It was tough to witness Warne’s magic in Ashes and other series around the world. Warne became big in India - even in small villages and towns - when cable television was not even democratized. Warne did - in Test cricket, in IPL, and later as a mentor and a commentator - that too never mincing any words. You can’t imagine another player, holding that level of ingenuity to drive the culture in a country that produced some of the best exponents of spin bowling. Yet Shane Warne still was the most-feared entity for Indian fans and that tells a story of its own. At a time when wickets were flat to a fault, a spinner, that too a non-sub-continental leggie, doing anything worthwhile was beyond the realms of expectations. The likes of Mohammed Azharuddin and Rahul Dravid found him too easy to deal with. Navjot Singh Sidhu and Sachin Tendulkar never really let Warne have a stronghold against India. When he made his debut against India at the iconic SCG in 1992, Ravi Shastri showed his might. There was a fierce Glenn McGrath to deal with and at times, even Jason Gillespie and Michael Kasprowicz had the wood over the Indians but Warne never really cut a swathe.
Only 43 wickets in 14 matches in a career spanned over 15 years.
On the field, he might not have the same kind of impact against India as he did elsewhere but Warne meant a whole lot more for a generation of kids far far away from downtown Melbourne.įor many people averse to the idea of statistics, it was unbeknownst that the magician conceded 47.18 runs per dismissal against India. If you were a kid growing up in India in the 90s and early 2000s, you know the sheer impact Shane Warne had on our psyche.
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