In a venue closer to home and a long time removed from his infamous trouble 15 years ago at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, the 38-year-old Muralitharan, a chirpy but quietly spoken Sri Lankan, set a mark for Test wickets that surely will stand for a considerable time when he removed India tailender Pragyan Ojha on Thursday to reach the milestone.
In 133 Test matches, Muralitharan took 800 wickets, conceding an average of 22 runs per wicket and bowling 55 balls per wicket.
He said he had no regrets quitting the game after his dream send-off.
“Frankly, I have done it and that's enough - this was the only thing I was thinking,” Muralitharan said.
“God gave me everything, not only victory, eight wickets and everything (in the final Test). I think this is one of the greatest moments of my cricketing career.” There was a carnival atmosphere for Muralitharan's final Test. Large cutouts of the bowler stood on a 17th-century Dutch fort overlooking the ground and verses thanking and praising him for his epic career were displayed around the stadium.
India and Sri Lanka players formed a guard of honor while fireworks were set off after every wicket Muralitharan took. On the last day, he was given a red-carpet welcome to the ground.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa was present during the lunch break on Thursday to present a momento to the bowler, while the Galle District Cricket Association presented him with a gem-studded ivory carving of an elephant.
Muralitharan's family, parents and representatives from his old school were all present and brass bands from Galle schools performed for him.
Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara called Muralitharan the greatest bowler to play the game.
“For me, leading a side minus Muralitharan is a huge loss,” Sangakkara said. “I don't think anyone is going to take eight-fors or nine-fors for us. But we'll share the wickets and do the hard work to get there.” The fairytale finish to Muralitharan's Test career set Sri Lanka on course for a comfortable 10-wicket victory over India, but more importantly inscribed his name on another record that his supporters will cherish for generations but which critics will put an asterisk beside for as long as Test cricket exists.
Australia's Shane Warne, Muralitharan's longtime adversary, is the only other bowler in more than 120 years of Test cricket to amass more than 619 wickets. Warne retired with 708, a record Muralitharan surpassed in December 2007.
Born to a confectionery businessman on April 17, 1972, Muralitharan first came to attention in 1990 as a schoolboy bowler who could spin the ball sharply.
His exceptional ability to turn the ball comes from his unorthodox wristy off spin, and a permanently bent elbow attributed to a birth defect. That bent joint has been central to the conjecture over his bowling action for almost two decades.
Muralitharan made his Test debut at home against Australia in 1992, but it wasn't until his first tour to Australia that he hit the international headlines.
Debate over his bowling style exploded in Melbourne in 1995 when umpire Darrell Hair no-balled Muralitharan for “chucking” in the annual Boxing Day Test match.
“I didn't expect it at the time and I was disappointed.
But a lot of people helped me ... because of that, I came through,” Muralitharan reflected Thursday on the low point of his career.
He said he even considered bowling leg spin to continue playing for Sri Lanka.
“Umpires make their judgment through the naked eye. It's their job and I have no grudge against anybody because it's a game,” he said. “Life is all about forgetting and forgiving people.” All the controversy seemed in the distant past on Thursday as he was hoisted on the shoulders of his teammates in celebration and carried off the field, holding up the ball to salute his fans.
International Cricket Council chief executive Haroon Lorgat called the bowler a “legend” and someone who had responded to criticism well.
“There was no better way to respond to them than the way that Murali did. Those umpires were doing their jobs with what they saw. Murali arose above all that and we see him exit in the most graceful manner,” he said.
Muralitharan's action was cleared by the ICC in 1996 following biochemical analysis at the University of Western Australia and at the University of Hong Kong. His bowling action was cleared again by the ICC in 1999, after he had been no-balled on the 1998-99 tour of Australia.
He shrugged off another controversial call in 2004 when one of his deliveries was reported by English match referee Chris Broad in Sri Lanka.
The ICC, after much deliberation, has consistently ruled that due to his birth abnormality, his action is legal.
Hair's umpiring career was plagued after by his no-ball call against Muralitharan. Former Australian Prime Minister John Howard once criticized Muralitharan's bowling style, too, a call which undoubtedly contributed to the rejection this year of his nomination to be ICC vice president.
India spin great Bishen Singh Bedi and former New Zealand captain Martin Crowe are among those who insisted Muralitharan has a questionable bowling action.
Even Warne once proclaimed that Muralitharan should undergo further Testing to investigate whether he 'chucks' - illegally bending then straightening his arm during his bowling action.
Warne's comments angered Muralitharan, though he diplomatically healed the rift for a public appearance by the pair.
And Muralitharan has survived all the criticism to set the records and be the backbone of Sri Lanka's success in the past decade.
He helped Sri Lanka to a surprising victory in the 1996 World Cup and, using his trademark “doosra,” top-spinners and varying angles, became the most potent bowler in contemporary cricket.
When he broke Warne's record for most Test wickets, Muralitharan was honored in Sri Lanka's parliament.
Teammates past and present were seated in the parliament's gallery when the speaker and lawmakers spoke.
“Our country's rulers have been unable to bring glory to our country the way some of our sportsmen have,” Wimal Weerawansa, a lawmaker from Marxist People's Liberation Front, said at the time.
Sri Lanka had been wracked with ethnic rivalry and a protracted civil war between government soldiers and separatist Tamil Tiger rebels in a conflict that killed more than 80,000 people from 1983 until recently.
Muralitharan's presence in the team as the only ethnic Tamil member has united majority Sinhalese and minority Tamils to support a common cause.
After announcing he planned to retire from Test cricket, at a time when he had 792 Test wickets to his name, Muralitharan again had the entire country behind him as he sought eight wickets for one last milestone.
After claiming a five-wicket haul in the first innings in Galle, he claimed three in the second - including India's last second-innings wicket - to finish with match figures of 8-191 in a thrilling end to his Test career.
He will continue to play limited-overs cricket, meaning he will be available for next year's World Cup, which is being co-hosted by Sri Lanka.
