His success has not only been a personal victory, but is also a tribute to the faith the Sri Lankan Cricket Board reposed in him. Under tremendous pressure, after being called for `throwing' by the Australian umpire Darell Hair on Lanka's tour Down Under in '95-96, most bowlers would have broken down. Not Murali, and what's more his teammates, and most importantly the Lankan cricket board rallied behind him.

``No bossing around,'' went the Lankan board's signals to the ICC. ``We respect his contribution to Lankan cricketand will play him even if Murali cannot bowl his off spinners. Sure, he will bowl leg spin in the next Test,'' said the board, even as the Australian Cricket Board was pressurising ICC to ban him.

Subsequently, cleared by the ICC, Murali, as indeed the entire Lankan side, were a changed lot. ``That incident changed the entire perception of cricket for us. It brought all the members together and hardened them. Actually, it went a long way in urging the players to show the world our potential. The World Cup win, by and large, was a result of that,'' once confessed Ranjit Fernando, a former Lankan player turned administrator, who himself was instrumental in counselling Murali during the turbulent period.

And now, the `cricketing powers' are at it once again. England coach David Llyod's ``suspicions about Murali's bowling action'' in English press on the eve of the final day of the Test match were no more than a gimmick, meant to unsettle Murali before the crucial last day's play. But, Murali was unruffledand as the result showed, Lloyd would have been better advised to counsel his own batsmen on the art of playing spin bowling rather than finding faults elsewhere. But the English are always known for nursing a grudge or tow, be it the Calcutta smog or the Madras prawns.

Lloyd's comments may have actually fired Murali up to expose the brittle English batting. They paid dearly for the line of indecision in their minds. Caught between whether to play forward or go back, they could not fathom Murali's skills. Had Alec Stewart not been run out, who knows Murali may have emulated another off-spinner, Jim Laker's feat of taking all the ten wickets in a Test innings.

Navjot Sidhu, arguably one of the best batsman of off spin bowling in the world, feels that Murali is simply unplayable for batsmen playing from the crease. ``You have to use your feet while playing him. He is very accurate and with the amount of turn that he gets, you have to get on top of him otherwise you are doomed. In between, padding is thebest defence to him.''

One can trust Sidhu as he has been fairly successful against Murali. The clobbering that Murali received from in the Lucknow Test in '93-94 (Sidhu hit six sixes off Murali) or the last season's S A S Nagar Test confirm Sidhu's theory. ``Still you cannot belittle him. He is a champion bowler with a great heart,'' Sidhu adds.

In fact, the new and exciting Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh sees Murali as a role model for himself and feels that he would be very happy to get a few tips from him

Smoke without fire is difficult and Murali's action sometimes does hinge on the verge of suspicion (almost every off-spinner is like that). Luckily, he has the support of his board quite unlike our own Rajesh Chauhan, who himself may have lost count of the number of times he was put under suspicion and then cleared by the ICC. A pity that our board could not stand up for an international player's cause.

Murali, the only Tamil in the Lankan squad, has always been overshadowed by the likes ofShane Warne, Anil Kumble and Saqlain Mushtaq in international cricket. Not any more as he has carved out a place for his art. For this he has to thank his own board more than anybody else.