Thank heavens for Makhaya Muralitharan
Tom Eaton, in the Mail & Guardian , pays tribute to Ntini , who has almost singlehandedly carried the South African attack in the recent times.
Sriram Veera
25-Feb-2013
Tom Eaton, in the Mail & Guardian, pays tribute to Ntini, who has almost singlehandedly carried the South African attack in the recent times.
The numbers tell the story. Ntini took 34% of all South Africa's wickets, and bowled 41 overs more than his nearest colleague, the apparently indefatigable Pollock. Most teams rely on spinners, whether specialists or part-timers, to wheel through overs while the speedsters rest. This summer six slow bowlers were tossed the ball. Ntini bowled 85 overs more than all of them combined.
In other words, any discussion of South Africa's bowlers, and what they might have done without Ntini, must invariably end in allusions to disastrous canoeing trips up excremental creeks. The sheer weight of his burden took us into Muttiah Muralitharan territory and, although Dale Steyn did an admirable impression of Chaminda Vaas, Sri Lanka's one-ring circus is not a show we want to emulate
Sriram Veera is a former staff writer at ESPNcricinfo