Herath, Marathon Man

At 39, the Sri Lankan, who played under the shadows of Muttiah Muralitharan for a long time, became the oldest bowler to reach the mark, by no means a great distinction but if you look at the rate at which he took those wickets (84 matches), his greatness could be valued in the right perspective. 

However, the puritans who have watched both these spinners in action would vouch that there is something common in their styles. Sunil Subramaniam, arguably the best left-arm spinner from Tamil Nadu, feels both are visual treats when bowling. 

“I have watched Bedi bowl at Chepauk and also many of his videos. Both Bishen and Herath are a visual treat and very subtle and nuanced in their craft,” remarked Sunil, who is currently the manager of the Indian cricket team. Bishen Bedi played Test cricket 40 years before Herath at a time when Tests were not as frequent as they are today, though even ODIs and T20s did not exist then. 

“Bishen Bedi did not play as much Test cricket as they play now plus Bishen had three others to contend with,” Sunil explained the two reasons for the Indian not getting anywhere close to the mark. Bedi had 266 wickets, just under four wickets per Test while spinners such as Herath and Ravichandran Ashwin these days go above six in the format. Herath’s strike rate after Muttiah Muralitharan retired soared as the offie plucked the wickets leaving nothing for others. 

His first half (1999 to 2011) summary was this: 119 wickets from 34 Tests; and after Murali, it was 281 from 50.  It was a slightly different for Bishen Bedi as leg-spinner BS Chandrasekhar, who took 242 wickets from 58 Tests, played alongside him and there were two off-spinners S Venkataraghavan and EAS Prasanna, who too shared the spoils on Indian wickets. However, these are mere numbers for spinners such as Sunil Subramaniam. 

“To me, Herath is the finest left-arm spinner ever and a lovely human being. I had the pleasure of interacting with him in Colombo,” recalled Sunil, whose first assignment was in the island nation two months ago. Anil Kumble (619 wickets from 132 matches) and Harbhajan Singh (417 from 103) have also taken more than 400 wickets for India but the left-arm spinner since Bedi to get the respect from the world like Herath is yet to emerge.