Not everyone gets off to a great start. Shane Warne is no exception.
Shane Warne made his Test debut against India in Sydney in 1992. But it turned out to be a bad experience. Warne bowled only 1/150 in that match in which Ravi Shastri scored a double century. He scored 78 runs without taking a wicket in the next Test as well.
Warne, who bowled like that in January, was given another chance against Sri Lanka in August. In the first innings of the Test in Colombo, Warne failed to score 107 runs and failed to take any wickets again. Till then he had scored 335 runs and taken only 1 wicket in the Test.
Warne is not worried that this has happened despite getting a chance in three Tests. He proved who he is in the 2nd innings. If he had not bowled like that, Warne might not have got another chance. Australia set a target of 181 runs for the Sri Lankan team. Sri Lanka were the first team to experience Warne’s incredible talent as Sri Lanka came close to victory at the loss of 7 wickets for 150 runs. Warne took the last 3 wickets within 14 runs and delivered a resounding victory. Aussie was the first to believe in him. Captain Alan Border. Warne gave Australia consecutive victories without losing hope.
In his first Boxing Day Test in 1992, he took 7 wickets against the West Indies and became the first to win the Man of the Match award. Since then he has gone on to become a prolific player, winning a total of 17 Man of the Match awards in Tests.
The very next year, Warne became famous in a single year by bowling the best ball of the century. Every Aussie wants to play in the Ashes series. A cricketer’s dream. Warne incredibly bowled Mike Keating on the very first ball of that Ashes series. Pitched outside leg stump, the ball skimmed the off stump. It was hailed as the best ball of the century. Warne took 34 wickets in 6 Tests in that Ashes series. Everyone who saw Warne’s bowling felt that a new era had begun.
Warne has faced many controversies outside of cricket. In its first episode in 1995, the Australian Cricket Board fined both Mark Waugh and Shane Warne for giving match tips to gamblers. The media also discovered this and brought the matter out after three years.
Warne is the one who instilled the belief in the youth that he can achieve leg spin bowling in Test cricket and can take a lot of wickets. Moreover, there is no spinner in Australian cricket who is not influenced by Warne.
From 1993 for the next 5 years, Warne added victories everywhere he went in Test cricket. He was a selfless spinner with an economy of less than 2 and an average of less than 20. During this period Warrick picked up enough wickets to take almost 5 wickets per Test. Warne made the fans believe that wickets would fall whenever he bowled and created fear in the opposing players.
Warne played three Tests against Pakistan at home in 1995. He did not bowl in one of these Tests. However, he took 19 wickets in that Test series. Average – 10.42. Warne has not achieved these numbers in any other series. The cricket world was surprised to see if the Pakistani players would be so stuck in spin. (Overall he took 90 wickets in 15 Tests against Pakistan.)
The semi-finals of the 1996 and 1999 World Cups are cringeworthy even now. 1996 semi-final with 6 wickets in hand May.E. Islands need just 30 runs to win. Will this be possible with Warne? In the end, he took wickets and took 4/36 to give the Australian team an incredible victory by 5 runs. May.E. It could even be said that the Islanders’ slide started from here.
From 1998 to 2001, Warne realized that nothing is permanent in sports. A shoulder injury and Indian batsmen including Sachin Tendulkar who handled Warne’s spin brilliantly set him back. The 9 Tests played against India during this period taught him a new lesson. He realized when he played against India that he too could be bought by a team. These series became the main reasons for him to change his mind as he still has a long way to go and a lot of skills to learn. He averaged just over 40 in all three Test series against India. India alone could not win till the end. Against other teams his average was under 30, the only one against India was 47.18. The Indian batsmen played Warne’s bowling brilliantly. It was a great time for Indian fans.
Warne underwent a finger operation in 1996 and another operation in May 1998 for a shoulder injury. The doctors have said that it will be difficult to play anymore. As a result, Warne, who played in Tests in January 1996, was able to play again only in November of the same year. He also played till March 1998. He came back to play in January the following year. There is no big gap between these two. But in a way, these injuries which caused a slight slip in his cricket career have also become a reason.
Warne’s name comes to mind when we think of the 1999 World Cup. Warne, who did not make much of an impact at the beginning of the match, was the Aussie. He became the main reason for the team to win the trophy. Warne took a match-tying 4/29 against South Africa in the semi-final, followed by another scintillating 4/33 in the final to win the Man of the Match award in both crucial matches. He took 20 wickets in that World Cup match.
Less than 10 years after he started playing, Warne was selected as one of the top 5 cricketers of the century by Wiston Media. He is the only current player among the five. Bradman, Sobers, Jack Hobbs, Richards are other achievers. In 2000, he surpassed Dennis Lillee’s 355 wickets to become the highest wicket-taker in Test cricket. He reached the height of being a player.
