Former India batsman Gautam Gambhir has named Sri Lankan legend Muttiah Muralitharan as the toughest bowler he ever faced in his long, illustrious international career.
On Friday, Gambhir hosted an interactive Question&Answer session with his fans on Twitter in which he answered various types of questions.
One fan asked him to name the toughest bowler he faced in international cricket. Gambhir replied: “One & only Muttiah Muralitharan”
This is a mark of respect from Gambhir to Muralitharan because Gambhir did very well against the Sri Lankan spinner, who is the leading wicket-taker in international cricket.
One & only Muttiah Muralitharan https://t.co/pHEF4gEWUh
— Gautam Gambhir (@GautamGambhir) December 29, 2023
Gautam Gambhir vs Muttiah Muralitharan stats:
Gambhir was India’s top-scorer in the 2011 World Cup final, scoring 97 precious runs against Sri Lanka and he brilliantly tackled the threat posed by Muttiah Muralitharan.
In fact, Gambhir was one of the few batters during that period who not only found a way to survive against Muralitharan but also took down the Sri Lankan spinner with aggression mixed with caution and cream him for plenty of boundaries. That is also reflected in his stats.
In ODIs, Gambhir averaged 42 against Muralitharan and was dismissed only thrice while facing 147 balls from him, scoring 128 runs. In Test cricket, Gambhir scored 137 runs off Muralitharan, getting out only 4 times in 271 balls, managing a good average of 34 against the Sri Lankan spin maestro.
In T20 cricket, that is the IPL, Muralitharan could never dismiss Gambhir in the 41 balls he bowled to him and conceded 51 runs.
So clearly, Gautam Gambhir had an upper hand over Muttiah Muralitharan.
A few months ago, when speaking on broadcaster Star Sports, Gambhir hailed Muralitharan, alluding to his incredible feat of 800 Test wickets.
“You can’t take 800 wickets without having the quality that he does. He’s a legend of the game. Facing him in Sri Lanka was the biggest challenge, especially when he was bowling with the Kookaburra ball,” Gambhir said on Star Sports.
