Definitely, Muralitharan is going to break lots of records by the time he hangs up his boots but like Sachin, in his case too, only quantity matters and not quality. The best player (a bowler or a batsman) performs in the toughest of conditions against the best teams both at home and abroad with consistency at regular intervals. Murali has taken only 55 wkts-ave.31.41 vs Australia(now the No.1 team) is proof that he revels only in home conditions. Problem of both India & Sri Lanka is, they play teams like Bangladesh, Zimbabwe more frequently than teams like Australia, South Africa or England does. Murali is also helped by the 15 degrees deviation in bowling angle by ICC. Murali is not the greatest spinner and that accolade should go to Warne. A PGDBA (from IIM) and a B.Tech (from IIT) cannot be compared with an MBA (from an ordinary University) and a B.Tech (from a self-finance college) even though both are degrees only. Corporates definitely would go for IIM or IIT grads & likewise, if one wants quality (without controversy), the best spinner is Warne and the best batsman is either Lara or Ponting or Dravid. As the adage goes, statistics never revel the true calibre of a player.
