Shane Warne one of the most coveted spinners in the history of cricket, the man who has always had a career filled with wickets and only ups but just like everything always seem bright on the other side his career has also had some downfalls and controversies.
Although these controversies never phased him and he was completely unbothered by the effect it would have on his career as until the last ball of innings also he managed.
Known as one of the most deadliest spinners in the history of cricket with a good disguise over his deliveries such as the top spinner and different variations of googlies.
His success is what revived the almost forgotten breed of leg spinners, he brought variety to the art of bowling especially in his own country which was highly dominated by fast bowlers, many current generation leg spinners learned the art due to the influence Shane Warne had over the world of spin. This extremely complex way of bowling which takes a lot of years to master and perfect was slowly coming back and getting the recognition it deserves. Many young and new age talents were born due to the Shane Warne era.
In the year 2006 he became the first bowler ever to take 700 wickets in the test match format thus setting a world record and showcasing the foothold of spin in the most important style of game mode in the world of cricket. He achieved a lot of great feats throughout his career and managed to become a revolutionary person in the world of cricket, his influence was unmatched and the spinning skills he showcased left everyone flabbergasted.
Warne was introduced to cricket and made his appearance relatively late during his teenage years but his calm attitude, relaxed manner, bleacher hair, flashy earrings and his love for surfing soon made him standout from the rest and made him a fan favourite too. Cricket is not only a game of skill but the player’s personalities also play a huge part in the popularity and brand value of a player, if a player is extremely vocal and flashy then it very obvious that they will have a bigger fan following and reach due to the masses liking him/her and this is what exactly clicked for Shane Warne as soon as he entered professional cricket, he was a package and never felt shy to voice his opinions.
His selection also was a fairly easier process as he was selected into the Australian squad just after playing just 7 matches in the Sheffield Shield domestic cup competition. He made his test debut in 1991 against India and played his first ever international test match, he further went onto make his mark for the first time in the 1993 Ashes series against England, the Ashes is the biggest cricketing event for all the cricket fans and has been continuing since the inception thus making it a legacy series between the two giants England and Australia.
He went onto to take 34 wickets in six test games with an average of 25.79 during this series, this was something that was not deemed normal in the world of cricket especially for a player who did not have a lot of experience in comparison to other the greats playing this legendary Ashes series.
This series also made him extremely popular for his famous ball that is cherished by each and every cricket fan as well as showcasing why he was taken into the squad. The ball against England’s Mike Gatting at Old Trafford, it pitched on the leg stump and went onto hit the off stump showcasing the massive spin that Warne had just generated and showcased. This is still remembered as one of the most historic moments in Warne’s life.
He did not stop just here in the following year in the Ashes he managed to take 27 wickets with an average of 20.33 and also managed to get a match winning performance in the first test by taking 8 wickets for 71 along with a hat trick thus showing how much he was dominating the world of test cricket and spin.
Although he always loved staying in the headlines and this time unfortunately he was in the news for all the wrong reasons, in 1998 Warne and his team mate Mark Waugh revealed that they had taken money in exchange for news about the pitch and the weather forecast from Indian Bookmakers this led to a huge controversy and even led to the Australian board secretly fining them for this violation. Regardless, he still managed to win the player of the century in the year 2000.
In February 2003, he faced another controversy and was ejected from the squad during the world cup because he failed to clear the drug test, he was given a 12 month ban for this violation and he regretted deeply, however this did not stop his fan following from diminishing.
By the end of the 2003-2004 season during his return game he managed to accomplish a great feat and broke the record of 500 wickets, soon him and his counterpart Muralitharan broke Walsh’s record of 519 wickets and became the only two players to ever do so.
In 2007 he went onto retire from Test cricket but still played ODIs and domestic cricket up until 2011, his illustrious career consisted of 708 test wickets and this record was later broken by Muralitharan but still he had defined the world of leg spin and gave birth to a lot of leg spinners indirectly due to his legacy.
His career was extremely illustrious and ground breaking and he finally passed away on March 4th 2022 in Thailand, Koh Samui. He will always be remembered as the legend he is and will always be respected for his great prowess and talent.
