Sri Lanka will once again be without spin king Muttiah Muralitharan as it attempts a series-clinching win when the second Test against Pakistan starts on Sunday. The world's leading Test and one-day bowler missed the first Test in Galle, which Sri Lanka won by 50 runs, after hurting the patella tendon in his right knee during training last week. Team manager Brendon Kuruppu said Muralitharan, 37, had improved considerably but will sit out the second Test on his home ground at the P. Sara Oval as a precautionary measure. “He won't be playing the Test, but that's more as a precaution than anything else,” Kuruppu told reporters. “We are confident Murali will play the third Test.” The off-spinner, who has taken a record 770 Test and 505 one-day wickets, was not missed as Sri Lanka pulled off a dramatic win in the Galle Test to take the lead in the three-match series. Sri Lanka's hero was left-arm spinner Rangana Herath, who was flown in from England where he was playing league cricket two days before the Test to replace Muralitharan. Pakistan, hoping to level the series, will still be delighted at Muralitharan's absence from the P. Sara Oval, the home of his long
