Melbourne: Spin great Shane Warne Monday picked his fierce rival Sachin Tendulkar as the batsman to bat in any conditions and called his former skipper Steve Waugh a match saver rather than a match-winner.
One of the greatest spinners to have played the game, Warne was engaged in an Instagram live session with his fans.
When the discussion turned to the best batsman in his time, the 50-year-old Warne said, “If I have to choose any batsman to bat in any conditions, it is a real toss-up between Tendulkar and Lara, but I would just choose Tendulkar.”
“If we have to chase 400 runs on the last day, I would definitely pick Lara,” added the leg-spinner who ended his illustrious career with 708 Test wickets.
“There were these two guys, then there was daylight and after that, the rest of the batsmen came.”
Tendulkar played a world record 200 Tests and amassed 15,921 runs with an average 53.78 while in 463 ODIs, he tallied 18,426 runs at 44.83.
While Lara played 131 Tests and scored 11,953 runs with an average of 52.88. In 299 ODIs he accumulated 10,405 runs.
When asked about his former captain Waugh, who is known for his solid temperament and dogged approach to batting, Warne said he was someone who could bail the team out of a precarious situation.
“Steve was more of a match saver than a match-winner,” Warne said about Waugh whom he included in his all-time Australian Test XI to be led by Allan Border.
Waugh played 168 Tests for Australia in which he scored 10927 runs, including 32 centuries and 50 fifties.
About his team, Warne said: “I am only picking players that I played with, that is why David Warner is not going to be a part of the side, he is one of the greatest Australian openers.”
Warne’s team comprised Matthew Hayden and Michael Slater as openers, followed by Ricky Ponting, Mark Waugh, Border and Steve. He chose Adam Gilchrist as the wicketkeeper with Glenn McGrath, Jason Gillespie and Bruce Reid as the fast bowlers and Tim May as the spinner.
PTI
