IPL Controversies: Sourav Ganguly, Shane Warne engage in furious war of words in inaugural edition
Sourav Ganguly and Shane Warne's relation hit a low point during the inaugural IPL in 2008.
The infamous Sydney Test had been played only four months ago. Ganguly could be forgiven for his act. Michael Clarke had grassed Ganguly s catch in the second innings but had claimed the wicket. Mark Benson had taken his word and gave Ganguly out. That had proved decisive to the game s fate. It was one of several decisions that went against India during that Test. The Australians had shown little regard towards the spirit of cricket. Indian skipper Anil Kumble had famously remarked a la Bill Woodfull: Only one team was playing with the spirit of the game. Warne s Century Ganguly retired from international cricket in 2008-09. Warne, already retired in 2006-07, was still bitter on the former Indian skipper. Warne released a book on top 100 cricketers of his choice titled Shane Warne s Century in late 2008. He put Ganguly at 96th, describing him as an intelligent bloke . However, some of his observations on Ganguly did not go well with most Indian fans. Sourav Ganguly might not be my cup of tea as a bloke, but what he did for Indian cricket has to be respected. He is a feisty sort of character, not short of self-confidence or unaware of his standing in Indian life. He is regarded over there, especially around his teeming home city of Calcutta, as one of the greatest ever Indian captains. They won more games under him than anybody else, so I guess the statistics back that up. Personally, I am not so sure. Supporters know him as the Prince of Calcutta. The story is that he gave himself the nickname and it stuck. Change of heart Time is the best healer they say. With time, Warne forgave Ganguly. When he selected an all-time Indian Test XI in 2015, Warne picked Ganguly ahead of his old tormentor VVS Laxman. He also named Ganguly captain. Later, on Salaam Cricket, Warne went on to praise Ganguly s tactic of making Waugh and other captains wait to get under their nerves as brilliant tactical moves in hindsight. IPL 2008 Coming back to the Jaipur match of 2008, Warne had the last laugh. Royals won the game comfortably after Swapnil Asnodkar lit up Jaipur on his IPL debut. The side continued with the momentum as Warne guided Rajasthan to title win in the inaugural edition of IPL. KKR finished sixth and Ganguly lost his captaincy in the next edition. Brief scores Rajasthan Royals 196 for 7 in 20 overs [Swapnil Asnodkar 60 (34), Yusuf Pathan 55 (33), Ravindra Jadeja 33 (19); Umar Gul 4-0-33-3] beat Kolkata Knight Riders 151 in 19.1 overs [Sourav Ganguly 51 (39), David Hussey 42 (30); Shane Watson 3.1-0-22-2, Sohail Tanvir 4-0-30-2, Siddharth Trivedi 4-0-31-2] by 45 runs. Man of the Match: Swapnil Asnodkar.
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