“Warne struck again as a delivery skittled through to a batsman trapped like a thief in a spotlight. For some it remains bewildering…that such gifts could be bestowed upon such an apparently vulgar fellow”- Peter Roebuck in It takes all sorts
Shane Warne was god’s gift to cricket. For a kid growing up in the 1990s, Warne was a role model for everyone even if there was an Anil Kumble in India, a Muttiah Muralitharan in Sri Lanka and a Mushtaq Ahmed in Pakistan and yet if you ask these bonafide legends now, they too might say that they would have wanted to bowl and mesmerise the world like Warnie did with his leg-spin. It was difficult for anyone who followed the game not fall in love with that bleached blonde beach bum from Melbourne.
It was during IPL 2009 in South Africa when this writer had managed to convince Warne for an interview. The interview was scheduled for 10 in the morning just outside the Durban stadium on a Sunday where he was supposed to take his Rajasthan Royals team bus to the hotel. Due to some unusually heavy traffic on that day, I was late, barely by a minute or two and I saw Warne was moving to get on the bus. I just pleaded for few minutes but he nonchalantly said – “Sorry mate, you are late! Try your luck next time.” Shocked and sad to miss such a great opportunity, I chased him to the beach and waited for another couple of hours. Warne was not bothered with my perseverance and politely declined, telling me that now was the time for him to chat with his kids in Australia and any efforts to persuade him was futile. I didn’t lose hope and went to his hotel lobby and requested Yusuf Pathan to convince Warne. Eventually, the great man relented but only with a promise to do the interview a fortnight later when Royals were to play a couple of matches in Durban! Better to do it late than never at all, I thought. What eventually stood out from that interview was not what he spoke but the way he ensured that I remained the only reporter to do an interview with him on that day despite multiple requests coming in from many channels and newspapers as many had sensed that my TV crew was being allowed to go nearer to the practice area where Warne was sitting after finishing his bowling in the nets. I remember Warne telling his manager that this reporter had chased me like hell and waited for a fortnight, don’t spoil his party by giving easy access to his rivals! And in that, I realised that why he was considered a great leader, and not just a great cricketer. It was easy to be convinced by whatever he said. Such was his aura-on and off the field.
Warne vs Tendulkar
Of course, Warne wasn’t a saint and wasn’t always at his best behaviour with the media but this is not how cricket is going to remember him. More than a dozen books have already been written on him and one can expect a dozen more after his sudden demise which has shocked and saddened the world. Warne was a genius but his confrontation with Sachin Tendulkar in an epic battle in the 1998 series is part of folklore. Oddly, one of his rare struggling phase (1998-2001) of his career came against one of the most dominant sides against spin; an Indian side that not only had Tendulkar and VVS Laxman, but at the very top Navjot Singh Sidhu. In fact, Warne himself had credited Sidhu generously for the famous Tendulkar onslaught which he faced in 1998. And yet, the first inning dismissal of Tendulkar in Chennai where Mark Taylor caught him in the first slip speaks the class of Warne against the very best. Perhaps, Warne wasn’t at his best (had a shoulder injury at that time) during major part of the battles (9 matches out of 14) against India. His overall numbers against India were not at par with his legendary stature, but very few cares to remember that he played a significant part in Australia’s triumph in India after more than a gap of 35 years in 2004. Warnie finished with 14 wickets in three-match series and was the second fiddle to an incisive pace attack. For a generation of cricket lovers in India and the subcontinent, one of their favourite memories of this epic battle is of Tendulkar hitting those sixes against Warne in Sharjah and Tony Greig going ballistic in the commentary box; but even during those times, Warne embraced that with all his humility and acknowledged wholeheartedly that Tendulkar was better on those occasions.
His admiration for Tendulkar and later for VVS Laxman spoke about his humility. He played hard and even sledged but when it was needed, he didn’t shy away from acknowledging the greatness of his peers. Essentially, Warne was always true to his craft and his beloved game.
When the legend took his 500th wicket, the great writer Peter Roebuck wrote a vivid description of his career and personality in a single paragraph which is perhaps suffice to conclude a colossal personality like Warne. “He sensed that he had greatness within. It was this conviction that allowed him to take so many risks. In a period of pace, he concentrated on spin. In a time of calculation, he pursued the improbable. In an age of reason, he chased the wildest of dreams. Accordingly, he can be forgiven an awful lot, including most of the darkness that also exists within his uncontained character. A man must be taken as a whole. Sensible fellows cannot turn the ball at right angles.” Indeed, the Warne story of cricket must be taken as a whole.
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