How do you encapsulate Shane Warne's enigma in a way which hasn’t been done before? The adjectives fall short for the man who became synonymous with leg-spin bowling, ever since his emergence in the 90’s. The 23-year-old began with a forgettable debut in 1992. His figures of 228 for 1 against India were everything but inspiring. Speculations of dropping were rife and the future uncertain.
Warne was a natural in many ways - big hands, strong wrists and a poetic action. With able guidance and mentorship from former Australian spinner Terry Jenner, he took on the mantle to increase the weapons in his armory. The first signs of what was to come were visible when Warne cleaned up Richie Richardson with his yet to become famous flipper during the West Indies tour of Australia in 1993.
And then the Ashes 1993 happened. Warne’s first ball in the Ashes. You have already imagined the visual in your head. A delivery Mike Gatting would never forget. The ball that turned viciously after pitching outside leg stump and hit the top of off-stump came to be famously regarded as the ‘Ball of the Century’. Cricket had found a gem. Warne never looked back.
Warnie, as he was affectionately known, was an attention-grabbing performer. Every ball was a theatre with ample drama, suspense and excitement. In 1995, Australia and Pakistan locked horns for a three test series. The third day of the final test was about to close when Warne was introduced to bowl the final over of the day. Facing him was Basit Ali.
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Ali was notoriously known to hold up the game. He would randomly indulge in tying up laces or calling for gloves. It was the last ball of the day. Warne called up the wicket-keeper Healey, and the duo were engaged in a lengthy conversation (apparently deciding their dinner plans) to disturb Ali’s rhythm and prompt him to make a mistake. The plot worked. Warne bowled into the rough and the ball ripped through Ali’s legs to dismantle the stumps as he tried to kick it away.
His intimidating personality and attacking mindset was at display during India’s tour of Australia in 1999. In the first test at Adelaide, he noticed that Ganguly was getting comfortably blocking his deliveries. On finding the first opportunity, he uttered to Ganguly:
Hey mate, these 40,000 people haven’t come to see you kick the ball, they’ve come to see this bloke playing shots (referring to Sachin, who was at the non-striker end).
This played on Ganguly’s mind as he attempted to come down the track to hit Warne and was stumped.
Warne’s craft was unparalleled and so was his understanding of the game. In the second innings of the Trent Bridge Test of the 2001 Ashes, Mark Ramprakash was grinding hard to defy Australia’s first innings lead and take England to a match-winning total.
The psychologist in Shane Warne was aware about Mark’s intentions and started instigating him to charge down the track and hit him. “Come on, Ramps, you know you want to.”, Warne said. Mark couldn't avoid the temptation and was stumped by Gilchrist after he was left stranded by the trademark Warne leg break, handing Australia a win in a low-scoring encounter.
Warne came to become an exuberant cricketer. One of the few whose charisma and personality was universally loved and celebrated. His opponents respected him and the fans wanted to see him deploy his art, even if it was against their home team. That is perhaps because he mastered the toughest known craft in the game of cricket. If I had a time machine, I would go back to witness Shane Warne dipping, drifting and spinning the ball - in a way in which only he could do.
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