WATCH: Sunil Gavaskar accepts his remarks on Shane Warne were ‘not appropriate’

Legendary batter Sunil Gavaskar has sent out a clarification on his comments that Shane Warne wasn’t the greatest spinner in world cricket. After his words on Warne, who passed away on March 4 due to a suspected heart attack, Gavaskar was greeted with a lot of criticism.

The 72-year-old Gavaskar, in the meantime, reckoned that the question neither should have been nor should have been answered at a sensitive time. Warne was holidaying with his friends in Thailand where he was found unresponsive. Efforts were made to revive the spin wizard, but to no avail.

Warne breathed his last within 24 hours of Rodney Marsh’s demise due to a heart attack. Gavaskar, also one of greatest all-time batters, took to his official Instagram handle to put out his clarifications.

May their souls rest in eternal peace: Sunil Gavaskar

“On TV, I was asked by an anchor whether Warne was the greatest spinner ever and I gave my personal, honest opinion. In hindsight, that question shouldn’t have been asked nor should have been answered. That was not the time for any comparison or critical evaluation,” Gavaskar said.

“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,” he stated.

So, SMG agrees that it wasn’t the appropriate time to answer such a question & such comparisons.

– Instagram/Sunil Gavaskar pic.twitter.com/c4BvNqlfBb

— Moinak Das (@d_moinak) March 7, 2022

Previously, during a TV show, Gavaskar said that Sri Lanka’s Muttiah Muralitharan was a better spinner than Warne, who finished as the second-highest Test wicket-taker with 708 scalps. Gavaskar mentioned Warne’s records in India weren’t overly great.

“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,” Gavaskar had said.

Apart from his exploits in Test cricket where he bamboozled the best of batters, the Victorian was an effective limited-overs cricketer as well. In 194 ODIs, Warne went on to pick up 293 wickets with 12 four-wicket hauls and one fifer.

Warne also captained the Rajasthan Royals (RR) to glory in the inaugural edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) back in 2008.