IPL playerSri Lanka2008 to 2014
Muttiah Muralitharan
On scorecards: M Muralitharan · Right-hand bat
Muttiah Muralitharan, a bowler, played seven IPL seasons for three franchises. One title came along the way.
The arrival
Muttiah Muralitharan arrived through the auction: Chennai Super Kings paid ₹2.40 cr (US$600k), against a base price of ₹1 cr, at the very first IPL auction.
That first season brought 15 matches and 11 wickets at 6.95 an over.
The peak
The best season was 2010, for Chennai Super Kings: 16 wickets at 6.97 runs an over, while the league's bowlers went for 7.91, with best figures of 3 for 16. Chennai Super Kings won the title that year. Two seasons brought 15 wickets or more (2010 and 2012).
Franchise by franchise
2008 to 2010, Chennai Super Kings. Bought at the 2008 auction for ₹2.40 cr. 40 matches and 41 wickets; champions in 2010.
2011, Kochi Tuskers Kerala. Bought at the 2011 auction for ₹4.95 cr. 5 matches and 2 wickets.
2012 to 2014, Royal Challengers Bangalore. Bought at the 2012 auction for ₹1.10 cr. 21 matches and 21 wickets.
3 spells with three franchises in all. The longest was with Chennai Super Kings, 2008 to 2010.
How the wickets came
With the ball, 64 wickets in 1,530 deliveries, at 6.69 runs an over against a league rate of 7.72 for the same seasons: 1.02 an over cheaper than the typical bowler of the time, the mark of a bowler who kept things tight.
39.3% of the balls Muttiah Muralitharan bowled were dots, a higher share than 77% of the 150 bowlers with 500 balls or more; a wicket came every 23.9 balls.
The fielding record: 14 catches and 3 run-outs.
At the auction
Muttiah Muralitharan went under the hammer four times. The highest price was ₹4.95 cr (US$1.10m), paid by Kochi Tuskers Kerala in 2011, more than 3 times the base price. The market cooled over time: the last purchase, in 2014, cost ₹1 cr.
Seasons without an auction entry were played under a retention, a trade or a signing made outside the auction.
The legacy
Muttiah Muralitharan made 66 IPL appearances, the last for Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2014, and won 2 player-of-the-match awards.
Season by season
| Season | Team | M | Runs | HS | Avg | SR | 50/100 | Wkts | Econ | Best | Ct | POTM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Chennai Super Kings | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | – | 0/0 | 11 | 6.95 | 2/39 | 4 | ||
| 2009 | Chennai Super Kings | 13 | 8 | 4 | 4.0 | 100.0 | 0/0 | 14 | 5.22 | 3/11 | 4 | 2 | |
| 2010 | Chennai Super Kings | 12 | 1 | 1 | 1.0 | 50.0 | 0/0 | 16 | 6.97 | 3/16 | 3 | Champions | |
| 2011 | Kochi Tuskers Kerala | 5 | 5 | 5* | – | 62.5 | 0/0 | 2 | 7.42 | 1/18 | 1 | ||
| 2012 | Royal Challengers Bangalore | 10 | 6 | 6 | 3.0 | 66.7 | 0/0 | 15 | 6.50 | 3/21 | 1 | ||
| 2013 | Royal Challengers Bangalore | 6 | 0 | – | – | – | 0/0 | 3 | 7.64 | 1/18 | 1 | ||
| 2014 | Royal Challengers Bangalore | 5 | 0 | – | – | – | 0/0 | 3 | 7.75 | 2/25 | 0 |
Franchise journey
- Chennai Super Kings: 2008 to 2010
- Kochi Tuskers Kerala: 2011
- Royal Challengers Bangalore: 2012 to 2014
Ball-by-ball detail
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Dot balls faced | 53.3% |
| Balls per four | 30 |
| Balls per six | 30 |
| Dot balls bowled | 39.3% |
| Balls per wicket | 23.9 |
| Catches | 14 |
| Run-outs | 3 |
| Stumpings | 0 |
At the auction
| Auction | Set | Base price | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Set A | ₹1 cr | Sold to Chennai Super Kings for ₹2.40 cr (US$600k) |
| 2011 | – | ₹1.35 cr | Sold to Kochi Tuskers Kerala for ₹4.95 cr (US$1.10m) |
| 2012 | – | ₹1 cr | Sold to Royal Challengers Bangalore for ₹1.10 cr (US$220k) |
| 2014 | SP1 | ₹1 cr | Sold to Royal Challengers Bangalore for ₹1 cr |
Sources
- CricArcade IPL season statistics
- CricArcade IPL auction archive
- Kaggle IPL Complete Match Dataset 2008-2026, ball-by-ball, cross-checked against Cricsheet