He Came, He WARNEd, He Conquered.

We know him as “thicker than a set of Wisden yearbooks” for his incorrigibility. We have heard of him as the “eternal child”, “Cyclone Shane” and “Hollywood” for his theatrical antics. We’ve heard of him caught up in more off-field controversies than any single cricketer. He has been the God of sledging in the slips. But yet we adore him. Critics would never rate him as high as some of the other spinning legends. And yet Wisden rated him as one of the five cricketers of the century – the only bowler to have featured in the prestigious list along with Sir Donald Bradman, Sir Garfield Sobers, Sir Jack Hobbs and Sir Vivian Richards.

Some say he’s the best skipper Australia never had. And he proved it in the IPL 2008 and how! Having been assigned the twofold role of captain-cum-coach, the man led a bunch of neophytes to victory. In fact, the team, considered small fries before the contest dominated it like no other team did.



In words of Dinesh Salunkhe, who shared the dressing room with him said, “I was quivering when he first entered the room. A couple of conversations later, I felt as if I’d known him for years. He became a friend, philosopher and guide. He has no airs about himself. It took me only one chat with him to make me believe that I belong here.” Zilch was left to be explained when the U-19 guys of the team hurrahed after the final conquest, shouting at the top of their voices that he is a legend.

He is Shane Keith Warne. Two years into the retirement already, The Royal would return next year to defend the trophy. The team would straightaway start as favourites all thanks to their first outing.

What made Warnie such a Pied Piper? Some say it was his knack of seeing the intangibles. An astute judge of talent, he prepared an awe-inspiring dossier called “What is My Role?” for each of his teammates merely after a couple of practice sessions. He asked them to give it a shot of their lifetime. He asked them to lope on the edge, thoroughly assured that he would be there to catch them if they fell. Such raw zeal towards the game after remaining 15 years at the apex logically made the team follow him blindly. The 17 off the last over by Symonds against the Chargers made the team swear loyalty to him till death, as it made them believe that they had a leader who could walk the talk. A TEAM was explicated to the bunch as “Together Everyone Achieves More”.



He treated them all alike – from the support staff to the franchise owner Manoj Badale. Shane Watson was denied an entry to a team meeting when he was 5 minutes late. Warne added, in no uncertain terms, that Watson could not take things for granted just because the latter was one of the “better known” players of the side. He asked the squad to wear black armbands as a mark of respect when Zahir, the luggage handler, stayed on with them even when he lost his mother during the tourney.

Swapnil Asnodkar, one of the finds of the series, owed himself to Warne. Learning that Swapnil’s grandfather was a diehard fan of his, he graced the Asnodkars for dinner. Grandpa’s parting words to Warne were that now that he had seen him, he could “die a happy man”.

He assigned the role of the “Pace-setter” to Munaf Patel. He guaranteed that MP was their spearhead no matter what was being whispered about him. The result : he redeemed himself almost incredibly. The man who had to be concealed in the field; the man who preferred not to bend too much to stop the ball from running away; the man who was disparaged as the cricketer with the “least cricketing attitude” of all times; the man who the outgoing team physio labeled as the “only bloke I couldn’t understand” flipped 180. He hit the deck hard and had the best field days ever.



Warne made sure that the guys enjoyed themselves to the fullest off the field. In the words of the franchise owner, he “personally ensured that everyone had fun (at the parties). He cracked jokes, learned the choicest of abuses in Hindi and used them whenever possible.”

Being a hero in a nation that vehemently abhors the Kangaroos was no trifle. But Warnie did it. Leading a lineup that had been assembled for chickenfeed, when compared with the big daddies was a daunting task in itself. But Warnie did it. It was almost impossible for a team that lacked the oomph factor to make headlines in a nation crazy about Bollywood. But Warnie did it. Warnie did it all