After 2001 we could see the old Warn. In fact, Warne achieved many more honors in the last five-and-a-half years of his cricketing career. At that time, he took 6 wickets per Test and was amazing all over the world. Won 9 Man of the Match awards.
Before the start of the 2003 World Cup, fans were in for a shock. Warne was banned for one year by the Australian Cricket Board for doping. Warne said the problem was caused by a weight loss drug. Warne’s ODI career ended with this. However, Aussies without Warne. The team won the 2003 World Cup.
Warne has never played more matches in ODI cricket. Ponting, Steve Waugh and Gilchrist all played more than 280 ODIs. But Warne played only 194 matches. He took 293 wickets in that. Economy – 4.25. Economy in two ODI World Cup matches – 3.83 only. So much so that the opposing players were wary of Warne’s bowling.
Warne came back a new man in 2004 and proved himself once again. Australia won 3-0 in the 3 Tests played in Sri Lanka. Warne was amazing by taking 26 wickets. He became the first spinner to take 500 Test wickets in that series. In the same year, the Australian team won the Test series in India and created a historic record. Warne surpassed Muralitharan as the highest wicket-taker in Test cricket.
Who can forget the 2005 Ashes series? Shane Warne’s spin to bowl Andrew Strauss was hailed as the best ball of the 21st century. Only Warne could bowl a century like this. In that series, he took 40 wickets in 5 Tests and threatened the cricket world. He also created another record as the first bowler to take 600 wickets in the same series. Warne took 96 Test wickets in 2005 alone. No one else has taken so many wickets in a year. Warne has taken huge strides whenever his cricketing career has been plagued by injuries, surgery and a one-year ban. These statistics are proof of that.
He took 12 wickets in 5 Tests in 1992. He took 291 wickets in 59 Tests from 1993 to February 1998. He took 5 wickets 13 times and a total of 10 wickets 4 times in a Test. As if all this was nothing, he bowled even better after 2001.
Small slip in the middle. From March 1998 to June 2001, he took 73 wickets in 23 Tests. He took 5 wickets only twice in 23 Tests.
After 2001 he proved himself to be a king again. The passion for taking wickets can even be described as a frenzy. He took 332 wickets in 58 Tests. That means he took 41 wickets more than the 1993-1998 period even though he played one Test less. He took 5 wickets 21 times and a total of 10 wickets 6 times in a Test and responded to all the criticism on the ground. Warne made such an impact that the batsmen trembled when he came to bowl.
Warne has never missed a beat at crucial stages. He has taken 195 wickets in 36 Tests in the Ashes series, which is the breath of Australian cricketers. No one else has taken so many wickets in the Ashes. Next to this is Dennis Lillee who has taken 167 wickets. Warne’s bowling will be whirlwind in the 3rd and 4th innings of the Test. He has taken 5 wickets 37 times. He has taken 5 wickets 19 times in the 3rd and 4th innings alone. How can the opposition beat the Australian team if someone bowls like this? This is why the Australian team was an unshakable force in all types of cricket matches during this period.
Despite only playing two ODIs, Australia could not have achieved much without Warne’s bowling. Warne has won man of the match awards in two semi-finals and one final. How can a player contribute more to a team’s success than this? In both the semi-final matches, he took 4 wickets twice to lead Australia to victory when the team was in crisis.
Australia avenged their 2005 defeat by beating England 5-0 in the Ashes in 2007. Warne took 23 wickets in the series and retired from international cricket with 708 Test wickets. Warne was then the highest Test wicket taker.
Not without making his mark in the batting as well. Warne scored 3154 runs in Test cricket with 12 fifties. In 2001, he missed a century in Perth by one run.
It is unfortunate that Warne, a talent spotter, has not been able to lead the Australian team in a big way. Warne, who captained Australia in 11 ODIs, led a young Rajasthan team to the title in the inaugural year of the IPL (2008). Leading an IPL team after retirement is not easy. He was the 2nd highest wicket taker in the IPL that year.
Aussie for Warne’s death. Not only cricket fans but fans from all over the world shed tears. Many records were written in Tamil itself. Warne was a great role model for those who started watching cricket in the 90s. Who has never been interested in bowling like him! He should have done more good things for cricket. Even recently he enthusiastically responded to Sachin’s tweet on cricket rules. Only once in a hundred years do such geniuses appear. No one expected that one day he would leave everyone behind. Warne’s bowling and his skills will be talked about for centuries to come.
(Today is Shane Warne’s 53rd birthday.)