Brian Lara picks 'mentally stronger' Shane Warne as best spinner over Muralitharan

West Indies legend Brian Lara has named Shane Warne as the greatest leg-spinner, rating him higher than Muttiah Muralitharan. Both are widely regarded as two of the best spin bowlers in cricket history, with the Sri Lankan bagging a record 800 wickets—the most by any bowler in Tests; whereas, Warne stands right next to his Asian counterpart with 708 dismissals against his tally from a total of 145 matches. 

Muralitharan holds the record for the most wickets across all formats, with a staggering 1,347 dismissals. The former Aussie cricketer, on the other hand, ranks second on that list with 1,001 wickets. Warne passed away suddenly from a heart attack on March 4, 2022, at the age of 52 while in Thailand.

“He  is the best, and you know, I walk out to bat against Murali, and I’m confused. I got that 688 runs in three matches and the first half an hour of Murali, I would be confused. I'd play a sweep shot down to deep backward square for a single. You know, I'd play a sweep shot again,” said Lara on The Overlap Cricket show on YouTube.

“And then all of a sudden, you know, because it's the guys, the other guys didn't read him. He's like, oh, take out the bit. No, no, no. But for Lara, nothing, nothing. Let's move everybody up. And all of a sudden, the pressure came off. But Murali gave me more pressure than Shane,” the West Indies legend added.

The legendary Caribbean batter praised the late Australia veteran for achieving such remarkable wicket tallies despite bowling on pitches down under that were generally more favourable to pacers, over Muralitharan — who played most of his career in favourable Asian conditions.

“But when I'd walk out to bat against Shane. The ball would be coming off the middle, every ball, and about 2-3 PM, he just produces this magical delivery or spell. That's why I rate him higher, because I think he was mentally stronger. And obviously with his bowling attack and the pitches that he bowled on, which favoured, you know, the McGraths and McDermotts, for him to pick up that amount of wickets, very, very special,” Lara said.