The Greatest Player of Every Decade

The 2000s:

Muralitharan made some great batsman look foolish

Muttiah Muralitharan (SL)

The 1990s had seen the bowlers wrestle back some power from the batsmen, but the following decade saw this trend reverse in dramatic fashion. In the 1990s, batsmen averaged 31.51, less than any of the previous three decades, but in the 2000s they averaged 34.10, the most since the 1940s.

All the players to score 10,000 or more runs played in this era, except for Sunil Gavaskar and Allan Border. Ricky Ponting almost scored 10,000 in this decade alone, ending with 9458 runs at 58.38.

Jacques Kallis was also brilliant, his 2000s being similar to Sobers' 1960s, as the South African allrounder averaged 58.70 with the bat and 32.00 with the ball.

Among these batting monoliths was Adam Gilchrist, who would come to the crease at number seven and decimate bowling attacks that had often been worn down by the batters above him.

It was quite simply a wretched time to be a bowler, as almost every batting line-up seemed to contain at least one exceptional batsman.

Muralitharan didn't look like the hero the bowlers needed. He didn't have the classic good looks of a Khan or a Miller, nor did he have the obvious athleticism of a Sobers or a Faulkner. Even his action was bizarre, making Laker's seem elegant in comparison. But when the ball left his hand it was pure magic.

Over the course of the decade, 565 batsmen were trapped under Murali's spell, with no other bowler taking 400 wickets during this time. Muralitharan's statistics for this time look like bizarre typos, as they simply don't match up with the rest of the game.

He took 49 five-fors in this period, more than twice the next best. Even more impressive was his 20 ten-fors, with Warne taking the second most of the 2000s with just six. Muralitharan took five in 2006 alone.

There were times when Muralitharan carried the Sri Lankan bowling attack, and times when he was the Sri Lankan bowling attack.

In the 2000s, Muralitharan didn't just defy some incredible batsmen, he defied logic.