by Copied from Hindustan Times.
This should be of interest to certain RSCers who live down under. Is
this is the new style of 'mental disintegration' tactics :-)
Cheers
Prakash
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Australian one-day captain Ricky Ponting on Wednesday rated
controversial Sri Lankan off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan the world's
best bowler.
And Ponting admitted he did not know how to play the little wizard who
has been no-balled for throwing on previous Australian tours.
Hvaing recovered from injury, Muralitharan is expected to be back in
the firing line tomorrow when his country take on Australia at the
Sydney Cricket Ground in a tri-nations series one-day clash.
Ponting forecast Muralitharan's return would spell danger for the rest
of the Sri Lankan bowling attack, with Australia set to target his
team-mates.
Ponting conceded his team-mates were likely to take a softly, softly
approach with the Sri Lankan talisman and wield the big stick on the
rest of the tourists' bowling.
Asked how Australia would play Muralitharan, Ponting replied: "Who
knows? I think just knowing how important a player he is for their
side, you negate him as much as you can and try to score off the other
bowlers.
"He might be bowling very well and back into his stride tomorrow. If
he is, it's going to be very hard for any of our batsmen to get on top
of him."
Muralitharan has been a high-profile spectator on Sri Lanka's tour so
far after undergoing a hernia operation and he has been sorely missed.
The Sri Lankans have lurched from one disaster to another in his
absence, culminating in Tuesday's embarrassing capitulation against
Australia A. But his return will give the struggling tourists an
instant shot in the arm.