Russell Arnold reveals why Muttiah Muralitharan was called 'Motor Mouth'

Former Sri Lankan batsman Russel Arnold termed legendary off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan as the 'most annoying' player in the Sri Lankan team which earned him the title of 'Motor Mouth'.

Recounting the camaraderie in the team, Russel Arnold recalled how Muttiah Muralitharan would ‘annoy’ incoming and outgoing batsmen in the side whenever a wicket would 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),” Russel Arnold said, during the chat show ‘Homerun with AV’ with sports commentator Arun Venugopal on his YouTube channel.

“At times, when a batsman returned after getting dismissed, he would go and chide him for playing a particular shot. If a batsman were padded up to bat next, he would go up to him and advise him not to play the same shot (and get out),” Sri Lanka southpaw added.

Muttiah Muralitharan is currently the highest wicket taker in Tests

Muttiah Muralitharan finished his career as the highest wicket taker in the history of Test match cricket. In 133 Tests, Muttiah Muralitharan picked up 800 wickets at an average of 22.72 with 67 five-wicket hauls and 22 ten-wicket match hauls.

The Sri Lankan legend also picked up 534 wickets in 350 ODIs at a phenomenal average of 23.08 in his career.

His teammate Russel Arnold, meanwhile, turned out in 44 Tests and 180 ODIs for Sri Lanka, scoring 1821 and 3950 runs respectively.

On a more serious note though, Russell Arnold was full of praise for Muralitharan saying he was 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. 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,” the 46-year-old added.

Russell Arnold added that former Sri Lankan teammate and paceman Pramodya Wickramasinghe was a prankster.

“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," Arnold 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!" the former Sri Lankan all-rounder elaborated.