Sydney, Mar 2: Sri Lanka great Muttiah Muralitharan pleaded on Monday for key spinner Ranjana Herath to be kept on ice for the World Cup quarter-finals after suffering a nasty injury to his finger.
The 36-year-old Herath needed four stitches in the spinning finger of his left hand after he tried to stop a full-blooded drive from England's Jos Buttler in Wellington on Sunday.
Sri Lanka won the match by nine wickets and with the 1996 champions almost assured of a quarter-final spot, record wicket-taker Muralitharan believes Herath can safely be rested for the remaining pool games against Australia in Sydney next Sunday and with Scotland in Hobart three days later.    AFP