Published: May 21, 2011, 11:24 AM (IST)
Edited: Mar 24, 2014, 04:20 PM (IST)
By Jamie Alter
Ever since that first Test at Chennai in 1998 when Shane Warne got Sachin Tendulkar to edge to Mark Taylor at slip for four, two of modern cricket’s most-watched and most-admired cricketers have shared an intense on-field rivalry. On the third day of the same Test, Tendulkar responded with an innings of brilliance that set the tone for India’s domination of Australia, and kick-started a run of form for Tendulkar that he has yet to match, though 2010 comes mighty close.
It was a rivalry that raised India-Australia encounters to the level of Indo-Pak clashes, and eventually usurped even that. There were many who, unfairly, expected that rivalry to conclude when Tendulkar’s Mumbai Indians (MI) faced off against Warne’s Rajasthan Royals (RR) at the Wankhede Stadium on Friday evening.
After all this was an IPL match, a format which doesn’t allow itself to many such epic encounters between bat and ball. The Tendulkar-Warne rivalry is best remembered at the international level, specifically in Test cricket, the holy grail of this great game. It would have been somewhat trivial, as Warne himself admitted after RR hammered MI by ten wickets in 13.1 overs, for his final match to be remembered if he had managed to dismiss Tendulkar.
The on-air commentators, trying to get a wired-up Warne to engage in a little banter with Tendulkar while he was batting, asked him why he didn’t sledge Tendulkar. Pat came the reply: “Don’t want to be fined again, mate”. Even in the middle of the action, Warne had his humour about him. He then went on to regale the TV audience by revealing how during the mid-90s he had sledged Tendulkar who then went on to score eight centuries in a quick span of time.
Warne bowled seven balls to Tendulkar, who scored seven runs off them. There was no big turn from Warne to Tendulkar. In fact, his first two overs were decidedly ordinary. No major spin or bounce of fizz. The crowd cheered every delivery. There were placards with Warne’s name being waved in the ground. His name was flashed on the big screen repeatedly. The DJ tried his best to set the mood. The fans were expecting something to happen. It didn’t. Tendulkar was eventually dismissed by Amit Singh, upper-cutting to third man. Warne ran up to his bowler and congratulated him, and then it was back to business. Time to focus on the incoming batsman.
On the field, as a leader, Warne was active and engaged with his bowlers. As he has over four seasons, he would go up to a bowler and ask him for his field, and surely what delivery he wanted to bowl to try and dismiss a batsman. There was nothing different about the way he conducted himself.
If his own bowling was ordinary – he picked up one wicket, that of MI’s top-scorer, Rohit Sharma, in the 20th over – Warne didn’t seem to care. He was keener that RR won the match. He clapped each time Man-of-the-Match Shane Watson hit a boundary, and was the first to congratulate Watson and Rahul Dravid when they got off the field.
That RR wanted to send off their inspirational leader with a win was evident in the manner in which they gave him a guard of honour as he led them out before the match. There were plenty of handshakes and high-fives and pats on the back. Similarly, after the victory, Warne was ushered off the field by clapping team-mates and he gently raised his hands to acknowledge the reception.
“I would like to say thank you to my team-mates, they are a great group of guys and I am proud of the way they conducted themselves on and off the field for the whole tournament. We played in the right spirit,” he said afterwards at the press conference. “I am really proud of the way our guys conducted on and off the field. We have won the second most number of games after Chennai in the four years. It’s a tremendous record. I am proud of the way RR have played over the last few years. I am surprised myself at how well I bowled at the age of 41.”
The crowds may not have got to see the rivalry they wanted, but those present at the Wankhede were privileged to watch Warne bowl the leg-breaks that made him a legend. Warney, you will be missed.
(Jamie Alter is a freelance cricket writer, having worked at ESPNcricinfo and All Sports Magazine. He is the author of two books, The History of World Cup Cricket and Field of Dreams: The Story of the Dr. DY Patil Sports Stadium. His twitter feed is @jamie_alter)
