4th January 2002: When Muralitharan almost pulled off a Kumble in Kandy

In the second Test of the series against Zimbabwe at Kandy, Muralitharan almost scalped all ten wickets in the first innings.

Former Sri Lanka spinner Muttiah Muralitharan is regarded as one of the greatest bowlers ever to grace the ‘Gentleman’s Game’ and on this day, 17 years ago, the off-spinner almost pulled off something which has been done just twice in the history of international cricket thus far.

File image of Sri Lanka cricketer Muttiah Muralitharan in action during a Test. (Getty Images)

In the second Test of the series against Zimbabwe at Kandy, Muralitharan almost scalped all ten wickets in the first innings. The spinner was in top form and removed the top-nine batsman without breaking a sweat.

Muralitharan came agonizingly close to becoming the third cricketer in the history of Test cricket to scalp all ten wickets in an innings but Russell Arnold dropped Travis Friend’s catch.

Chaminda Vaas took the last wicket of the day in Henry Olonga and Muralitharan ended the innings with figures of 9/51. Had Arnold managed to keep hold of the catch, Muralitharan would have joined the likes of Jim Laker (England) and Anil Kumble (India) as the only players to take all 10 wickets in an innings.