Murali passes the magic milestone

It's been on the cards for a while now, but Muttiah Muralitharan has passed Courtney Walsh's previous world record of 519 Test wickets. It may not have been quite how Murali imagined reaching the milestone, against a weakened opposition and in front of a tiny crowd, but nevertheless, Murali reached the magical mark of 520 with the wicket of Mluleki Nkala in Zimbabwe's second innings of the first Test at Harare today.

It's been a long - and controversial road - for Murali to the top. This feat makes him the most successful spinner of all time - at least until Shane Warne spins into Zimbabwe next month - and confirms him as the greatest player in Sri Lanka's history.

All the way from Craig McDermott in the Khettarama Stadium in Colombo on his debut against the mighty Australians in 1992-93, to the inexperienced Zimbabweans at Harare today, Murali has been flexing that rubbery wrist, flicking out the offspinners, top-spinners and doosras, and bemusing batsmen throughout his illustrious career. While Walsh took 132 Tests to reach 519 wickets, this is only Murali's 89th Test, and at 32 years old, he's ought to have plenty more to come.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, well over half of his record-breaking number of wickets(337 out of the 520) have come in Sri Lanka, while he's picked up the most against the South Africans, both home and away, with 77. Next in line are Zimbabwe, at the moment anyway, and third are England, whose batsmen have been bewitched by Murali 69 times. Interestingly, Australia (50) and India (51) fare the best against him. However, one stat that does tell its own story is the fact that out of his 500-plus haul, 401 of them have been in Asia, with Africa coming second with 47.

And who is the batsman top of his hit list? Well, in keeping with the current Zimbabwe theme, Grant Flower, even though he isn't even playing in this Test, is Murali's chief rabbit, having been dismissed a grand total of 10 times. Perhaps he's glad he's not playing.

So the Murali milestones will keep on coming, with 550 and then 600 a distinct possibility in the future. However, Warne - currently on 517 - will be hot on his heels. And one fact worth remembering is that Walsh broke Kapil Dev's record against Zimbabwe, Murali broke Walsh's record against the same opposition them as well, and with Australia touring Zimbabwe next, what's the betting Warne will complete the set?