Gavaskar fails to recognise Warne as greatest spinner; trolled on social media
Shane Warne has said farewell to the world. While the cricket fraternity mourns him, Sunil Gavaskar has reckoned that the Australian was not the greatest spinner.
FollowIt has been challenging for the global cricket fraternity, as legendary Australian spinner Shane Warne passed away on Friday. The news has rattled the fans as they mourn his demise. At the same time, it has triggered a debate whether he was the greatest spinner of all time, while legendary former Indian skipper Sunil Gavaskar does not feel so.
Warne played 145 Tests since 1992 and claimed 708 wickets, finishing as the second-highest wicket-taker in the format and international cricket. He is led by Sri Lankan great Muttiah Muralitharan, who has claimed 800 in 133. Speaking to India Today, Gavaskar shocked everyone with his comments by even putting Indian spinners above Warne.
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"No, I wouldn't say that no. For me, the Indian spinners and Muttiah Muralitharan were undoubtedly better than Shane Warne. Because 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," Gavaskar said.
"Because he did not have much success against Indian players who were outstanding players of spin, I don't think I would call him the greatest. He mastered a craft that is difficult to master, wrist spin. To pick 700-plus wickets as he did in Test cricket plus hundreds more in one-day cricket tells you how good a bowler he was," added Gavaskar.
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"Finger spin is a lot easier, you have a lot more control over what you want to bowl, but leg-spin or wrist spin is very, very tough. For him to have bowled the way he did, the way he seemed to create magic, the way he seemed to be able to deliver magic deliveries at will was the reason why he was revered all over the world," Gavaskar concluded.
Consequently, he faced the wrath of fans on social media, along with the Australian media, with the latter terming the timing of his comments inappropriate. While some fans lamented him for cringing with his commentary, a fan trolled him for his 174-ball 36 in a 60-over One-Day International (ODI) match.
