Shane Warne. The name is enough for a cricket fan to tell what this bowler of magical quality has achieved on the cricket field. But for his off-field silly antics, he would have been a great captain of Australia. A bowler with a great knack of out-thinking a batsman, he had all the abilities to make a highly successful captain. He had the personality, the charisma and the most important fact - a cricketer who hardly ever was out of form throughout his long & distinguished career. His name in the Australian XI was itself a psychological victory for Australia, especially against England, South Africa, West Indies and New Zealand. He was not easily played by the Pakistanis and Sri Lankans either. The only country which played him comfortably was India. He had an amazing hold on the opposition and his ability to play mind games was the killer punch(it is best illustrated by the Adelaide Test in his farewell Ashes, as well as his farewell series, against England when he defeated England single-handedly after everyone thought that the Test was meandering towards a draw. England had made a huge first innings score. That destroyed England and they lost the series 5-0.) He has been hugely influential with Hampshire. He has led the county to greater glories as its captain and coach. If that was not well known on a larger global scale, then his moulding of Rajasthan Royals (the team which everyone thought will finish last) into a superbly unified functioning winning combination. has shown the world what he is capable off as a captain.
The spirit is there for everyone to see. Shane Warne's genious is visible with every move he makes on & off the field. His tactical nous was apparent when he made Kolkotta Knight Riders field after winning the toss. The logic - KKR was traveling and was obviously tired and under the scorching sun they will wilt further allowing RR to score with much more freedom and then restrict them when they begin the chase. It all went perfectly as per the plan. RR won comfortably in the end. RR registered their 4th win on the trot and KKR their 3rd consecutive loss. The big test for RR is now when they face the only unbeaten team - Chennai Super Kings. On the face of it, it seems to be a Battle Royale, between the cool & unfazed MS Dhoni and the Mr. Genius, Shane Warne.
The way Shane Warne has made RR, combination of diverse cricketers majority of whom are inexperienced on a world stage, into a winning team, which has gathered momentum with every outing. This raises the question - has Team Australia lost on a great captain or was it a case of Genius shooting himself in the foot. Whatever the case may be, we definitely lost a chance to see a, would-have-been, great captain of a highly successful cricket nation for the last 15 years.
The worldwide popularity of IPL has projected this leadership quality of Shane Warne in front of a huge global audience.
An unfulfilled promise. A dream. A loss. A what-would-have-been. Yes, that's Shane Warne for you. An enigma who is still going strong at 38.
