Sri Lankan off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan believes he will follow Shane Warne's lead and retire from one-day cricket to concentrate on Tests.

"I only ever get injured playing one-day cricket, never Tests," Muralitharan was quoted as saying in The Age newspaper on Thursday.

"I'm only 30 now, but I think, in maybe one or two years after the World Cup, I will do the same thing as Warnie (Shane Warne)."

The Australian leg-spinner on Wednesday announced in Sydney that he would retire from one-day internationals after the World Cup starting in February.

Muralitharan is the third-leading wicket-taker in Tests (437) and one-day internationals (304).

At 33, Warne is second on the list in Tests, 28 behind retired West Indies paceman Courtney Walsh's 519, and is the sixth-leading wicket-taker in the shorter version of the game with 288 scalps.

Muralitharan, who bowls with an unusual bent-arm action, had been no-balled for chucking in the 1995-96 and 1998-99 tours of Australia but his action has since been cleared by the International Cricket Council (ICC).

He was taunted by Australia supporters as a 'chucker' in the ongoing VB ODI series and has said he may not tour the country again because of the crowd's behaviour.

"It depends how I feel, but I think this is probably my last time (I would be touring Australia). I hope to put that (no Australia tours clause) in my next contract, and then that would be it."

"I will speak to my parents and some former Sri Lankan captains about it," he said from Melbourne airport.