Re: Wisden’s top cricketer award goes to Muralitharan
My friend…your love for Murali aside, birth defects of the kind that Murali has does help and helps tremendously. He bowls with his arms bent…for doosras, his arms can be bent up to as much as 14 degrees. ICC’s original rules permitted spinners a max of 5 degrees bend…i.e. until the asian boards made a hue and cry about Murali and ICC upped the allowed bend.
There used to be an Indian spinner, Bhagwat Chandrasekhar, who had a physical handicap on account of childhood polio. Like Murali, he too turned this defect to his advantage and is one of the most successful spinners in the Indian cricket history. Read his profile : http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/ci/content/player/27591.html