Former Australian spinner Shane Warne has praised India’s famed middle-order but he feels it is nowhere close to the golden era of Indian middle-order, which featured Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman.

India’s famous batting order dominated the cricketing world everywhere they played. Warne is impressed by Virat Kohli and his batting heroics. However, Warne believes the current batting order is no matches in front of the ‘Fab Five’.

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“Their batting is nowhere near as strong as Dravid, Ganguly, Laxman, Tendulkar, Sehwag. Virat Kohli is one of the best batsmen on the planet, if not the best across all forms, but when you see that top five of Sehwag, Ganguly, Dravid, Laxman, Tendulkar, that isn’t bad. I don’t think you can say that it’s the best batting Indian side,” Warne said on Sky Sports.

Team India has performed well outside the home in the last few years. They have won the historic back-to-back Test series in Australia. India were leading the five-match series in England by 2-1 before the fifth Test got cancelled.

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Warne believes Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant and other Indian batsmen have been brilliant but the pace attack is the main reason behind India’s rise in Test cricket.

“Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma are two standout players, and I think Rishabh Pant will be a superstar down the track. But I think it is their fast bowlers that have elevated India to be able to win in all conditions and not just in India,” Warne added.

India were on the verge of winning the Test series in England as they were leading the series by 2-1 after the first four Tests. The fifth Test was scheduled to play in Manchester but the covid-19 positive cases in the Indian camp forced the series to stop abruptly.