A tribute to the legend

I still remember the day when Shane Warne took his 300th victim - fooling Kallis with a top spinner. On the same day I read an article by Richie Benaud in Indian Express, where Richie predicted that Shane Warne would end his career taking 600 wickets. Even a die hard Aussie fan like me deemed the suggestion preposterous as my friends mocked at the impossibility of such an outcome. Kapil Dev had reached 436 with great difficulty and to expect someone like Warne, who was already at his peak, to take 600 wickets was nothing but wishful thinking. But 8 years down the line, here the legends rests - 704 and counting.....

Despite the drubbing meted out by Ravi Shastri on his debut, Warne scripted an amazing comeback with the 'ball of the century'. I still vividly remember the way he bamboozled Gatting and rearranged his woodwork. I was only 11 then, and I had never seen a ball turn so much in my life before. Ever since then I became an ardent fan of the wizard and his wizardry. But it was not just me, the entire world took notice of this stout wrist spinner.

What followed next was as mesmerising as that fateful day. As he revived and perfected the art of leg spin, batsmen from all over the world dreaded to square off against the wizard. Except the ones from the subcontinent, most were held in a bind by his bag of tricks. Bowling round the wickets came into fashion, superfast flipper lbws became common and the combination 'c Taylor b Warne' entered the history books.

But only immense talent doesn't make someone popular, he had a very captivating personality too. He was aptly nickname 'Hollywood' by his mates for his flambouyant style and fashion sense. On the field he was a dynamite, and fired up his team mates even in desperate situations. It was this attitude which enable him and his team to script many a great comebacks. The one that immediately comes to my mind is the 1999 World Cup semis when he cleaned up Gibbs with a peach of a delivery.

However, what made Warne really famous was not just his on field antics but also his off field controversy. He was out for months with a broken finger, then with a shoulder surgery. In between he had a failed marriage, he was caught texting dirty messages to English nurses. On most times he would come out of his absences carrying extra pounds around him and would be the joke of all editors. But he made sure he had the final laugh.The final nail in his coffin was laid when he was kicked out of the world cup for taking banned substance. Many considered it to be his end, but he rose magnificiently through all his downfalls to emerge stronger than before. Contemporary spinners like Kumble, Muralitharan, Saqlain all achieved comparable success, but none caught the public attention like he did.

Some might argue that he still has atleast 2 years of cricket left in him and might be retiring prematurely. But they always say its best to get out when you are at the top. Rather than being an excess baggage like many cricketers do at the fag end of their career, Warne has decided to leave on his terms. Hollywood would definitely be missed by the cricketing fraternity, and leaves behind him a void which is almost impossible to fill. Muralitharan might break his record, but Warne will still be remembered as the best bowler of the 90's and 00's.

Here is a compilation of his best 8 deliveries.