Muralitharan's feats

Muttiah Muralitharan turned the Delhi Test on its head by returning the figures of 7 for 100 in India's first innings. His performance is the best by a Sri Lankan bowler against India in India, obliterating Kumara Dharmasena's 5 for 57 in the second innings of the Mumbai Test in 1997-98.

This was also the ninth occasion when Murali took 7 or more wickets in an innings. No other bowler has taken more than seven. The following table lists the bowlers with most number of 7-wicket hauls in Test cricket:

Bowler	For	7-wkt hauls
M Muralitharan	SL	9
SF Barnes	Eng	7
GA Lohmann	Eng	7
A Kumble	Ind	6
SK Warne	Aus	6
AV Bedser	Eng	5
CV Grimmett	Aus	5
Imran Khan	Pak	5
Kapil Dev	Ind	5
Harbhajan Singh	Ind	5

Muralitharan is all set to become the most successful spinner against India. The seven wicket haul in India's first innings has taken his tally of wickets to 60 from 14 Tests and now only one bowler - West Indian Lance Gibbs - is ahead of Murali in the tally of most successful spinners against India

The following table lists the most successful spinners against India:

Bowler	For	Wkts	Tests	Balls	Mdns	Runs	Best	5WI	10WM	Ave	SR
LR Gibbs	WI	63	15	4793	284	1467	8-38	4	0	23.29	76.08
M Muralitharan	SL	60	14	4204	168	1840	8-87	4	1	30.66	70.06
R Benaud	Aus	52	8	2953	198	956	7-72	5	1	18.38	56.79
SK Warne	Aus	43	14	3925	139	2029	6-125	1	0	47.19	91.28
H Verity	Eng	38	6	1632	105	615	7-49	1	1	16.18	42.95
Iqbal Qasim	Pak	34	15	3359	176	1334	6-40	2	1	39.24	98.79
PH Edmonds	Eng	33	14	3747	222	1346	4-31	0	0	40.79	113.55
R Illingworth	Eng	31	8	2148	144	592	6-29	2	0	19.10	69.29
AL Valentine	WI	30	7	3012	217	942	5-64	2	0	31.40	100.40

- Sri Lanka's tour of India 2005: The Complete Coverage