As Mosaddek Hossain chipped his shot tamely into the hands of the mid-on fielder, Rangana Herath held his arms aloft. Hossain had just become Herath’s 500th victim in international cricket.
The 39-year-old became only the third bowler from his country to achieve the rare feat, only Muttiah Muralitharan and Chaminda Vaas had managed to do so before him.
Muralitharan and Vaas are unanimously considered as two legends of the game, an accolade which has rarely been associated with Herath. The unorthodox left-arm spinner’s career has been a curious one. Having made his Test debut for Sri Lanka all the way back in September 1999, it would seem strange that the ongoing match against Bangladesh is only Herath’s 88th appearance.
This anomaly can partly be explained by Muralitharan’s greatness. Between making his debut until 2008, Herath only played in 14 Tests for Sri Lanka with Muralitharan untouchable in the spinner’s role.
Those 14 matches yielded only 36 wickets for Herath at an unremarkable average of 39. Since then, he has taken 373 wickets in 74 Tests at an average of 27. It is not hard to figure out why there has been such a great contrast between the first half of Herath’s career to the second.
Spin twins: Herath and Murali.
For much of his international career, Herath has lived in the shadows of the greatest bowler Sri Lanka has ever produced. It was only after Muralitharan’s retirement from the game in July 2010 that Herath’s career truly prospered.
With 409 Test wickets to his name now, Herath is the leading left-arm spinner in Test cricket history with former New Zealand player Daniel Vettori a distant second with 363 scalps. His 33 five-wicket hauls is the fifth-highest ever and the most for any active Test cricketers. For reference, the great Shane Warne recorded 37 five-wicket hauls while India’s Anil Kumble made 35.
Unfortunately for Herath, his peak arrived at a time of transition for Sri Lankan cricket with the retirements of Muralitharan, Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara. Having lived in the shadows of Murali for so long, Herath has had to contend with an unenviable job of propping up a Sri Lankan side in constant decline.
Both these factors have led to much of his achievements being underrated. Who knows how highly Herath might have been regarded had he enjoyed the luxury of playing in the dominant Sri Lanka side of old but there is no arguing that his name deserved to be said in the same breath as the likes of Kumble if not Warne and Muralitharan themselves.
