 Shane Warne basking in IPL success
21st May 2008 23:03 IST
Manish Kumar
And as the tournament progressed, Warne's deft captaincy earned plaudits from cricket fans, with the Rajasthan side sitting most of the time pretty atop the chart and Warne himself relishing captaining Rajasthan Royals after Victoria, Hampshire and leading Australia to victory in 10 one-day internationals out of 11 in the late 1990s.
A few days back, Warne's captaincy had been praised by Ian Chappell, who called the leggie 'The best captain Australia never had'.
And that his bowling is nowhere near decline was evident in those three deliveries that he bowled to Chennai Super Kings captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni on May 4 in Jaipur.
The first ball landed on leg and middle and spun past Dhoni's tentative bat. Dhoni barely managed to keep out the next one, which pitched on nearly the same spot and straightened.
The third was floated just a bit more to draw the batsman forward, and held back just a bit to ensure that it landed short enough to spin and catch the edge that was taken at first slip by Graeme Smith. Even if Dhoni, the most expensive player in the IPL, had missed it, he would have been stumped.
One really has to admire the feats of an old star who is shining in the furnace of India's new league when he could be sitting contentedly beside the fire in Melbourne.
And now Warne not only tolerates Indian food, he also organises the team menu and last heard he is also trying to learn Hindi.
Lage raho Warney! |
