In a society bitterly divided along ethnic and religious lines and bruised by a two-decade-long separatist war, Muralitharan - the only ethnic Tamil in the Sri Lanka national team - stands out as a unifying factor.
Muralitharan reached the 700 - mark on Saturday with the last ball of a lopsided series against Bangladesh - on his homeground at Kandy - to join retired Australian leg-spinner Shane Warne (708) in an exclusive club. It appears inevitable that Muralitharan will pass Warne’s record when Sri Lanka tours Australia in November, and it will be intriguing to see how he is received at that moment.
“I am not worried about what people say. People can say whatever they want, but we are going to win there and our focus will be on that,” he said.
“The possibilities of the record falling there is high, but it all depends on how I bowl. But more than personal milestone well be focusing on winning the Test series in Australia.” His latest landmark came when he had Bangladesh No 11 Syed Rasel caught by Farveez Maharoof. His 12-wicket match haul helped SL win the Test by an innings and 193 runs and a 3-0 series sweep.