Muttiah Muralitharan factfile

Factbox on Sri Lanka off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan, who broke the world record for most wickets in one-day internationals on Thursday.

* Aged 36, born Apr. 17 1972, in Kandy, Sri Lanka. Made his Test debut in 1992 v Australia in Colombo. Has been the linchpin of Sri Lankan bowling, including the upset one-day World Cup triumph in 1996.

* Holds the world record for most Test wickets, 769 from 125 tests.

* Was called for throwing by Australian umpire Darrell Hair in 1995, triggering a continuing debate about the legality of his unusual action. Was called again on a 1998-99 tour of Australia but was cleared of any wrongdoing after scientific tests proved his action was legal.

* Broke West Indian Courtney Walsh's world record of 519 Test wickets in 2004

before injuries forced him to take an extended break from the game. Lost his world record to Shane Warne later that year but reclaimed it in 2007 after the Australian leg-spinner retired with 708 Test wickets.

* Muralitharan also holds the world record for most 10-wicket hauls in a Test match (22) and five-wicket hauls in an innings (66).

* Had Indian batsman Yuvraj Singh caught to equal retired Pakistan fast bowler Wasim Akram's one-day world record of 502 wickets in the third game of the home series.

* Bettered Akram's record of 502 wickets when he had Gautam Gambhir caught by Kumar Sangakkara for 150 in the fourth ODI of the series.