Loved my battles with these two: Warne hails Sachin Tendulkar, Brian Lara

Warne, who played 145 Tests and 194 ODIs for Australia, shared a picture with legendary cricketer Sachin Tendulkar and Lara and said he loved the intense rivalries with the duo during his career

Wishing the West Indian legend Brian Lara on his 51st birthday today, former Australian spin wizard Shane Warne termed him as the 'best batsman' of his generation.

Warne, who played 145 Tests and 194 ODIs for Australia, shared a picture with legendary cricketer Sachin Tendulkar and Lara and said he loved the intense rivalries with the duo during his cricketing career.

"Loved my battles with these two legends - unfortunately they won most of the time !!! But I hope our battles on the field entertained everyone & you all enjoyed them. Both @brianlaraofficial and @sachintendulkar were easily the best batsman of my generation. Ps Happy birthday BC, have a great day buddy," Warne captioned the picture on Instagram.

Lara holds the record for the highest individual score ever in first-class cricket (501 not out).In 1994, playing for Warwickshire against Durham at Edgbaston, Lara scored 501 not out.

Lara played a knock of 400 runs against England in the fourth Test of the four-match series in 2004 at the Antigua Recreation Stadium, which still remains the highest individual score in Test cricket

The veteran had announced his retirement from international cricket in 2007. He finished his career with 22,358 runs and 53 international centuries.

He also shares the record of scoring the highest number of runs in a single over in a Test match.

The 51-year-old smashed South Africa's Robin Peterson for 28 runs in a single over in 2003.