CHUCKING: A case for Murali. Review on M. Muralitharan

The question I want to raise first is Why is chucking inherently bad? Why should chuckers be hated? The answer at times given is - A rule is a rule. I want to differ, a rule is not simply a rule that is holy just because it is written in the rule books. What is holier than a rule is the ''philosophy'' that the rule attempts to enforce. And the philosophy behind making chucking illegal, as far as I can think, was that bowlers shouldn't generate undue pace.

But now it appears that the philosophy has taken the back seat and the rule is held high. A spinner doesnt generate pace when chucking nor does he generate extra spin, preventing the latter I feel was never the intention.

Now lets see why spinners chuck. Leg spinners as a rule do not chuck. Anyone who has played even the tennis ball cricket (that is what I have played all the time), knows that one will only loose control if he attempts to chuck when bowling leg spin.

A leg spinner delivers the ball around his wrist, which naturally aids to the pace and gives the ball sufficient momentum to travel the 22 yards. But for an off-spinner the ball comes from over his fingers which works against giving the ball any momentum.

The off spinners have to provide this extra momentum by using the elbow and therefore they often have a suspect action like Murali, Harbhajan, Rajesh Chouhan, Shoaib Malik etc. So if we stick to the ''rule'' and forget the original philosophy we will be doing serious damage to the art of off spin.

Now lets come to Murali's doosra or the wrong one. I know how this particularly delivery is bowled, and therefore I also know that it is far more difficult to make the doosra travel even a few yards. I have personally never been able to bowl the doosra with a round arm action as it tends to fly off vertically than to travel horizontally.

The doosra is not only delivered over the fingers but also from the wrong side of the palm i.e. the back side of the palm faces the batsman. Therefore it requires far more effort from the elbow that makes it appear like chucking (or indeed it is chucking, but again why is it inherently bad?). I am sure even Harbhajan and Saqlain bend their elbow at a larger angle when bowling the doosra.

It was not the late invention of off-spinner's doosra that delayed its introduction to international cricket, but it was the ability to control it. Murali has mastered the control. Ordinarily a doosra will travel slower through the air than the regular off-spinner but Murali manages to bowl it at almost the same pace and same trajectory and thus beautifully disguises the doosra. To allow this great artistry to survive, the rule books have to be re-written, which in no way will be an abuse of the original philosophy.

Lets stop lamenting Murali for his suspect action and stand together to acknowledge that he is one of the greatest bowlers to have ever embraced the game of cricket. His achievements have been inadequately recognized, partly because of controversies surrounding his action and partly because of the orthodox cricket pundits' obsession with Shane Warne.

In test cricket, he now holds enormous records. He reached the 400 wickets mark quicker than anybody, which includes the legendary Sir Richard Hadlee. Also he has the most 5-wickets-an-innings and most 10-wickets-a-match hauls than anybody. His wicket-to-match ratio is almost 6 which is better than any body with more than 250 wickets.

The greatest of spinners have never had averages anywhere close to the greatest fast bowlers. Spin bowlers like B.S. Chandrashekhar, Subhash Gupte, Abdul Qadir, Lance Gibbs, Saqlain Mushtaq etc at best averaged around 28; Warne averages 25 but Murali has intruded into what is considered the benchmark for a great fast bowler. He now averages better than greats like Lillee-Wasim-Waqar.

In last five years his performance has been particularly spectacular. Since year 2000, he has picked up more than 300 wickets in only 43 matches at an average of under 20 which is superior even than the greatest fast bowler in my reckoning - Malcom Marshall. In these 43 matches he has picked up 11 10-wicket hauls, which is once every 4th test match.

Never in 125 years of test cricket history, a bowler has acquired a form as destructive as this. The only other bowler who reaped wickets at a comparable rate was the great english bolwer of the early 20th century - Sydney Barnes. But sadly his career lasted only 27 tests and also he played in an era when cricket used to bowler's feast due to under preparation of pitches.

His performance in ODI's has been equally magnificent. In current days when ODI's are mostly played on flat tracks and the batsmen world over have broken the barrier of sticking to shots in the book, only 3 of the current bowlers have an economy rate of under 4 who are Murali, McGrath and Pollock. And again in last 5 years Murali has given away runs at less than 3.5 runs an over. He is clearly a cut above everyone else in either form of cricket.

Now, exactly how great is Muttiah Muralitharan? To me he is by a long distance the greatest cricket of the modern age (read post 1990). His achievements are far bigger than the legends like Tendulkar, Lara, Warne, Akram etc. And among all time cricketers, I put him next only on Sir Donald Bradman and Sir Garfield Sobers (I mentioned so in my review on 5 best cricketers).

If it sounds like over-rating the little Sri Lankan, then consider the fact that Shane Warne was named among the 5 cricketers of the 20th century and if you have to replace him from the list of greatest 5 with another bowler, Murali is as good an alternative as you can dream to find.

Comments eagerly awaited....