Sri Lankan prime minister may sue ICC

No shortage of support for Murali © AFP

The Sri Lankan prime minister has added fuel to the raging controversy over Muttiah Muralitharan's bowling action. Mahinda Rajapakse has threatened to sue the ICC over the controversial decision to outlaw Muttiah Muralitharan's doosra.

"The Prime Minister has decided to take legal steps against the ICC for banning [Muralitharan's] doosra and today he has discussed it with some veteran lawyers," said Rohan Welivita, the prime minister's media secretary. "He thinks that all Sri Lankans need to support Muralitharan because he is a national figure."

Rajapakse's announcement comes in the wake of a statement from John Howard, the Australian prime minister, who said that Murali chucked. Following this statement, Murali said he was contemplating boycotting Sri Lanka's forthcoming tour of Australia. Mohan de Silva, the president of the Sri Lankan cricket board, then said that Murali could skip the Australian tour if he felt strongly about it. "If Murali makes a request not to go to Australia we will definitely give him that option. We will not force him to go to a country where he is not accepted."

Murali's action has been under scrutiny for years now, but a recent study at the University of Western Australia found that the manner in which Murali bowled the doosra was a violation of the laws. The ICC subsequently instructed Murali not to bowl that particular delivery.

However, the Sri Lankan prime minister has unconditionally thrown his weight in behind Murali. Rajapakse has said that Murali is a national asset and that he will do anything within his power, and that of the government, to defend him. One thing is now certain - this issue is not going to die down in a hurry.