That brings an end to our coverage of this wonderful Test. Hope you enjoyed and do join us for the next game on the 26th. On behalf of Team Cricinfo, this is Nitin Sundar signing off. Cheers!

Right, now we have a series of presentations for Murali! Boy he better have enough shelf space for these mementoes.. what a send-off! Finally he comes up to Tony Greig to have a chat.. Phew!

Murali: "I'd like to thank the president for coming to support me. Thanks to my wife and family for their support. To my team-mates, past and present, through the 19 years for supporting me... To the cricket board and officials, and everyone else." Well, thank YOU Murali!

"I started playing when I was 8 years old and I still listen to my coach from school days. Arjuna Ranatunga and de Silva and all those guys helped me through the tough times in 1995.. the umpires make their judgments through naked eye, so nothing against them.. I have no grudge against them and happy to have made it through the tough times. I always thought if something goes wrong I can bowl leg spin and continue playing cricket!"

"I'm available for the World Cup if the selectors need me. I want to play some more Twenty20 cricket. I made a lot of friends through cricket and sometimes my team-mates said I talk too much with opposition players!"

Tony Greig thanks the champ for all the memories and gives him three cheers!

Sangakkara: "From the start, winning the Test was the aim, that would have been the perfect send-off for Murali too. Pleased that he got to 800 and all the best to him. Malinga was truly the MoM, the way he bowled turned things around and made things easy for Murali and the rest.. Malinga's stand with Herath made a big difference. We must appreciate the groundsmen under Jayananda Warnaweera for his efforts.. on another ground, this match may not have been possible after all the rain."

Virender Sehwag is the "most stylish player of the match" and wins a motorbike for his efforts.

Malinga is deservedly Man of the Match. "I am playing after three years in Tests and it was a memorable Tests, so I am pleased. I am happy he took 800 and I will treasure the moment." He just smiles when Greig asks him whether he was worried he'll take all the wickets!

Dhoni: "Well of course, out of the 15 sessions played only one session we won, so that's not the ideal start to the series. Happy with the way Sehwag played.. Mithun bowled well, so plenty to look forward to. Great moment for Murali, we all knew he will come up with a great show being the great bowler he is, but that did not put us under pressure. Glad that he reached the magical figure of 800. You need a bit of experience given the conditions, so we did miss our senior seamers, still I am happy with the way Ishant and Mithun came back on the third day."

Lorgat: "This is a special day. All the fans have stayed on right to the end. On the behalf of ICC and the Indian team, we wish Murali the very best. You have been a living legend and extremely special to all of us. Thanks Murali from all of us."

The whole of Galle seems to have assembled for the presentation! Tony Greig does the honours. Haroon Lorgat is there too. Murali's family is on the podium, his son's tee shirt reads "6 runs"... Hmm.. looks like the little one is more interested in the willow than in the leather.

Stay tuned for the presentation. Ten Sports seems to be cashing in on the euphoria with an extended post-match analysis session.

Abhishek makes a valid observation: "Ntini hasn't retired either. He's currently at 390 wickets." Somehow I get the feeling Ntini's time is over. What a champ he was in his pomp! Don't think Murali and Ntini had competition for cricketers who seemed to just enjoy being out there.

Now with Murali bowing out, Harbhajan with 355 wickets becomes the man with highest number of scalps among active players. Is anyone likely to go past him in the near future? Chaminda Vaas finished with 355. Vettori has 325, Brett Lee has stalled at 310. Kallis is way behind at 266 (amazing that one of the best batsmen of alltime figures in this discussion!), ahead of Kaneria, Zaheer Khan and the rest. Steyn is a long way away though catching up fast. Hope he stays clear of injuries.. Who else? Mitchell Johnson has just picked one more in Headingley.

Maulik thinks its all bleak for tweak: "Era of greatest rivalry Warne, Murali and Kumble ends... Spin department is over in world cricket!!!" Arpit agrees with Maulik: "The one Murali named his successor went wicketless. That answers the question as to the future of spinners."

Anand: "Liked the gesture of authorities to allow free entry to the grounds today, which didn't happen here when Ganguly retired!! something to learn..."

Neel Desai: "Murali's bows out - a legend leaves. But what about the future of world spinners? Dont see any long haul runners in the wings." Sri Lanka doing a lap of honour. Murali is on his team's shoulders and Galle stands up as one to applaud the master!

The trend continues. India lost the opening Test in both their last previous tours to Sri Lanka. On both occasions they came back to win the second Test and then lose the third. They will want the first half of that script to play out in the second Test in Colombo in four days time.

All that can wait. Let's all put our hands together for a master bowler and a wonderful human being. Murali - you will be missed. Well played champ!