Former India cricketer Sunil Gavaskar has issued an extraordinary clarification after facing fans’ fury for what was widely termed as ‘insensitive’ comments for legendary Australian bowler Shane Warne.
In a video message, Gavaskar said, “On TV, I was asked by an anchor whether Warne was the greatest spinner and I gave my honest opinion.”
Gavaskar added, “In hindsight, that question should not have been asked and I should not have answered as it was not the right time for any comparison or evaluation.”
Appearing on the India Today TV channel, Gavaskar had said that Warne was a ‘pretty ordinary’ bowler in the Indian condition adding that he did not think that the spin legend was the greatest bowler of all time.
“For me, the Indian sinners and Muttiah Muralitharan were certainly better than Shane Warne. Look at Shane Warne’s records against India, pretty ordinary against India. In India, he got five wickets only once in Nagpur,” he had said.
View this post on Instagram
Gavaskar’s clarification evoked mixed reactions from fans with many continuing to slam him for his ‘insesitive’ comments for Warne, who died at the age of 52. Warne’s death had the cricket world stunned.
One wrote on Instagram, “What you said about Shane was so bad an Australian getting 708 wickets is bigger than murli’s 800 and anil was never close to him.” Another commented, “Not just insensitive but nonsensical too.” “Guys stop it he is 70 yr old man.. who’s done wonders for the country… have some shame and stop trolling him,” commented another fan.
Warne retired from international cricket in 2007 after taking 708 Test wickets in 145 matches in a career that spanned over 15 years. He was part of the Australian team that won the 1999 ODI Cricket World Cup. In ODI career, He took 293 wickets in 194 one-day internationals between 1993 and 2004.