Sydney: ?Sachin Tendulkar is, without doubt, the best player in my time ? daylight second, Brian Lara third,? said Australian spin wizard Shane Warne about the Indian batting maestro.

Warne said what makes Tendulkar so special is the ?way he uses the crease?.

?He goes right forward or right back. He bats with both feet behind the crease to me. Most people have one foot on either side. So he plays cut shots off good length balls, but when he gets forward, he gets right forward.

?I have got him out three or four times, but the ratio of hundreds... He is way ahead in our battles,? said Warne in an interview in the Herald Sun.

Warne, who once famously commented that Tendulkar gave him nightmares, also revealed his special off-field rapport with the record-breaking Indian.

?I speak to him all the time, not just when we are in India. In India you have a billion people. Every single one of them, as long as they can speak, knows Tendulkar. The way he goes about his work is as good as anyone I have seen in international cricket,? Warne said.

?We both like Ferraris and cars in general. He drives an X5 BMW, and so do I. We have similar tastes in music, but not food. I?m not sure he?s big into tinned spaghetti and beans. He likes lobsters.?

Although a big celebrity himself, Warne feels his profile ?pales into insignificance? when compared to Tendulkar?s. ?Mine pales into insignificance what he puts up with in India. He loves walking down the street in Australia when no one recognises him. He enjoys touring.?

According to Warne, the most amazing thing about Tendulkar is that he remembers every shot he plays. ?He can be watching a replay of a game 13 years ago and say, ?this will be a cut?. It?s amazing, really.?

Asked whether Rahul Dravid, the ICC Player of the Year, should now be rated as good as Tendulkar, Warne said, ?Tendulkar is the best player in my time, without doubt. Daylight second. Brian Lara third. Rahul is in the best form of his career, but I would never say anyone is better than Tendulkar because I don?t think they are.?

Warne, currently in India for the four-Test series starting in Bangalore on Wednesday, said he would look to get Dravid out early.

?You have to get him early. I think I have got him five times in Tests and most times he has been bowled or caught behind. That?s just the way he plays early ? he opens up.

?I can get him by drifting the ball across him, but he is playing better than ever, so it won?t be easy.?