Muralitharan

Muralitharan brings Sri Lanka to the verge of being number one as his era ends. If Sri Lanka take this test then a 1-0 or better result in the remaining games would put Sri Lanka on top.

After all was said and done the remaining critics refrain was, "But he has not been tested in match conditions."

But neither have most of the other bowlers including greats like McGrath who were shown to have 11-12 degrees of flexion and let's face it the game would be rather bland and dead if only Sarwan clones were allowed to bowl. In match testing will have to wait for its day and what it may have to say about "regular" bowlers may keep Muralitharan's name in the discussions on actions for a long time to come. For now he can rest a bit after leaving Sri Lanka in a position of strength unknown to it before. The Indians should heap as many honour guards as they can to snuff out any wistful feelings for a return for the rest of the series.