Muttiah Muralitharan, Sri Lanka - Player profile

If you’re new to cricket, you’ve just seen Muttiah Muralitharan bowl for the first time and you’ve come here to find out more information; firstly, well done on spelling his name right; secondly, you’re doubtless thinking: “What the… with the… how does he… what is he…?”

Well here goes. Muralitharan’s body is unique. When he stands with his arms by his side, his palms face forwards. He also has a double-jointed wrist. We’re about to describe how he bowls. It’s very important that you don’t try and do this because you will dislocate your shoulder, which is astoundingly painful.

From the camera’s perspective, behind the bowler, Murali’s hand points roughly to the left, with the palm facing towards the floor when his arm is nearing the top its arc. This is just prior to his releasing the ball. As he is in the process of releasing the ball, his hand flips over to the right so that the palm faces towards the sky. It is this movement that spins the ball. If there were some way of holding that spinning ball in mid-air, carpenters could use it to sand wood. That’s how fast the ball is spinning.

You can’t underestimate how special this man is. He can do this all day and every single delivery will land exactly where he wants it to. Then, for an encore, he can bowl his doosra. This delivery will spin in the opposite direction to his normal delivery. Oh, he’s the nicest guy in the world as well.

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