Muththiah Muralitharan
Muttiah Muralidaran, born 17 April 1972 in Kandy, is considered the greatest sportsman Sri Lanka has ever produced in international arena.
His paternal grandfather Periyasamy Sinasamy came from South India to work in the tea plantations of central Sri Lanka. Muralitharan was born in the village of Nattarampotha in Kundasale (near Kandy), as 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. Muralitharan's grandmother had passed away 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 March 21, 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.
He is Test cricket's highest wicket-taker, uralitharan had held the record before when he surpassed West Indies' Courtney Walsh's 519 wickets in 2004. He is also the first in the list of wicket-takers in One Day Internationals. Averaging over six wickets per Test, Muttiah Muralitharan is one of the most successful bowlers in the game and the greatest player in Sri Lanka's history. 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.
In domestic cricket, Muralitharan has played for two first-class Sri Lankan sides, Tamil Union Cricket and Athletic Club in the Premier Trophy and Central Province in the Provincial Championship.
On 28 August 28, 1992 at the age of 20, Muralitharan made his debut against Australia at the Khettarama Stadium and claimed 3 for 141. Craig McDermott was his first Test wicket.
His record has been exceptional - 234 wickets at 14.51 runs in 46 matches. Muralitharan is the first wrist-spinning offspinner in the history of the game Since his debut in 1992, Muralitharan has taken over 700 Test wickets and over 450 One Day International wickets, becoming the first player to take 1,000 wickets combined in the two main forms of international cricket.
Muralitharan picked up 23 wickets in the 2007 World Cup, though Sri Lanka were unable to repeat their 1996 final win against Australia. Muralitharan next featured in the home Test series against Bangladesh when, with the last of his 26 wickets, he became the second player to 700 Test wickets. He duly passed Warne's Test record of 708 wickets against England in December 2007, fittingly on his home ground in Kandy.
Averaging nearly six wickets per Test, Muttiah Muralitharan is one of the most successful bowlers in the game, the greatest player in Sri Lanka's history, and without doubt the most controversial cricketer of the modern age. Muralitharan's rise from humble beginnings, being the Tamil son of a hill-country confectioner, to the top of the wicket-takers' list in Test cricket has divided the cricket world in the past decade because of his weird bent-arm bowling action.
He bowls marathon spells, yet is forever on the attack. From a loose-limbed, open-chested action, his chief weapons are the big-spinning offbreak and two versions of the top-spinner, one of which goes straight on and the other, which has now been labelled his doosra, which spins in the opposite direction to his stock ball. His newest variation is a version of Shane Warne's slider, which is flicked out the side of his hand and rushes onto batsmen like a flipper. His super-flexible wrist makes him especially potent and guarantees him turn on any surface.
His career has been beset with controversy from the start. Suspicions about his action were whispered soon after his debut against the Australians in 1993 and then aired freely after he was called for throwing while touring Australia in 1995-96, first in the Boxing Day Test at Melbourne by Darrel Hair and later in the one-day series that followed. He was cleared by the ICC after biomechanical analysis at the University of Western Australia and at the University of Hong Kong in 1996. They concluded that his action created the 'optical illusion of throwing'.
But the controversy did not die away. He was called again on the 1998-99 tour to Australia, this time by Ross Emerson. Muralitharan was sent for further tests in Perth and England and was cleared again. However, the perfection of his doosra prompted further suspicion and at the end of a prolific three-match home series against Australia in March 2004 he was reported by ICC match referee Chris Broad. More high-tech tests followed, and ultimately forced the ICC to seriously look into the entire issue of throwing in international cricket, which revealed that many bowlers bend their arms during delivery, and that Murali might have been made an unfair victim. On the field, Murali continued to pile on the wickets, overtaking Courtney Walsh's 519-wicket world record to become the highest wicket-taker in Test history in May 2004.
It is unlikely that Muralitharan's career will ever be controversy-free, a fact that he now accepts. But the rapid progress of technology and sports science in the past decade has undoubtedly salvaged his reputation. He continues to pick up wickets by the bucket load, although many large hauls have come against the two weakest nations - Zimbabwe and Bangladesh. However, he saves his most stunning efforts for the big boys, such as his duel with the Australians in 2004 and his eight-wicket haul at Trent Bridge in 2006 which produced a famous series-levelling win against England.
Muralitharan picked up 23 wickets in the 2007 World Cup, though Sri Lanka were unable to repeat their 1996 final win against Australia. Muralitharan next featured in the home Test series against Bangladesh when, with the last of his 26 wickets, he became the second player to 700 Test wickets. He duly passed Warne's Test record of 708 wickets against England in December 2007, fittingly on his home ground in Kandy.
Career Highlights
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In 2002, Muttiah Muralitharan was rated the greatest Test match bowler ever by Wisden Cricketers' Almanack.
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With over 700 wickets, Muttiah Muralitharan is the highest wicket-taker in Test match cricket.
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Muttiah Muralitharan is the first wrist-spinning off-spinner in the history of the game.
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Muttiah Muralitharan is the first player to take 1,000 wickets combined, in the two main forms of international cricket- ODIs & Test matches.
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Muttiah Muralitharan holds the record for the highest number of ten-wicket match hauls in Test cricket.
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In July 2007, Muttiah Muralitharan achieved a career peak Test Bowling Rating of 920, based on the LG ICC Player Rankings. This is the highest ever rating achieved by a spin bowler in Test cricket.
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Muttiah Muralitharan has the unique distinction of getting 10 or more wickets in a match against all other 9 Test playing nations as well as capturing over 50 wickets against each of them.
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Muttiah Muralitharan holds the highest wickets/match ratio for any bowler, with over 200 Test wickets.
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Muttiah Muralitharan holds the record for taking the highest number of five or more wickets in an innings in Test cricket.
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Muttiah Muralitharan holds the record for the fastest to reach 350, 400, 450, 500, 550, 600, 650, 700 and 750 Test wickets, in terms of matches played.
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Muttiah Muralitharan is the only player to take 10 wickets in a Test in four consecutive matches.
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‘The most common dismissal in Test cricket’ feat is held by Muttiah Muralitharan. It reads as bowled by Muralitharan (b Muralitharan).
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‘Muttiah Muralitharan holds the record for the most Man of the Series awards in Test cricket history.
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Muttiah Muralitharan holds a distinct record for capturing 100 wickets or more in a single ground. He holds this distinction at two venues, the Sinhalese Sports Club Ground in Colombo and the Asgiriya Stadium in Kandy.
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Muttiah Muralitharan is the only bowler to take 75 or more wickets in a calendar year on three occasions, achieving it in 2000, 2001 and 2006.
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In 2008, the Parliament of Sri Lanka felicitated Muttiah Muralitharan for his world record breaking feat of being the highest wicket taker in Test cricket. 
