Yasir best in the world, says Warne

Shane Warne is a huge fan of Yasir Shah

Yesteryears legendary leg-spinner Shane Warne lavished praise on promising Pakistan spinner Yasir Shah, branding him ‘genuinely World class’ bowler, reports ESPNcricinfo. Warne, who attended Pakistan’s net practice at Sharjah cricket ground, worked intensively with the 29-year old leg-spinner, who has sparkled against England in the ongoing series.

The two other spinners from the Pakistan camp, Zulfiqar Babar, and Bilal Asif, later joined Warne to get some useful tips."I have always been a fan of Shah since the first time I saw him a while ago," Warne said afterward.

"He's probably the best legspinner in the world. The way he bowls and the way the ball comes out of his hand, it's fantastic. I think he is more of a natural talent than me. If he gets his pace right and doesn't try to bowl quick and keeps patience… He has got a beautiful leg break," the Victorian exclaimed. 

Yasir has so far played all his cricket in Asia, but Warne feels the gifted Pakistan bowler would be a handful on any sort of wicket, given he performs to his potential.

"He is a wonderful bowler now, although he hasn't played a lot Test - but he has played a lot of first-class cricket. He is a world-class spinner. Test match cricket is what all we love and spinners can excel in this format," opined Warne, who has whopping 708 Test wickets to his name.

Shah jumps to World No 2

In the latest ICC Test rankings released on Tuesday, Yasir Shah has moved up three places to second place. This is the highest career ranking for Shah as he jumped above James Anderson, Stuart Broad, and Trent Boult.

Shah picked up eight wickets for 180 runs in the second Test between Pakistan and England in Dubai. Pakistan won the Test by 178 runs to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series. Shah is in the qualification phase, with respect to bowling rankings, as he has only 69 wickets. A bowler qualifies for full rating once he picks up 100 Test wickets.

Warne roots for cricket at Olympics

Meanwhile, Shane Warne along with India batting great Sachin Tendulkar has joined the bandwagon to back cricket’s inclusion in the Olympic games.The International Cricket Council (ICC) is scheduled to meet the International Olympic Committee (IOC) next month to discuss a possible bid, with the Twenty20 format of the game most likely to be discussed.