Muscat, March 6
Shane Warne's cricketing legend and rockstar persona was a cult all its own in the eyes of the people who knew him, loved him and admired him.
There probably will never be a cricketer who embodied oodles of talent, alluring charisma, excellence and mad genius with the swagger of a Hollywood movie star or music icon.
Someone who changed the art of leg spin forever with his mesmerising skills that bamboozled batsmen around the world.
The superstar who made the challenging medium of leg spin box office material in Test cricket. Warne changed Test cricket forever with his stunning exploits as he burst onto the scene.
Although the 1992 debut series against India was uneventful and full of learnings against a vastly experienced Indian team, who are the best players of spin.
It was the year 1993 when Shane Keith Warne was selected to be a part of Australia's squad for the Ashes tour of England and he made the world sit up and take notice of him.
England batting's lynchpin Mike Gatting was the victim of what is now famously known as the 'Ball of the Century.
It was Warne's first ball of the Ashes series and he gave it an almighty tweak that saw the ball pitch well outside leg stump before clipping the off bail.
Gatting's face was that of bewilderment of what had just transpired. It looked as if the ball had spun a mile before taking out the off bail.
This single event changed Warne's life as the English media and later the international media went into a frenzy.
What followed over the course of the next 15 years was magical as he treated cricket fans around the world to his unique stage show of leg spin bowling.
For Warne, it would not be wrong to say that Test match cricket was a stage for him to perform the fine arts. In this case, it was the Art of Leg Spin.
With 708 Test wickets and 293 ODI wickets, Warne was a colossus of a bowler who was a core element of Australia's 1990s-2000s Invincibles teams under Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting.
BATTLE WITH TENDULKAR
Warne's battles with Indian batting legend Sachin Tendulkar on Australia's 1998 tour of India and his contests with Tendulkar in the Coca Cola Trophy in Sharjah the same year is the stuff of lore.
Although, Tendulkar had the better of him most of the time, especially in Sharjah, Warne had his share of success too.
Together, the two forged a great friendship based on mutual respect and admiration and both these young superstars of that era had the priviledge of meeting the great Sir Don Bradman on India's 1999 tour of Australia.
BRUSH WITH CONTROVERSIES
Australia's 1994 tour of Pakistan when Warne and Mark Waugh were accused of having accepted offers from bookmakers to underperform was a low point for Warne.
Controversies were never far away for Warne as he lived life right on the edge. That was his persona. That was just Warnie being Warnie.
He was probably flawed in the conventional sense of the way but he was just being genuinely himself.
What defined him overwhelmingly throughout his career was his passion for the game and in particular, leg spin bowling.
He loved sharing his knowledge and insights with the younger breed of players coming through. The latest known recipients have been Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav and Rashid Khan.
When Warne was at the helm of affairs at Rajasthan Royals in the inaugural IPL in 2008, the Australian legend referred to Jadeja as the 'Rockstar'. This was when Jadeja was yet to make it.
Today, Jadeja is one of the finest allrounder's in the world and a critical cog in the wheel in India's world-beating Test team and limited overs set ups.
LOYAL FRIEND
Warne was known to be a steadfast and loyal friend and some of his Australian team-mates and other players from the cricket fraternity would vouch for that.
On the 1997 tour of England, former Australian wicket-keeper batsman and legend Adam Gilchrist spoke about Warne's magnanimous personality.
“His generosity, underestimated by those who didn’t know him, was a strong suit of Warnie’s. I remember flying home with a knee injury after the third Test at Old Trafford in 1997 and Warnie was on the same flight because his daughter Brooke was born.
“We flew home together and he used his points to upgrade me to first class. Sitting next to a legend who had just become a father was an experience I will always cherish.
“At Christmas he would pay for a lavish function at his home and I know the English team benefited from his generosity this summer,'' added Gilchrist.
As Gilchrist said, "I know time heals and people come in but there’s only one Warnie".
Yes.
There is only ONE Warnie.
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