Muttiah Muralitharan targets record 800-wicket haul - BBC Reports

Muttiah Muralitharan targets record 800-wicket haul - BBC Reports

Sri Lanka spinner Muttiah Muraliatharan wants to take his world record haul of wickets to 800 before he retires from international Test cricket.

As revealed by the BBC Sinhala Service last week, Muraliatharan will quit Test cricket after the first Test of the home series against India this month.

And the 38-year-old, currently on 792 wickets, told BBC Sport: "I always thought I'd reach the 800 mark.

"I can still reach it as I have one last Test. It would be magical ending."

Muralitharan, regarded as the greatest bowler Sri Lanka has ever produced and one of the finest players to grace the game, would need eight wickets in Galle to reach 800.

His Test-wicket haul has come from 132 Test appearances, while he has also played 337 one-day internationals, taking 515 wickets.
However, he has decided to focus on playing one-day cricket until the 2011 World Cup and, thereafter, exclusively on Twenty20 cricket, explaining: "I have achieved most of the things I wanted to in cricket.

"There is nothing left to achieve so I can't be selfish and play on."

Still, the off-spinner admits he hopes his sensational Test-wicket haul is never surpassed.

"I think records are meant to be broken," he said. "Someone will come and break it one day.

"But I don't have to lie. Every person that achieves something special doesn't want that achievement to be broken. I am no different. That is the way it should be. I want it to always be there but I think it will be broken. That's the way records work.

"It will happen but I'm selfish and I want it to be my record forever."

For the full interview with Muttiah Muralitharan, listen to Sport on Five on BBC Five Live from 2100 BST.