Sri Lanka spin wizard Muttiah Muralitharan says umpires have to use technology on low catches rather than taking the word of the player.

Muralitharan’s Melbourne Renegades’ teammate Jos Buttler was at the centre of controversy in Sunday night’s opening one-day international clash at the MCG.

England wicketkeeper Buttler claimed a low catch off Australia batsman David Warner and Warner was happy to go after Buttler indicated the ball had carried.

However, the on-field umpires referred the incident to the TV umpire who instructed his colleagues to recall Warner, who by this stage was near the boundary rope where he’d been told to wait.

“You have to go with what you see,” Test cricket’s record wicket-taker Muralitharan said on Monday.

“You can’t take the word, because at the moment everyone is very, very competitive.

“They are not cheating but almost everyone feels that I took the catch. But sometimes that’s not the case.

“If the umpire thinks it’s the right way going with the technology, so you go with the technology.

“Taking the word, sometimes people will honestly say yes. Sometimes you take a catch and sometimes it happens.

“You also don’t know if you’ve caught it or not because you feel like you’ve caught it, but in the end, sometimes you’ve missed it.

“So you have to go by the technology.”

Warner was on 22 at the time, while Australia were 0-82 chasing 270 for victory.

The reprieve, which prompted a series of protests from sections of the England media on Twitter that the ball had clearly carried, allowed the home side to add 163 for the first wicket.

Australia went on to reach their target with six wickets and 26 deliveries to spare to take a 1-0 lead in the five-match ODI series.

Alastair Cook said the incident had come at a crucial time in the match.

“I thought it was a pretty clean catch,” the England skipper said.

“It hit his fingers and it bounced up.

“I only saw it a couple of times on the big screen. I thought it was a wrong decision.”

Australia’s Aaron Finch, who made 121 in a man-of-the-match performance, said Warner had been happy to take Buttler’s word.

Finch is also a teammate of Buttler at the Renegades.

“Davey took Jos’s word and he’s a very honest guy and a very nice guy,” Finch said.