Sport - Cricket

Murali better than Warne: Ranatunga

Melbourne: Former Sri Lanka cricket skipper, Arjuna Ranatunga, insists that Muttiah Muralitharan is a better spin bowler than Australian legend Shane Warne as the off-spinner often took wickets without much assistance from other bowlers.

Ranatunga said the fact that Muralitharan had reached 700 Test wickets playing lesser number of matches than Warne stood proof to the Sri Lankan’s superiority.

“If you take the record, Murali has played less matches and Warne never had to bowl at top order batsman.

“He always had McGrath and Gillespie to take wickets at the start. Warne would come in sometimes and clear the tail. If you look at Murali, he has to come on and take top order wickets from the start,” Ranatunga was quoted as saying by the Herald Sun.

The 1996 World Cup-winning captain said Muralitharan got his wickets while bowling against better batsmen, especially the Indians, who were better players of spin bowling.

“If you look at the top players who play spin well, especially the Indians, Murali has done pretty well,” he said.

“Murali is far more difficult to play than Warne. Warnie was a really good bowler, but I feel Murali is the best.”

Backing India, Ranatunga said it could beat Australia during the forthcoming tour down under.

“This is another opportunity for India to win against Australia,” he said. “India looks a better batting and bowling side now with some younger guys coming through — they should play positive and aggressive cricket. — PTI

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