Smith praises Muralitharan

South African cricket captain Graeme Smith was quick to congratulate Muttiah Muralitharan shortly after the spin bowler took his 800th Test wicket.

In a post on social networking site Twitter, Smith said: "Murali 800 test wickets!!!!brilliant. great test career and a really good man."

The South African batsman also showed some relief by adding he is "glad I don't need to face him in test cricket again:)".

Sri Lanka's Muralitharan became the first bowler to reach the 800 wicket milestone on day 5 of the first Test match against India. Pragyan Ojha was the victim when he was caught at first slip by Mahela Jayawardene.

Muralitharan is the leading wicket taker in Tests and one-day internationals. Australia's Shane Warne (708) and India's Anil Kumble (619) are the second and third leading wicket takers in Test matches, while the Pakistani pair of Wasim Akram (502) and Waqar Younis (416) are behind the Sri Lankan spin wizard's record of 515 in ODIs.