In any case, it got me thinking. Who is the bowler that has contributed most to his side's wins. That's when Murali entered my frame of argument. So here's the deal. When Murali made his debut in 1992, Sri Lanka had all but 2 wins in their name. Since he has retired they haven't won a game yet. During his entire career, he helped Sri Lanka win 54 games. During his career there were only 5 games that Sri Lanka won, in which he did not play. Murali took 438 of his 800 wickets in Sri Lanka's wins. That's a staggering 41% of the wickets. Assuming of course that almost all wins needs 20. How does this rate against the best bowlers of all time?
Well here goes...This is a list of Top 10 bowlers sorted on % of wickets in wins. I only chose those bowlers who have claimed 150 or more wickets in test matches they helped their countries win.
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| Top 10 bowlers instrumental in Test Wins of all Time |
Number 11 on this list is Harbhajan Singh. Ahead of some all time greats like, Ian Botham, Wasim Akram, McGrath, Holding. No I am not making this a "in defense of Harbhajan" piece...may be some other day
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| The meanest strike rates of all time in Test wins |
In any case, back to Murali. I believe his best contribution to cricket is the comments he evoked from Bedi. I am not saying he was a cheat, but he shouldn't have been allowed to bowl the way he was allowed to. To me Sir Richard Hadlee according to these 2 tables is the better bowler only because he had a legitimate action.
Rules were bent to allow Murali to play. The Asian Block choose the wrong issue to show their might and the authority of the on field umpire was compromised beyond repair all to allow this man, Murali to bowl. His numbers are awesome but...
