Shane Warne, one of the greatest bowlers of all time, had weighed in on the debate between Sachin Tendulkar and Brian Lara, the two greatest batsmen of their era.
“People ask you who’s the best batsman of your era, and it’s sort of divided between two players, and that’s Brian Lara and Sachin Tendulkar,” Warne said.
“Those two players were easily the best two batsmen. Some people say it was harder to bowl to Lara. Some people say it was hard to bowl to Tendulkar.”
Warne then went on to give his own opinion, saying that he believes Tendulkar was the better all-round player. On the other hand, Lara was an ideal match winner in a demanding situation.
“To me Sachin was the greatest all round player,” Warne said. “I think day in, day out, any conditions, pace of spin, the expectations he was under, a billion people watching him, the pressure on him, yet he delivered most of the times.”
Warne praised Tendulkar’s ability to judge length quickly, intimidate fast bowlers, and play all the shots. He also said that Tendulkar always tried to dominate spinners.
“So yeah, he was a wonderful player,” Warne said.
Warne then went on to talk about Lara, saying that he would be the one he would send in if he needed someone to score 200 to win on the last day.
“Brian to me, I think if you had to send someone out, you needed 400 to win on the last day and you needed someone at the go and make 200 to win, you’d probably want Brian Lara to be that guy,” Warne said.
Warne praised Lara’s flamboyance and flair, as well as his ability to place the ball in the gaps. Lara was an absolute master at picking up gaps and indeed he was a great timer of the cricket ball. He was capable of playing big innings in most adverse and challenging conditions.
“So it was his placement of the ball was always something that I thought was pretty special,” Warne said.
Warne concluded by saying that Lara and Tendulkar were two of the most special players he had ever seen. Luckily, Warne had the opportunity to bowl noth of these great names of cricket.
“Those two guys, you know, that’s nothing against all, you know, Kallis and Ponting and all those guys, they’re wonderful players,” Warne said. “But every now and then there’s a couple of special ones that come about and to me that Lara and Tendulkar were just absolutely special.”
It is clear that Shane Warne had a great deal of respect for both Sachin Tendulkar and Brian Lara. He believes that they were the two best batsmen of their era, and he was amazed by their talent and skill.
