Shane Warne

Profile

When the chubby Shane Warne made his Test debut in 1992 against India, one wouldn’t have presumed the tremendous potential the leg spinner possessed. 145 Tests and 15 years later, the man had 708 victims in his kitty, taking over 1000 international wickets, only second to Sri Lanka’s Muttiah Muralidaran. His useful lower-order batting fetched him more than 3000 runs in Test cricket, without a single century. The more interesting part was the way he went about plotting the downfall of the batsmen, outwitting and out thinking them into submission. Mike Gatting received what they later called the ball of the century, and for years after that, the Englishmen treated Warne as if he was a ticking bomb, waiting to explode. His bowling was a blend of simplicity and accuracy.

However, like any great cricketer, Warne had one Achilles Heel, and that was in the form of Sachin Tendulkar, for whom he once famously claimed that he had nightmares of Tendulkar dancing down the wicket and hitting him for six. “Warney” as he is nicknamed, had his moments of glory but one thing that he would always regret is that despite being a solid performer, his controversies ensured that the Test captaincy was never going to be his. In 2003, he was found guilty of breaching ACB’s drug code and was imposed a one-year ban. He returned to competitive cricket in 2004, which became the better phase of his career.

Warne’s international retirement came in 2007, after Australia reclaimed the Ashes series of 2006-07, which was his ultimate goal. In March 2008, he signed to play for the Rajasthan in the IPL as their captain and coach. He led the team to victory in the finals, helping the team lift the inaugural IPL trophy. Later, in 2011, he was retained by the Royals for both the roles, following which he announced his retirement from all forms of the game in 2012.

Fast Facts

• Shane Warne became the first bowler to reach 600 and 700 wickets in Test cricket history.
• In 2007, Cricket Australia and Sri Lanka Cricket decided to name the Australia- Sri Lanka Test cricket series, “Warne-Muralidaran Trophy” in honour of Shane Warne and Muttiah Muralidaran.

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Career

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