My XI Cricketers pick their favourites

At all the Saqlain supporters, You guys are absolutely right, Saqlain did invent the doosra BUT his doosra very rarely turned the other way appreciably (except maybe the one against Damien Martyn and a handful of others).. I think thats wat Geoff is saying here, Murali was the first person to SPIN the doosra the other way appreciably, almost like a leg break..

It just tells you how out of touch Boycott is. Murali learnt the doosra from Saqlain and Saqi was extremely good at it. Boycott is a bit coy about the "chucking" rule that the other great bowlers have benefited. The rules were changed so that McGrath and Pollock along with the rest could continue bowling. Cricinfo has a write up on this that exonerate Murali and states the reasons for the change which Mr Boycott does not want to accept. Murali never hid his bent arm under long sleeved shirts either as some other spinners still do. His major wicket taking was with his stock delivery which was under the 5 degree tolerance. Murali is the greatest spin bowler in the history of cricket and that is the fact supported by figures. Murali sure did make Sri Lanka a fighting force and virtually was a one man bowling band. You cannot win matches if you cannot score or take wickets. The genial nature of Murali and the bullying that he has been subject is not cricket Mr Boycott. Philip Gnana, Surrey

Doosra was invented and perfected by Saqlain with a clean action...others followed saqlain

I think Mr. Boycott has got it wrong. It is unfair to saqlan mushtag as he is the inventor of the doosra. Murali has himself openly admitted that saqlain started the doosra. also muralitharan was more lethal due to the amount of turn he got and also the flight and the trajectory he had

What about 45 avg. in India? it is worse than Warne's 43. Srilankans give excuses about pitches but Murali got outbowled by Harbhajan in those. lol. At home Murali feasted on a severely depleted Indian team in 2001 (Vaas,Fernando were better then)and was a secod fiddle to Mendis in 2008.Saqlain was far better than both. Erapalli Prasanna was also an attacking spinner who Boycott faced.

get your history straight sir, doosra was not "created" or Invented by murali.do you what the word doosra even means. For your information it is Urdu word means "second" or other one invented by saqlain mushtaq and bowl against the aussies in Australia, go and ask ian healy.it s not good take credit away for saqi

No pakistani bowler in geoffery's X1????

Geoff Boycott out of all people should know that, Saqlain was the pioneer of the Doosra, and also the fact that a Doosra that spins less is more likely to take the edge than one that spins more. No credit taken away from Murali, another brilliant bowler of the Doosra, more wickets to his name bowling it. Both had equal part in reviving the art of finger spin.

Murali is the greatest wicket taker in the game and also the most ill treated cricketer. It was unfortunate that he played for Sri Lanka. His record is practically untouchable. Taking 5 wickets in a test innings is a dream for a test bowler and Murali has passed that 67 times (next best 37 by Warne) and taken 10 wickets in a match 22 times (next best 10 by warne) . Had he played for England or Australia, his action wouldn't have been questioned and will be duly treated. It is so unfair that people often use terms like 'controversial' and 'debatable' when describing Murali even after repeated clearance of his action by the ICC and with ample of biomechanical evidences to prove that he has congenitally abnormal wrist and elbow.