27 Aug, 2010, Sri Lanka
MUTTIAH MURALITHARAN reaches the milestone after taking the wicket of Pragyan Ojha as his 800th wicket. In the history of test cricket Murali is the only bowler who had that kind of a record. It is a big challenge for the upcoming bowler to break that record but it takes a long time. Murali played 133rd tests to reach the milestone. He takes the wicket of Harbhajan Singh as his 799th victim in the 62nd over but to reach this it takes a very long time when he takes the wicket of Pragyan Ojha in the 116th over.
He said at his farewell,” Muralitharan: I would like to thank, his Excellency, the President of Sri Lanka. I would also like to thank my family who are present here, without them I could not have achieved anything. I also like to thank the Sri Lankan Cricket Board for their support and encouragement. School is the most important place, that’s where we learn the most. What happened in 1995 (chucking controversy) was bad, there were many people who helped me. I don’t blame the umpires, according to their naked eye they thought my action was not legal, I don’t have any hard feelings for them. I have spoken to the selectors, if they really need me for the World Cup, I will play or else they can do with the youngsters. I would like to play T20 cricket for some more time. Cricket has given me a lot of friends and I am happy for that.