Sunil Gavaskar expresses regret for ‘pretty ordinary record’ comment on Shane Warne
Australia's spin legend Shane Warne was found dead in his hotel room in Thailand last Friday, March 4, due to a heart attack. Sunil Gavaskar, in a video shared by him on Instagram, has expressed regret for refusing to call the late Shane Warne the greatest of all time while discussing his legacy.
Legendary leg-spinner Shane Warne was found dead in his hotel room in Thailand last Friday, March 4, due to a heart attack at the age of 52. India’s cricketer-turned-commentator Sunil Gavaskar was earlier asked whether Warne is the greatest spinner of all time. Gavaskar replied, “Look at Shane Warne’s record against India. It was pretty ordinary. In India, he got five wickets only once in Nagpur, and that too because Zaheer Khan swung wildly against him to give him a fifer. Because he did not have much success against Indian players who were very good spin players of spin, I don’t think I would call him the greatest. Muttiah Muralitharan, with the greater success he had against India, I would rank him over Warne in my book.”
Many criticised Gavaskar for his opinion on Warne, and in fact, he received a bashing on social media as well. On Monday, March 7, Gavaskar came up with a video message on Instagram, saying: "Last week was a very traumatic time for the cricket fraternity as in 24 hours, we lost two icons of the game - Rodney Marsh and Shane Warne. On TV, I was asked by an anchor whether Warne was the greatest spinner and I gave my honest opinion."
Further, Gavaskar went on to praise Warne, and admitted that the timing of his comment was wrong.
“On TV, I was asked by an anchor whether Warne was the greatest spinner and I gave my honest opinion. In hindsight, that question should not have been asked nor should it have been answered as it was not the right time for any comparison or evaluation.
“Warne was one of the greatest cricketers to have ever graced the game. Rodney Marsh too was one of the greatest wicket keepers the game has seen. May their souls rest in eternal peace,” he concluded.
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Warne ended his international career with 708 Test wickets and 293 in ODIs, placing him second in the list of all-time highest wicket-takers across formats in international cricket behind Sri Lanka’s Muttiah Muralitharan of Sri Lanka (1,347). Shane also captained Australia in 11 ODIs, of which he won 10.
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