Shane Warne: The magician who never led Australia

When Wisden chose the top 5 cricketers of the 20th century, there was no Sachin Tendulkar, Brian Lara, Ricky Ponting, Glenn McGrath, Wasim Akram or even Muttiah Muralitharan. But Shane Warne made it to the elite cricketers alongside Sir Donald Bradman, Sir Garfield Sobers, Sir Jack Hobbs, and Sir Vivian Richards.

Warne was a magician, and he performed his tricks even on pitches that offer little help. 1001 international wickets speak volumes for his ability.

Not so impressive Debut

In January 1992, Warne made his debut at Sydney Cricket Ground against India and it was a game to forget for the young bowler. He ended the Test with the figures of 1-150 and Ravi Shastri and Sachin Tendulkar toyed with his bowling. Shastri made a double hundred while Sachin scored an unbeaten 148.

Later in the year, he came back strongly and bagged three wickets without conceding a run in the second innings to guide Australia to an unlikely win against Sri Lanka in Colombo.

He announced he was going to be one of the best in the business, when he picked up 7 wickets for 52 runs against West Indies at Melbourne in December 1992.

King of magic balls

In the 1993 Ashes tour of England, Warne delivered the ball of the century against Mike Gatting which pitched outside leg stump and went on to clip the off stump. Richie Benaud, who was doing the television commentary said, “Gatting has absolutely no idea what has happened to him and he still doesn’t know.”

He bowled some absolute gems akin to that, and one of the balls that comes to mind is, the one that he bowled to Andrew Strauss in the 2005 Ashes series in England.

Strauss was a left-handed batsman, and he left the delivery that pitched outside off stump. It pitched a bit wide, so the chances of the ball spinning back was a little and even if it would, it could have gone on to hit Strauss’ pads, but it turned a long way and hit the middle and leg stump without even touching Strauss.

First to reach 700 Wickets

He was the first bowler to pick up 700 wickets and retired as the leading wicket-taker in Tests with 708 wickets under his name though Muralitharan surpassed him later. In 2005, he took a world record of 96 wickets in a calendar year.

Brilliant Leader

Warne showcased his captaincy credentials with the Rajasthan Royals

Rajasthan Royals didn’t have any batting or bowling stars, yet they won the inaugural edition of Indian Premier League. How? Because they had Shane Warne. He was their coach and the captain. He inspired a set of youngsters who had a little experience and made a good team. He had an excellent cricketing brain.

Did he lead Australian cricket team? He never did.

Did he ever wish to lead the national team? Indeed he wished.

He wrote in his autobiography, “I have given my heart and soul to Australian cricket and like to think I’ve earned the respect of the ACB. I have helped to put a few backsides on seats and made spin bowling more interesting. I have played in an aggressive, animated, emotional way which reflects the pride I take in representing my country. That should have counted for something, I would have thought.”

Maybe Australia could have enjoyed a better run had Warne got the chance to lead. He was able to produce a champion team out of inexperienced players for Rajasthan Royals. Hence, he could have easily led Australia to loftier peaks, especially when they had the likes of Mathew Hayden, Adam Gilchrist, Ricky Ponting, Glenn McGrath and Brett Lee in their ranks.

Things could have been different had Warne handed the captaincy. However, he bowled Australia to victory on many occasions. We are blessed to be born in an era when Shane Warne performed his magic. Cricket was an absolute treat to watch whenever Warne took the field.