Sunil Gavaskar apologises for ‘pretty ordinary record’ comment on Shane Warne
"Last week was a very traumatic time for 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," said Gavaskar in a video posted on his Instagram account.
Days after finding himself in a soup for his comments on the late Shane Warne, India's batting legend Sunil Gavaskar has issued a clarification through an Instagram video.
Australia's spin legend Warne, 52, was found dead in his hotel room in Thailand last Friday. He tragically passed away due to a heart attack and tributes have been flowing in from around the world since. Gavaskar, while speaking about Warne, was earlier asked whether Warne is the greatest spinner. To which, he had 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 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."
His comments were not taken kindly by the netizens as he received a social media bashing. On Monday, Gavaskar then posted a video message on his feed, saying: "Last week was a very traumatic time for 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," said Gavaskar in a video posted on his Instagram account.
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Gavaskar then went on to praise Warne and admitted that his timing 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," he said.
He concluded by saying: "Warne was one of the greatest cricketers to have ever graced the game. Rodney Marsh too was one of the greatest wicketkeepers the game has seen. May their souls rest in eternal peace."
Shane finished his international career with 708 Test wickets and a further 293 in One-Day Internationals, placing him second in the list of all-time international wicket-takers behind his great friend and rival Muttiah Muralitharan of Sri Lanka (1,347). Shane also captained Australia in 11 One-Day Internationals, winning 10 and losing just once.
