Former Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardena reignited comparisons between spin legends Shane Warne and Muttiah Muralitharan, saying his countrymate offie perhaps had more variety in his bowling than the Aussie leg-spinner.
Muralitharan remains the game's highest Test wicket-taker with 800 scalps at an average of 22.72 in 133 matches. Warne is at second in the list, having retired in 2007 with 708 Test wickets at 25.41 in 145 matches.
In ODIs, Warne, the 1999 World Cup-winner, took 293 wickets at 25.73 in 191 matches, whereas Muralitharan bagged 534 wickets in 350 matches at an average of 23.08.
Throughout their illustrious careers, the two were widely compared with each other.
“Murali was a champion bowler, he went about his game differently to others. Warne did not have the variety that Murali did. Murali knew what he was doing and believed in grinding a batsman down. If he had to wait for ten overs to get a batsman out, he will do that," Jayawardena told former India batsman Sanjay Manjrekar during a videocast hosted by ESPNCricinfo.
“Warne and Murali are two different personalities, Warney is a steady leg-spinner but he probably played much more with the tactical honours of you come and attack me, I will get you out, he probably knew that he did not have the variety that Murali had," he added.
Jayawardena, who bid adieu to the international game in 2015 after playing 149 Tests, 448 ODIs and 55 T20Is in a career spanning almost two decades, also opined whether the quality of bowling in the modern-day game is any lesser to what it was during the 90s when he started off.
"We are yet to see if the modern-day bowlers hit the numbers that their predecessors did. The present bowlers are probably up against better batting units. If they even do not hit the numbers like their predecessors, it does not mean they are bad bowlers," Jayawardena said.
"If you look at the top ten wicket-takers in modern-day cricket, all of them played during the first half of my career. There was Murali, Warne, McGrath, Kumble, Harbhajan, Akram, Waqar, and Saqlain. Their numbers speak for themselves," he added.
