Muttiah Muralitharan has recommended to the ICC that it should embrace the referral system for the betterment of the game.

By Prateek Srivastava

The Sri Lankan ace spinner said, "I think it is a very good system. I want the ICC to give it a thumbs-up. Technologies at the moment are too friendly for batsmen, which should not be the case."

The ICC, as a pilot experiment, had allowed the referral system during the India-Sri Lanka Test series in Sri Lanka last year. The Indians had vehemently protested against it after failing to make the most of it and losing the series 2-1. The governing body, however, went ahead with the experiment in three more Test series this year. The protests continued though, forcing the ICC to put the system on hold for further reviews.

Grab the espnstar.com cricket widget on your favourite social network

Murali, who is playing his last series in India, went on to say that if the referral system had been in place during India's tour of Australia in 2007-08, India would surely have won the controversial series. "In that series there were many decisions that went against the Indians. The referral system would have certainly changed the outcome of the series," the 37-year-old off-spinner said.

"With the referral system, the game will see fewer controversies regarding dismissals. It would benefit everyone, batsmen, bowlers and umpires," he added.

Indian batting star Sachin Tendulkar had, meanwhile, opposed the referral system recently, claiming that lbw decisions were highly doubtful due to inconclusive angles. 

Want to know all about numbers on the field? Ask our own stats guru Rajesh Kumar. Send in your queries to fanspeak@espnstar.co.in