SHANE WARNE - THE MAGIC CRUSADER

Would cricket be complete without a mention of this Aussie?????

In India, we spin a TOP with a string. But one man spins a red cherry like a top unlike no peer, with the mere power of his wrists! And when that ball spins thus, the revolutions that it sends to the heads of the batsman facing is truly a spectacle to watch!

What has started with Ravi Shastri has continued to the expansive drive of Irfan Pathan, (which was incidentally the World Record chased for the second time by the same bowler, in the space of one year) and looks rather good to continue and has in fact continued to the next few more wickets.

Oct 15, 2004 will be marked in the calendar of this great spinner, perhaps the greatest leg spinner of our times and all other times to come. That was the day when this bowler overcame “Indian Conditions” and the “Indian Batsmen” to knock over the record held by Murali for a few months.

And as Hayden happily caught the edge from Irfan Pathan’s bat at first slip, Warne’s joy knew no bounds as he conquered the home team and went on to take that elusive wicket that puts him on top of everyone else on the bowlers all time wicket takers lists. The ongoing tussle for the world’s leading bowler has just begun, with both Murali and Shane Warne playing active cricket; Murali has not played since August, but will return soon to test cricket.

Each bowler is great in his own regard. Murali has played lesser tests to get to the Wicket Number 532, just 91 tests to Warne’s 114. The road to getting to this world record has been very patient and long, with some unwinding and winding up at various places. Finally the Spin King has arrived with his bag of tricks to the Land which he dreads, the land where the spinners blossom. Not so quite for this great bowler, at least not until now.

His debut test came against those “meddling Indians” at the Sydney Test, the third of that series when India went Down Under. That was something to really forget for Warne, with almost all Indian batsmen going after him and he finished with figures of 1 for 150, perhaps the worst start he would have never dreamt of. That wasn’t quite the way to start the New Year, was it, way back in Jan 1992. After getting massacred by Ravi Shastri, the consolation came for Warne when he picked up his wicket after a masterly double hundred. But then, he has overcome those turbulent times, a few summers and New Years have come and gone, and lots of magic weaved, and the beautiful baskets of Spin have been spun over a few batsman.

Warne’s first hundred wickets came in his 23rd test; a steady flow at 19 tests for the 200th wicket. He had a lean patch getting to 250 wickets, but ever since 250, he did not look back, 21 tests to get to 300 from 200; sadly for this great spinner the next fifty was dragging 17 tests! 12 more for the 400 mark, so by the time he reached the 400 mark, it was 92 tests. Then Warne crept up fast faster, back from the injuries, and 9 tests to get to that mark of 450. One long year he had to wait to get back into cricket again with the raging controversy of doping. Others would have been gone long time back, not this Steely Gritted Man - Shane Keith Warne.

The next six tests have been a comeback for all the money in the world, for all those watching this game and following this game of bat versus ball right over these long yet wonderful years, this is a treat!

On the face of it, Murali may have been the youngest and fastest in terms of tests to the 500 wicket mark in tests but figures may show that there is nothing much to choose between Warne and the wily off Spinner from Kandy. Both have hurled down nearly similar number of overs in tests they have bowled, though Murali has played in lesser tests, he has bowled almost the same number of overs. And there’s so much similarity as regards the strike rate, almost every 10 overs bowled, both get their wickets on the average.

The major difference comes when one takes the concept of playing conditions. Warne has played more tests at home compared to Murali, but its too lopsided for Murali, he has been more successful in the matches played within the sub-continent rather than outside! And most of the wins have come at home for Sri Lanka, he does have a great rate of taking an average of 5 wickets every test, but that’s doesn’t really suit the team’ cause, the others let him down.

Ultimately to conclude this comparison of the bests, I would say Murali does a One Bowler show for Sri Lanka, whereas Warne is just one of the superstars for Australia, there is McGrath, Gillespie, and Brett Lee who torment the batsmen and keep tugging away at the wickets column every now and then. Probably that’s why Warne has had to wait for more number of tests to get to the World Record!

If one goes to watch Warne’s bowling videos, there’s nothing to miss. Every ball is his best performance by itself… every minute, something happens; a flipper, a missed catch, or something caught (most often caught), an LBW appeal, batsman unable to read a ball.

The agony just stacks up for the batsman. And when he gets you hypnotized with his magic, he never lets you go; he keeps pulling at the batsman, inviting the drive, cascading the balls one after another at various speeds and angles, and the revolutions per minute are evolved with a clear intention to keep all of us watching. The slip fielders and the keeper’s gloves gloved with glee totally involved and interested.

Bombshells are meant to be dropped on adversaries at the right time and this Blond Bombshell-man knows that very well. Take a breather as I say… 28 five wicket hauls and 8-ten wicket hauls, and simply because it is quite staggering. And staggering is a complete understatement, as he mesmerizes the batsman totally. Ashes always speaks about Warne, he started his first Ashes Test with the Ball of the Century in England in 1993, and Glory followed Warne ever since.

His record in India has not been as much as a typical Warne fan would like, let alone Shane Warne himself. The first time he played, Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar was ready to take him on along with Navjot Singh Sidhu who had clobbered him in almost every match of the series. Warne ended up getting creamed, taking the brunt of the aggression. The next time he came back there in 2001, already with a tarnished and humble record, nothing much clicked for him, as Laxman and Dravid played him with as much ease as eating a banana.

This time around, this may very well be his last series in India; he is here with a mission. A mission to show the whole wide world why at all he has been crowned the world’s greatest spinner.
He has already proved his mettle with his First Five Wicket haul in India, and his personal best bowling ever on this Soil of the Greatest Bowlers of Spin! And with the record at the TOP of the world will most certainly not go to his Head! Now it is time to pile up the wickets while he is ahead of Murali. That is going to be exciting, as the world record will change hands over minutes with every passing cricketing test!