| # | Date | Versus | Ground | Batting | Bowling | Catches |
| 1 | 12 Aug 1993 | India | Premadasa Stadium | DNB | 1 for 38 | 0 |
| 2 | 28 Sep 1996 | Kenya | Gymkhana Club Ground | DNB | 4 for 18 | 0 |
| 3 | 20 Aug 1998 | England | Lord's | DNB | 5 for 34 | 1 |
| 4 | 14 Jul 2000 | South Africa | Premadasa Stadium | DNB | 5 for 44 | 0 |
| 5 | 27 Oct 2000 | India | Sharjah Stadium | DNB | 7 for 30 | 1 |
| 6 | 31 Jan 2001 | New Zealand | McLean Park | *1 | 5 for 30 | 1 |
| 7 | 23 Mar 2001 | England | Rangiri Dambulla Std | DNB | 4 for 29 | 1 |
| 8 | 18 May 2003 | Pakistan | Rangiri Dambulla Std | 19 | 5 for 23 | 1 |
| 9 | 7 Jun 2003 | West Indies | Kensington Oval | 3 | 3 for 17 | 0 |
| 10 | 20 Oct 2006 | New Zealand | Brabourne Stadium | DNB | 4 for 23 | 0 |
| 11 | 23 Mar 2007 | India | Queen's Park | DNB | 3 for 41 | 2 |
| 12 | 20 Nov 2008 | Zimbabwe | Harare Sports Club | DNB | 4 for 14 | 0 |
| 13 | 30 Nov 2008 | Zimbabwe | Harare Sports Club | 5 | 5 for 29 | 0 |
| 14 | 30 Jul 2009 | Pakistan | Rangiri Dambulla Std | 32 | 2 for 46 | 1 |