Warne opts to duck Arjuna questions

Australian leg-spinner Shane warne Arrived here today for a Test match series dodging questions over his spat with former Sri Lankan captain...

Australian leg-spinner Shane warne Arrived here today for a Test match series dodging questions over his spat with former Sri Lankan captain Arjuna Ranatunga.

Warne did not talk about his recent verbal jousting with Ranatunga, but said he looked forward to playing international cricket after serving a 12-month drug suspension.

“I feel very fresh mentally,” Warne said about his forced rest from the game. “You don’t really miss something until it is taken away from you and I have a lot to give to the game.”

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World champions Australia, who are currently playing a one-day series in Sri Lanka, will take on the hosts in a three-Test series starting on March 8.

Warne, whose one-year drug suspension for using a banned diuretic ended earlier this month, has played 107 Tests, the last being against England in Perth in December 2002. The second-highest Test wicket-taker with a tally of 491, he is back on track to break West Indian paceman Courtney Walsh’s Test record of 519 wickets.

He is in the team along with fellow leg-spinner Stuart MacGill, and the two could play alongside each other for the first time in two years. Warne praised Sri Lankan off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan. “I have respect for Murali and what he has done. What he has achieved is marvellous,” Warne said.