Australian spin legend Shane Warne has given a clean chit to Muttiah Muralitharan's action, saying he did not think the retiring Sri Lankan tweaker was a chucker.

"Murali's action has been passed by scientific tests ... I always thought it was probably legitimate," Warne said. "But because of the way he bowled, I was worried that young spinners would try to copy his action and end up bowling illegally," the Australian said of his one-time great competitor.