Sunil Gavaskar on Monday, commenting over the comparison he made between late Shane Warne and Muttiah Muralitharan, said that he gave his honest opinion. The former India captain had refused to call the Australian spinner the greatest of all time while discussing his legacy. 

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In a 43-second video posted on social media, Gavaskar reacted to the criticism he received after saying that former Sri Lankan spinner Muttiah Muralitharan ranks over Shane Warne. 

“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,” Gavaskar posted on Instagram. 

“Warne was one of the greatest players to ever grace the game. Rodney Marsh was also one of the best wicketkeepers. May their souls rest in peace,” he added.

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He was asked by a TV anchor whether Warne was the greatest spinner, to which he said he would rank Muralitharan over the Aussie legend. The Sri Lankan is the highest wicket-taker in Tests (800) and Warne is next with 708 scalps against his name. 

Gavasakar said all he meant to do was give an honest opinion when the question was asked of him.

Gavaskar had earlier said that while Warne sent down “magic deliveries” and mastered a difficult craft during his career, he wasn’t the greatest spinner of all time as his performance in India was “pretty ordinary”, a view that was criticised as ill-timed. 

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Shane Warne, after making his international debut in 1992, played 145 Tests and 194 ODIs. He took 293 wickets in the 50-over format. 

But when Gavaskar was asked if the Australian was the greatest spinner he has seen, the former India captain said he rated India’s spinners and former Sri Lanka bowler Muttiah Muralitharan higher than Warne.

“No, I wouldn’t say that no. For me, the Indian spinners and Muttiah Muralitharan were certainly better than Shane Warne,” Gavaskar said on ‘India Today’.

“Because 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.

Warne died of natural causes on Friday in  Koh Samui, Thailand. He was 52. 

“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 said.

“Muttiah Muralitharan with a greater success he had against India, I would rank him over Warne in my book,” he added.

“He mastered a craft which is so difficult to master, which is wrist spin. To pick 700-plus wickets like he did in Test cricket plus hundreds more in one-day cricket just tells you how good a bowler he was,” Gavaskar said.

“Finger spin is a lot easier, you have a lot more control over what you want to bowl, but leg spin or wrist spin is very, very tough.

“For him to have bowled the way he did, the way he seemed to create magic, the way he seemed to be able to deliver magic deliveries at will was the reason why he was revered all over the world,” he added.