Five bowlers and their favourite wicket-taking grounds
It is rightly said that the field of play is the undesignated second home for the players as they are known to spend most of their playing time at the stadium and in between the 22 yards, honing their skills time and again to be able to consistently perform for their side. The gruelling hours of practice and the euphoria after a special victory, there are certain instances in a particular match venue that are etched in the heart of every cricketer.
After having travelled throughout the world for their matches, the players have developed a special connection to a particular stadium where they have performed exceedingly well as compared to the other match venues. The atmosphere inside the stadium, the conditions on offer and the flashback of the past performances; the players relive these fond memories from the moment they step on the field.
In the modern day format with the extravaganza of T-20 cricket and the innovation by the batsmen all around the world, it all boils down to the performance of the bowling unit on that day as it invariably decides the outcome of the game.
Talking about the bowling unit, let us relive the performances of five bowlers and their favourite match venue.
#5 Muttiah Muralitharan – 82 wickets at Sharjah Cricket Stadium
The champion off-spinner is arguably the best spinner produced in the history of Sri Lankan cricket. Muttiah Muralitharan is regarded as the legend of the modern era and has time and again troubled the opposition with his unusual action and deceptive variations.
The now 45-year-old carried the burden of a nation on his shoulders by spearheading the bowling unit and successfully emerged as their highest wicket-taker for Sri Lanka across all the formats of the game.
Muralitharan stamped his authority on the world map with some scintillating performances for his team for well over a decade of years. In the 90's where most of the subcontinent matches were played at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium, the off-spinner bamboozled the batsmen with his variations and skills in the middle over to give his team an upper hand in the closely fought contest.
In the 45 matches played at the venue, he scalped 82 wickets at an average of 17.73. He registered his best figures of seven wickets for 30 runs against India in the year 2000 in Coca-Cola Cup.