Leg-spin king Shane Warne has wished India's batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar many, many more playing years on his 35th birthday on Thursday.

"He is a great player. We may have to wait for many-many years to have another player like him. He should be allowed to continue till he wants to," Warne was quoted as saying to PTI in Jaipur on the sidelines of Indian Premier League match.

Warne, leading Jaipur in the IPL, said Tendulkar is "the best" batsman in recent times.

"I feel West Indian Brian Lara and Sachin are the best batsmen in recent times, but I rate Sachin the best, not only because of his amazing cricketing ability but also because of the exemplary manner in which he conducts himself on and off the field.

"He is a wonderful guy. Naturally and exceptionally talented, affectionate and always smiling. There may be other good batsmen in the world, but I feel that the word great has been used most often for him. He is disciplined, co-operative, naturally talented and dedicated player," Warne, Test cricket's first to reach 700 wickets, said.

"Perhaps there are only a few occasions when I had him read me wrongly. Once in Melbourne, I had him padding my flipper as he couldn't read me correctly. But I still remember another occasion when he smashed my first bowl to the fence, and on the next I had him caught in the slips with a big spinning ball. Such rare occasions gave me great satisfaction.

"I am happy for him that he is back in his best form and happy for myself that now I don't have to bowl to him," he added.

Warne remembers only a few of Tendulkar's best innings, saying: "I think his 180-plus knock at Mumbai and his 100 in Perth in the 1992 series were outstanding apart from many others. The most-loved thing about him was to his back in the field," said Warne.