Muttiah Muralidaran becomes first Sri Lankan to be inducted in ICC Hall of Fame

Muttiah Muralidaran who was rated the greatest Test match bowler ever by Wisden Cricketers' Almanack in 2002 became the first cricketer from Sri Lanka to be inducted in the International Cricket Council’s Hall of Fame.

Record-breaking off-spinner Muralidaran becomes the first Sri Lankan player to be inducted along with twice ICC Women’s World Cup winner and former Australia women’s captain Karen Rolton, her compatriot Arthur Morris, a member of Don Bradman’s ‘invincibles’ and England’s George Lohmann, the 19th century fast bowler who took 100 wickets in just 16 Tests, reports ICC’s media release.

The four iconic cricketers were voted by the ICC Cricket Hall of Famers as well as members of the media.

They will be presented with commemorative caps honouring their contribution to the game to mark their induction. Family members will represent Lohmann and Morris at the presentations.

ICC Chief Executive David Richardson congratulated the four, saying: “The ICC Cricket Hall of Fame recognises some of the truly great players from cricket’s long and illustrious history, and this year’s inductees thoroughly deserve to be in this highly prestigious group.

“Muralidaran has been one of the greats of the modern era. His guile and consistency over the years helped Sri Lanka develop as a very competitive side in both Tests and ODI cricket.”

Muralidaran, whose last international fixture was the final of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 in Mumbai finished his career with 800 wickets in Tests, 534 wicket in One-Day Internationals and 13 wickets in 12 T20Is. He grabbed 10 wickets in a match 22 times and five wickets in an innings 67 times to make Sri Lanka a force to reckon with in Test cricket.

Known to spin the ball prodigiously, Muralidaran also played a big part in Sri Lanka’s ODI successes from 1993 to 2011 and was a member of the squads that won the ICC Cricket World Cup 1996 and shared the ICC Champions Trophy 2002 with India.