Six years after he called Sri lankan spin wizard Muttiah Muralitharan a chucker, and enraged an entire country, former Australian PM John Howard has done a volte-face.
“I believe that Muralitharan is a very good bowler,” Howard told this newspaper on Wednesday, “He is a wonderful bowler and should to be congratulated for becoming the world’s highest wicket taker.”
In 2004, Howard had stirred up a controversy when he responded with a “yes”, when asked whether Murali chucked. “They proved it in Perth too, with that thing,” he added, referring to a video screen that was replaying Murali’s action.
His comment snowballed into a diplomatic row between Lanka and Australia, and led to Muralitharan indicating that he would skip future tours to Australia. The 38-year-old later changed his mind after the ICC cleared his action.