5 Cricket legends who timed their retirements to perfection

#2 Shane Warne

Shane Warne: The Leggie who ruled World cricket

The art of leg spin bowling had almost gone obsolete and in many ways Shane Warne revived it. After a forgetful debut against India in 1991-92 in Sydney, he enhanced his reputation as one of the best spin bowlers after picking 34 wickets against England in the 1993 Ashes, starting the tournament with his “Ball of the Century” to Mike Gatting. He continued to bamboozle teams around the world for the next few years and reveled in bowling against Daryll Cullinan. Even though Warne was hammered by Sachin Tendulkar in 1998, their on-field rivalry is popular till date. He was the tormentor-in-chief by bowling exceptional spells claiming 4-fers in both the Semis and Finals and helped Australia win the 1999 World Cup, for which he was awarded Man of the Match.

Injuries and bans in the early part of 2000s stalled his career, but he came back with a bang against Sri Lanka in 2004 becoming the first spin bowler to get 500 Test wickets. He probably bowled his best in the 2005 Ashes getting 40 wickets and in the process became the first bowler to take 600 Test wickets.

Warne ended his career on a high in Sydney against England in their memorable 5-0 Ashes win in the 2006-07 series. With 708 Test wickets in 145 matches @ 25.41, he has been the best leg-spinner in cricket history. Due to his off-field antics, he lost an opportunity to captain Australia as he was known to be aggressive, but a very progressive thinker of the game.