Sunil Gavaskar apologises after Warne-Murali claim

 

Indian cricket great Sunil Gavaskar has apologised after being criticised for his untimely remarks over Shane Warne’s status in the game following the Australian great’s shock death.

 Appearing on India Today, Gavaskar – the former Indian captain and legendary opening batsman – was asked if he believed Warne was cricket’s greatest spin bowler.Gavaskar, who is now a regular pundit, said he believed Test cricket’s greatest wicket-taker and former Sri Lanka bowler Muttiah Muralitharan, as well as India’s litany of spinners, ranked ahead of Warne.

 “No, I wouldn’t say that no. For me the Indian spinners and Muttiah Muralitharan were better than Shane Warne,” he told India Today.

 The simple reason for Gavaskar’s beliefs was that Warne did not have the same success against India as other Test playing nations. 

“Look at Shane Warne’s record against India,” Gavaskar said. “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 players of spin, I don’t think I would call him the greatest. 

“Muttiah Muralitharan with a greater success he had against India, I would rank him over Warne in my book.” 

Nonetheless, the timing of Gavaskar’s comments were questioned following Warne’s tragic passing on Friday to a suspected heart attack. 

It prompted the cricket great to upload a video message on Instagram, in which he apologised for his comments. 

“Last week was a very traumatic time for cricket fraternity as in 24 hours, we lost two of the most iconic cricketers the game has seen – Rodney Marsh and Shane Warne,” he said in the video. 

“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. (FoxSports)