“He must be a miserable man in his life”: When Muttiah Muralitharan slammed Shane Warne during 2007 Warne-Muralitharan Trophy

Shane Warne and Muttiah Muralitharan are two of the great test spinners, but they had a real spat during the 2007 series.

Shane Warne is arguably one of the greatest players to ever play the game. He was the first bowler in the world to claim 700 test wickets. He ended his career with 708 test wickets, whereas he has 293 ODI wickets under his belt. Warne also bowled the “Ball of the Century” in the 1993 Ashes.

Apart from his on-field records, Warne has had a lot of controversies throughout his career. He failed the drug test ahead of the 2003 World Cup. Warne even passed on the critical information to a bookmaker about the game. He has also been in a rift with Arjuna Ranatunga and Steve Waugh.  Despite all the off-field controversies, Warne is hugely admired in the cricketing circuit. Shane Warne and Muttiah Muralitharan are arguably the best test spinners of history, and they had a spat in 2007.

Muttiah Muralitharan called Shane Warne “A Miserable Man”

In 2007, Warne-Muralitharan Trophy was played between Australia and Sri Lanka in Australia. After the first test, Warne said that checking Muralitharan’s action will be a “peace of mind”. He also said that everyone in world cricket and “surely Murali would want that”.

At that moment, Shane Warne was the highest wicket-taker in test cricket with 708 wickets. Although, Muralitharan was just seven wickets behind him. Muralitharan then lashed out at Shane Warne and said that he will not talk with Shane Warne at the unveiling of the trophy. He called Shane Warne ”a miserable man”.

“I am very disappointed with what he said,” Muralitharan said.

“He can’t keep his mouth shut because he wants to keep making these comments. He must be a miserable man in his life. But that is his opinion and there is nothing I can do about it.”

Muttiah Muralitharan also said that Warne does not want his record to be broken. Shane Warne retired from Test cricket in January 2007.

“Maybe he just doesn’t want me to pass his record,” Muralitharan said.

“Why else would he keep saying these things? I will shake his hand [at the ceremony] and go straight off the field instead of trying to be friendly.”

In the end, Muttiah Muralitharan played for three more years and finished as the highest wicket-taker of test cricket with 800 wickets.