“It’s not the time”: Gavaskar roasted over Shane Warne response
Indian cricket legend Sunil Gavaskar has copped a slew of online criticism after his comments about Shane Warne just days after his death.
Gavaskar was just one of many who paid tribute to Warnie after his sudden death on March 4th while he was holidaying in Thailand.
While the former Indian captain had plenty of kind words to share, he refused to cave when asked if Warne was the greatest ever spinner.
"No, I wouldn't say that no. For me the Indian spinners and Muttiah Muralitharan were better than Shane Warne," he told India Today.
"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 five-for. 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."
"Muttiah Muralitharan with a greater success he had against India, I would rank him over Warne in my book."
While the greatest spinner conversation is a reasonable topic to discuss, many were outraged by Gavaskar's timing.
Sports journalists and fans alike took to Twitter to call out the cricketer, saying the comments were distasteful given the circumstances.
"Honestly, Sunny, it's not the time ... could have just sidestepped it," British journalist Jack Mendel wrote on Twitter. "The body isn't even cold yet".
Both Warne and Muralitharan struggled during their careers due to the difficult playing conditions in India, despite their prodigious wicket-taking abilities elsewhere in the world.
The Aussie finished with 34 wickets in the nine Tests he played in India, with those coming at an unflattering average of 43.11. Muralitharan did not fare much better, grabbing 40 wickets in 11 Tests played in India at an average of 45.45.
Gavaskar's out-of-pocket comments were more head-scratching as it came after he admitted Warne's leg spin was the toughest art to master as a bowler.
"He mastered a craft which is so difficult to master, which is wrist spin," he said.
"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 opened up on the moment he found out about Warne's death, saying a text message from his son had left him stumped.
"A big shock, a real big shock because who expects anybody to pass at the age of 52," he said.
"Within 24 hours the cricket world has lost two giants of the game, not just Australian cricket, but the cricket world. This is unbelievable. It's hard to come to grips with."
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