Russel Arnold Names 'Motor-Mouth' Muttiah Muralitharan As The Most Annoying Sri Lankan Player He Played With

Russel Arnold, former Sri Lankan all-rounder-turned commentator, has revealed ‘motor-mouth’ Muttiah Muralitharan as the most annoying Sri Lankan player during his playing days.

Russell strolled down memory lane and reminisced about how the legendary off-spinner used to irritate the incoming and outgoing batsman whenever a wicket used to fall.

“There were plenty of love-hate relationships – fun at times and annoying on other occasions. Speaking of annoying, Murali [Muttiah Muralitharan] was most definitely one. He was called MM (Motor Mouth). At times, when a batsman returned after getting dismissed, he would go and chide him for playing a particular shot” Russell Arnold told sports commentator Arun Venugopal during the latters chat show ‘Homerun with AV’ on his Youtube channel Gethist Creative.

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“He’s a top-class man.”- Russel Arnold on Muttiah Muralitharan

Russel Arnold also revealed how former Sri Lankan seamer Pramodya Wickramasinghe used to play pranks on his fellow teammates and Ravindra Pushpakumara’s penchant for wearing only one pair of socks for the entire duration of a Test match.

“Ravindra Pushpakumara was another interesting character. He wore only one pair of socks for the duration of a Test match. I don’t need to tell you what that would have been like,” he said.

“Pramodya Wickramasinghe was a prankster. He was very dangerous in that he would make prank phone calls. One day he [posing as someone else] called up Murali and asked him to come and run the peace talks. For a full day, Murali was at pains to explain that he was a cricketer and not a politician. It was only after a week that Wickramasinghe revealed he was the caller,” Russel Arnold recalled.

On a serious note, the all-rounder-turned commentator was full of praise for Muttiah Muralitharan, hailing him as a ‘top-class man’.

“He had a top-class influence with his performances. Apart from that, he is a superb human being with a beautiful heart,” he said. “Murali might say something in the heat of the moment, but within five minutes he would realise that he had been in the wrong. If you are looking for a friend in times of distress, look no further than Muralitharan. He’s a top-class man.”he added.

The leading wicket-taker in both Tests [800] and ODIs [534], Muttiah Muralitharan retired from all forms of the game post the 2011 World Cup.

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