A look at Muttiah Muralitharan's wicket ways after the Sri Lankan off-spinner claimed a world record 709 Test wickets.
Muralitharan in Test cricket
| Against | Mts | Balls | Runs | Wkts | Avg | Best | 5WI | 10WM |
| Australia | 13 | 4113 | 2128 | 59 | 36.07 | 6-59 | 5 | 1 |
| Bangladesh | 9 | 2110 | 908 | 76 | 11.95 | 6-18 | 10 | 3 |
| England | 14 | 5699 | 1891 | 99 | 19.10 | 9-65 | 7 | 4 |
| India | 15 | 4774 | 2176 | 67 | 32.48 | 8-87 | 4 | 1 |
| New Zealand | 12 | 3782 | 1449 | 69 | 21.00 | 6-87 | 5 | 1 |
| Pakistan | 14 | 4279 | 1842 | 79 | 23.32 | 6-71 | 5 | 1 |
| South Africa | 15 | 5908 | 2311 | 104 | 22.22 | 7-84 | 11 | 4 |
| West Indies | 10 | 2902 | 1214 | 70 | 17.34 | 8-46 | 8 | 3 |
| Zimbabwe | 14 | 4721 | 1467 | 87 | 16.86 | 9-51 | 6 | 2 |
| TOTAL | 116 | 38288 | 15386 | 710 | 21.67 | 9-51 | 61 | 20 |
Leading wicket-takers in Test cricket
| Bowler | Mts | Balls | Runs | Wkts | Avg | 5WI | 10WM |
| M Muralitharan (SL/ICC World XI) | 116 | 38288 | 15386 | 710 | 21.67 | 61 | 20 |
| SK Warne (Aus) | 145 | 40705 | 17995 | 708 | 25.41 | 37 | 10 |
| A Kumble (India) | 120 | 37251 | 16484 | 575 | 28.66 | 33 | 8 |
| GD McGrath (Aus) | 124 | 29248 | 12186 | 563 | 21.64 | 29 | 3 |
| CA Walsh (WI) | 132 | 30019 | 12688 | 519 | 24.44 | 22 | 3 |
| Kapil Dev (India) | 131 | 27740 | 12867 | 434 | 29.64 | 23 | 2 |
| RJ Hadlee (NZ) | 86 | 21918 | 9611 | 431 | 22.29 | 36 | 9 |
| SM Pollock (SA) | 107 | 24185 | 9648 | 416 | 23.19 | 16 | 1 |
| Wasim Akram (Pak) | 104 | 22627 | 9779 | 414 | 23.62 | 25 | 5 |
| CEL Ambrose (WI) | 98 | 22103 | 8501 | 405 | 20.99 | 22 | 3 |
Muralitharan's progress to bowling pinnacle
| Wkt | Victim | Venue | Season | Test # |
| 1st | CJ McDermott (Aus) | Colombo RP | 1992-93 | 1st |
| 100th | SP Fleming (NZ) | Hamilton | 1996-97 | 27th |
| 200th | DG Cork (Eng) | The Oval | 1998 | 42nd |
| 300th | SM Pollock (SA) | Durban | 2000-01 | 58th |
| 400th | HK Olonga ( Zim) | Galle | 2001-02 | 72nd |
| 500th | MS Kasprowicz (Aus) | Kandy | 2003-04 | 87th |
| 600th | Khaled Mashud (Ban) | Bogra | 2005-06 | 101st |
| 700th | Syed Rasel (Ban) | Kandy | 2007 | 113th |
| 709th | PD Collingwood (Eng) | Kandy | 2007-08 | 116th |
Murali's mode of dismissals
| Wkts | % | |
| Caught in the field | 310 | 43.66 |
| Bowled | 154 | 21.69 |
| LBW | 135 | 19.01 |
| Caught behind | 40 | 5.63 |
| Stumped | 40 | 5.63 |
| Caught & bowled | 30 | 4.23 |
| Hit-wicket | 1 | 0.14 |
Murali's victims by batting order
| Wkts | % | |
| Openers | 119 | 16.76 |
| # 3 | 64 | 9.01 |
| # 4 | 69 | 9.72 |
| # 5 | 69 | 9.72 |
| # 6 | 74 | 10.42 |
| # 7 | 91 | 12.82 |
| # 8 | 61 | 8.59 |
| # 9 | 65 | 9.15 |
| # 10 | 61 | 8.59 |
| # 11 | 37 | 5.21 |
Murali's bunnies
| MV Boucher (SA) | 12 |
| GW Flower (Zim) | 10 |
| Mohammad Yousuf (Pak) | 9 |
| Khaled Mashud (Ban) | 9 |
| Waqar Younis (Pak) | 9 |
| Marcus Trescothick (Eng) | 8 |
More from rediff