He regarded Indian spinners and Muttiah Muralitharan far better than Warne. Also, he said Shane Warne has pretty “ordinary” records in India.
This unusual talk took place when the cricketing world was in shock and paying tribute to one of the greatest spinners of all time. Now the former opener Gavaskar has given a clarification on this matter.
Former Australia spinner Shane Warne died suddenly at the age of 52 on Friday. Warne’s death had shocked the cricketing world.
Talking about Warne’s death on the same day, former Indian captain Sunil Gavaskar refused to consider him as the best spinner in cricket history. For this, he cited Warne’s record in India.
Sunil Gavaskar was asked on India Today whether he considers Warne to be the best spinner in cricket history. On this, Gavaskar, who was the first to score 10,000 runs in Test, said, “For me, the Indian spinner and Sri Lanka’s Muttiah Muralitharan is better than Warne.
You see Shane Warne’s record against India. He is a simple record. Sunil said that Warne got five wickets only once in Nagpur. Apart from that, he did not get any major success against India. Muralitharan has had a lot of successes against India, so Gavasker considers him better than Warne.”
Sunil Gavaskar was constantly criticised after this statement. Now he has clarified it. Sharing the video on his Instagram, he said, “last week was a very painful one for cricket, we lost two of the most iconic cricketers of the game – Rod Marsh and Shane Warne. I was asked by an anchor if Warne is the greatest spinner of all time and I gave my honest personal opinion.”
Gavaskar further said, “In the end, he should not have asked nor should have been answered as it was not the time for any comparison or critical evaluation. Warne was one of the greatest cricketers to grace the game, Rod Marsh was one of the greatest wicket keepers the game has seen. may his soul rest in peace.”