Sri Lanka- IPL runs
- 20
- Average
- 3.33
- Strike rate
- 66.7
- Highest
- 6
Career
Muttiah Muralitharan took more wickets than anyone in the history of both Test and One Day International cricket, and the gap between him and second place in Tests is larger than most bowlers' entire careers. A congenital elbow deformity gave his action its distinctive look and was the subject of years of scrutiny before biomechanical testing cleared him.
He spun the ball further than any offspinner before him and added a doosra that turned the other way, which meant batters could not commit to a line. On dry surfaces he could bowl unchanged for a session at a time and was routinely used as both the attacking and containing option.
Highlights
- Leading wicket-taker in both Test and One Day International cricket
- Took 800 Test wickets, the most in the format's history
- Took ten wickets in a match on more occasions than any other bowler
- Won the IPL with Chennai Super Kings
Overview
What the figures show
43 IPL wickets, taken between 2008 and 2012, are the substance of Muttiah Muralitharan's tournament record.
He has moved between franchises — Chennai Super Kings (2008–2010), Kochi Tuskers Kerala (2011) and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (2012). That is a wicket every 25 balls. Set against the 102 bowlers here with 300 IPL balls or more, an economy rate of 6.52 is cheaper than their 8.17 median.
There is a Big Bash record too: 1 run in 2 matches, best of 1. As a bowler the leagues line up at 6.52 an over in the IPL and 5.70 in the Big Bash.
International
Career record
| Format | M | Inns | Runs | HS | Avg | SR | 100s | 50s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Testfrom 2001 | 38 | 44 | 275 | 33 | 8.59 | 77.5 | 0 | 0 |
| ODIfrom 2002 | 126 | 66 | 317 | 32 | 7.37 | 83.6 | 0 | 0 |
| T20I | 12 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0.50 | 20.0 | 0 | 0 |
| IPL | 66 | 9 | 20 | 6 | 3.33 | 66.7 | 0 | 0 |
Figures marked with a year cover only part of this career — the ball-by-ball archive behind these numbers begins in 2001 for Tests and 2002 for One Day Internationals.
Big Bash League
BBL career
16 Big Bash matches. Computed from the deliveries themselves. All eight BBL clubs.
| BBL batting | M | Runs | Best | Avg | SR | 4s | 6s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Career | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0.50 | 20.0 | 0 | 0 |
| BBL bowling | M | Wkts | Runs | Balls | Avg | Econ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Career | 16 | 19 | 348 | 366 | 18.32 | 5.70 |
Questions
About Muttiah Muralitharan
How many IPL runs has Muttiah Muralitharan scored?
Muttiah Muralitharan has scored 20 runs in the IPL across 5 seasons, averaging 3.33 at a strike rate of 66.67. The highest score is 6.
How many IPL wickets has Muttiah Muralitharan taken?
Muttiah Muralitharan has taken 43 IPL wickets at an economy rate of 6.52 and an average of 26.63.
Which IPL teams has Muttiah Muralitharan played for?
Muttiah Muralitharan has appeared for Chennai Super Kings, Kochi Tuskers Kerala and Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the IPL.
How many BBL runs has Muttiah Muralitharan scored?
Muttiah Muralitharan has scored 1 Big Bash League runs in 2 matches, averaging 0.5 at a strike rate of 20, with a best of 1.
How many BBL wickets has Muttiah Muralitharan taken?
Muttiah Muralitharan has taken 19 Big Bash League wickets in 16 matches at an economy rate of 5.7 and an average of 18.32.
Which BBL clubs has Muttiah Muralitharan played for?
Muttiah Muralitharan has appeared for Melbourne Renegades in the Big Bash League.
What is Muttiah Muralitharan's playing style?
Muttiah Muralitharan is a right-hand bat who bowls right-arm offbreak, listed as a bowler.
How many Test wickets did Muttiah Muralitharan take?
800, the most in Test history, and he is also the leading wicket-taker in One Day Internationals.
Why was Muralitharan's action controversial?
A congenital elbow deformity meant his arm could not fully straighten, giving an unusual appearance. Biomechanical testing eventually cleared his action and contributed to the current tolerance rules.
What was the doosra?
A delivery bowled with an offspinner's action that turns the other way. Muralitharan's use of it meant batters could not predict the direction of turn.
Also on CricketTaken
Players alongside Muttiah Muralitharan
Team-mates from this player's IPL seasons first, then others from the same country.
How this page was worked out
Where these figures come from
Sources for this profile
- IPL figures computed from ball-by-ball records of 1,243 IPL matches.
- Big Bash figures computed from ball-by-ball records of men’s BBL matches.
- International figures computed from Cricsheet ball-by-ball data, used under the Open Data Commons Attribution License 1.0.
- Date of birth, playing style and photograph come from a third-party player feed, matched by name.
How the numbers are derived
- A wide is not a ball faced; a no ball is.
- Byes and leg byes are not charged to the bowler; wides and no balls are.
- Six kinds of dismissal are credited to a bowler. A run out is not one of them.
- An average is runs over dismissals, and is left blank rather than shown as infinite.
- Every rule in full →
What this page does not cover
- Only the competitions named above. A record elsewhere in this player’s career is not counted here and is not implied by these totals.
- Ball-by-ball coverage of Test cricket begins in 2001 and of ODIs in 2002.
- A figure here that looks wrong is worth reporting — how to report it.