Cricket News: Shane Warne, the legendary Australian cricketer, died earlier this month in Thailand after suffering a suspected heart attack while on holiday. Warne is widely recognised as one of the best cricketers of all time, having taken 708 Test wickets, a record at the time of his retirement in 2006. The Australian hero also won the World Cup and had a fierce rivalry with some of the game’s greatest batters, including India’s Sachin Tendulkar.
Warne and Tendulkar’s rivalry has been well-documented. Former Australia captain Mark Taylor told a great storey about Warne and Tendulkar during the team’s 1998/99 tour of India on Wednesday. Tendulkar had made specific preparations for Warne, according to Taylor, and he had ordered the leg-spinner to target the Indian batter right away.
“There was a lot of report of Sachin doing extra work to face Shane Warne. So I told Warne that as soon as Sachin walks out to bat, I’m putting you up straight away because he is obviously thinking about you. The first match we played was against Mumbai, and Sachin was playing for Mumbai which surprised us.
“I brought Warnie on. Sachin made around 180 and he smashed Warne all around the park. But to be fair, I don’t think Warnie was giving his absolute best. Then we got to the first Test in Chennai. We got India 2 for 60-something and Sachin came out. I told Warnie, ‘you are on next over’.
“First ball, Sachin gets down the track, hits Warnie over his head for a four. Two balls later, Warnie tossed it up, a bit higher, Sachin went down the deck to hit over cover, edged it, straightaway to me at first slip. And he was out on 4. We thought we have got his number,” Taylor said during Shane Warne’s State Memorial Service on Wednesday.
Tendulkar, on the other hand, made an incredible recovery in the second innings, finishing undefeated on 155. The game was eventually won by India by 179 runs.
“In the second innings, out came Sachin again and I told Warnie, “you’re on.” Once again, Sachin goes back over his head for four. Warnie said he would go around the wicket and use the footmarks on the leg stump. Next ball, he went inside out for four. In third or fourth ball, he slog-swept him for six. At the end of the over, Warnie asked me, ‘Hey skip, what do we do now?’ and I said, “Warnie, now we lose!”
“Sachin scored 155, and I was correct on one point. We were defeated!” The audience at the Melbourne Cricket Ground erupted in laughter as Taylor said this.
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