Best Among Brian Lara, Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli? Shane Warne Answers

With Virat Kohli showing absolutely no signs of stopping down, the cricket world cannot help but debate over whether he is the greatest batsman of all time. While there is no denying that comparing batsmen from different generation is a tough task, it is Kohli’s sheer consistency that has made many call him the better than his illustrious predecessors. The latest to weigh in on the debate is legendary spinner Shane Warne.

The former Australia spinner had recently tweeted a message, saying he was contemplating over whether Kohli is the GOAT and is even better than Sachin Tendulkar and Brian Lara. Warne said that he considers Tendulkar and Lara as the greatest batsmen during his playing career.

At just 30, Kohli has scored a staggering 10,816 runs in 225 ODIs. He averages 60.08 and is already the second highest centurion in ODIs with 41 tons to his name. He now trails Tendulkar’s record tally of 49 centuries by just 8 and is more than likely to break it in the coming days.

“I got asked the question last night and again this morning: is Virat Kohli the best player in one-day cricket? Is he better than Tendulkar, is he better than Lara? I’m still thinking about it, I’m still trying to work that out,” Shane Warne was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.

“The one thing we can say is I don’t think we have seen anyone dominate one-day cricket like Virat Kohli has. The best player I saw – [Don] Bradman’s the best so he doesn’t even come into the equation – but Viv Richards is the best player I saw. As a player, playing against them, Lara and Tendulkar were the two best players that I bowled to,” he added.

Warne further acknowledged that comparing batsmen from different eras is hard before saying that he would come up with the answer of the debate soon.

“You know records are different in different eras and it’s very hard to judge. All you can judge is how a player is in their era, and Virat Kohli is so far ahead in one-day cricket than everybody else – in hundreds made, especially while chasing – that sets him apart from everybody else that is playing. But is he as destructive as someone like Viv Richards was? And then you look at Lara and Tendulkar and how good they were… so I’m still working that out. Working out whether Virat is better than all of them, or just as good, or not quite as good. It’s an interesting topic and debate that’s fun to have with your followers on social. I’ll come up with an answer very soon,” Shane Warne said.