Tendulkar and Lara greatest batsmen of my era: Warne
sydney — Former Australian spinner Shane Warne on Monday picked Sachin Tendulkar and Brian Lara as the greatest batsmen that played during his era.
During the Instagram Live session with his fans he said, “There were these two guys, then there was daylight and after that, the rest of the batsmen came.”
The 50-year-old leg-spinner termed legendary Indian batter Sachin as all condition batsman and stated West Indies’ Lara as an aggressive batsman for chasing giant totals.
“If I have to choose any batsman to bat at any conditions, it is a real toss-up between Tendulkar and Lara, but I would just choose Tendulkar,” he said.
“If we have to chase 400 runs on the last day, I would definitely pick Lara,” he added.
Tendulkar played 200 Tests and scored 15,921 runs with an average 53.78 while in 463 ODIs he amassed 18,426 runs with an average 44.83.
He holds the record of scoring most runs in both formats.
On the other hand, Lara played 131 longest format games and scored 11,953 runs with an average of 52.88. In 299 ODIs he accumulated 10,405 runs including 19 centuries and 63 fifties.
Warne also said former Australia skipper Steve Waugh, counted among one of the most successful captains, was more of a matchsaver than a match-winner when it came to Test cricket.
“Steve was more of a match saver than a match-winner,” Warner 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. Warne’s greatest Australian Test XI: Matthew Hayden, Michael Slater, Ricky Ponting, Mark Waugh, Allan Border (c), Steve Waugh, Adam Gilchrist, Tim May, Jason Gillespie, Glenn McGrath, and Bruce Reid.