Greatest ODI XI of the post-1990 era

#11 Muttiah Muralitharan

Muttiah Muralitharan was Sri Lanka's biggest match-winner of his time

Such was the magic of Muttiah Muralitharan's bowling that every pitch he bowled on looked like a raging turner. Every other ball he delivered looked like taking a wicket.

Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, the bulk of the burden of Sri Lanka's bowling unit rested on the indefatigable shoulders of this giant from Kandy. By spinning a web of deceit and confusion around the batsmen, Murali bagged truckloads of wickets at a miserly rate.

For all the opposition teams, Murali's threat was so grave they would simply try to play out his overs without taking any chances against him. Even if that means only 35 or 40 runs off his 10 overs, they would be mighty pleased with it.

Despite such extensive pre-planning by the opposition, Murali's effectiveness was rarely blunted. Muralitharan is Sachin Tendulkar with the ball or if he had entered the scene of international cricket before Tendulkar, Tendulkar would have been Muralitharan with the bat.

With 534 wickets in 350 matches, Murali is the highest wicket-taker in ODIs and will be our frontline spinner.