da realsbet： Sri Lankan captain Sanath Jayasuriya is concerned about Muttiah Muralitharan’s future, claiming that unfair criticism and huge expectations couldcombine to “destroy” his prize spinner
CricInfo09-Feb-2003Sri Lankan captain Sanath Jayasuriya is concerned about Muttiah Muralitharan’s future, claiming that unfair criticism and huge expectations couldcombine to “destroy” his prize spinner.According to Jayasuriya, Muralitharan is under tremendous pressure afteranother bitter tour to Australia when he was hounded by the tabloid mediaand heckled with shouts of “no ball” by the partisan crowds.”Murali is under a lot of pressure and is copping a lot of stick from thepress,” Jayasuriya is quoted as saying on BBC Online.”I’m really not sure what people want from him. If they want to try and takehim down and destroy one of Sri Lanka’s greatest ever cricketers, they’regoing the right way about it.”Muralitharan’s record-breaking career has been plagued by controversy overthe legitimacy of his bowling action despite being cleared by theInternational Cricket Council.Recently he has also suffered from a dislocated shoulder, spent six weeks onthe sidelines after pre-emptive hernia surgery before Christmas and thentore a thigh muscle in the New Year.The 30-year-old has recovered in time for Sri Lanka’s opening game againstNew Zealand and will once again shoulder the responsibility of spearheadingthe bowling attack.”He (Murali) wants to win the World Cup, so do we, and it is affecting him,”said Jayasuriya.”He’s taken a few things personally and it’s hard not to. He realizes he’sin the public eye and he’s big news all the time, but sometimes you candestroy him if you go too far.”