New Delhi: Spin bowling legend Shane Warne bamboozled all the top batsmen throughout his career in the 90s and early 2000s. Though he had several on-field rivalries, Australian icon Shane Warne respected many of his opponents off the field.
In a video posted on his official Facebook account, Warne looked back and picked the best batsmen from all the Test nations he played against.
While he reiterated his admiration for Sachin Tendulkar and called him the best batsman of his generation, Warne named another Indian cricket as the best player of spin bowling.
“To me, Sachin was the best batsman of my generation. A wonderful player all round – to fast bowlers, spinners, in all conditions,” Warne said in the video.
But it was Navjot Singh Sidhu who Warne considers as one of the most ‘violent’ players against spin bowling.
“Navjot Singh Sidhu was one of the most violent players of spin bowling and used to whack you out of the park. So, he was another good player from India against spinners,” Warne said.
Warne’s assessment is based on his struggle while playing against India, which was the only team that regularly tested Warne in his heydays. Including matches both home and away, the showman could only manage 43 wickets from 14 Tests at an average of 47.18 against India as opposed to a below 30 average against all the other country.
Talking about other batsmen of his era, the 46-year old picked the talismanic Graham Gooch, who is the second highest run-getter from his country, from England.
While hailing Jacques Kallis’ credentials as an all-rounder, he chose Hansie Cronje as South Africa’s finest batsmen in both Tests and ODIs.
From New Zealand, Warne had no hesitation in rooting for ICC Hall of Famer Martin Crowe despite not featuring in the later’s peak years. On the close competition between Sachin and Brian Lara, he lauded the southpaw’s ability to sustain the pressure of a fourth innings chase.
Warne enthused, “Arguably, some people think (Lara was) better than Tendulkar. And at times, he probably was. But, he definitely was the best left-hander of my time. If you needed someone to win 400 on the last day of a Test match, you probably want Lara to bat for you. Great player and a good friend.”
Among Pakistanis, he selected the elegant Saeed Anwar while Sri Lanka's Aravinda de Silva was too hard to overlook. Mentioning de Silva’s heroics in the 1996 World Cup, Warne heaped praise on the stroke maker’s nimble footwork.
Though he acknowledged Andy Flower’s prowess with the bat, the Victorian preferred the gritty Dave Houghton who has a Test highest of 266. The wrist-spinner rounded off the list by including Bangladesh’s Mohammad Ashraful.