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'Daylight and the rest': Shane Warne's epic snub in best batsman call

riley morgan
Sports Reporter
·2-min read
Shane Warne named Sachin Tendulkar (pictured right) as the best batsman of his era, followed by Brian Lara and leaving out Aussie legend Ricky Ponting (pictured left). (Getty Images)
Shane Warne named Sachin Tendulkar (pictured right) as the best batsman of his era, followed by Brian Lara and leaving out Aussie legend Ricky Ponting (pictured left). (Getty Images)

Shane Warne already surprised many with some shock inclusions in his greatest ever Aussie XI of teammates and now he has stunned some naming the two best batsman he ever tried to skittle.

Warne took to Instagram on Monday night and said he would answer questions from fans while everyone stays at home during self-isolation amid the coronavirus crisis.

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While there were some surprise selections in his Aussie XI, the greatest ever leg-spin bowler also answered who he thought was the best batsman in his generation.

Warne had a plethora of names to choose from including Sachin Tendulkar, Ricky Ponting, Brian Lara, Jaques Kallis, Rahul Dravid, Kumar Sangakkara and VVS Laxman just to name a few.

But his claim there was ‘daylight’ between two batsman and the rest would surprise many ardent cricket fans.

“There were these two guys, then there was daylight, and after that, the rest of the batsmen came,” Warne said when answering who was the best batsman in his live Q&A.

“If I have to choose any batsman to bat in any condition, 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.”

Former Indian cricket player Sachin Tendulkar (L) smiles and speaks with former West Indies player Brian Lara (R).
Former Indian cricket player Sachin Tendulkar (L) speaks with former West Indies player Brian Lara (R) before a celebrity cricket match. (Photo by WILLIAM WEST/AFP via Getty Images)

Aussie legend Ponting third?

Many Australians would toss Ponting up with the pair considering he is the second-highest run scorer of all-time in Test cricket.

But it is hard to argue against Warne, who had many lasting battles with the ‘Little Master’ and Lara.

Former Indian international cricketer Sachin Tendulkar (L) talks with Shane Warne at Lords Cricket ground.
Former Indian international cricketer Sachin Tendulkar (L) awaits the start of the game with former Australian international cricketer Shane Warne at Lords Cricket ground. (IAN KINGTON/AFP via Getty Images)

Tendulkar played a whopping 200 Tests and scored a record 15,921 runs at an average 53.78. His ODI record stood at 463 matches, and he amassed 18,426 runs at 44.83.

While Lara played 131 Tests and scored 11.953 runs at an average of 52.88. In 299 ODIs he scored 10,405 runs.