Arjuna to Murali: Avoid hostile Aussie tour

Fearing that the hostile Australian crowd would be at its worst as Muttiah Muralitharan prepares to overtake Shane Warne as the highest Test wicket-taker, former Sri Lanka captain Arjuna Ranatunga has advised the off-spinner not to tour Down Under later this month.

Muralitharan has had a sour relation with the Australians where the crowd greeted him with catcalls and boos and Ranatunga fears it might get worse this time. 8220;I told him I wished he wasn8217;t touring Australia because of the amount of trouble he has had,8221; Ranatunga was quoted as saying by the News Limited papers. Murali, however, was determined to go, Ranatunga said.

8220;But he wants to go. It was up to him to decide that. My personal opinion was that he shouldn8217;t go. I think Murali is tough enough to go through that and take whatever he gets,8221; he said.