Not a good start for everyone. Shane Warne is no exception.
Shane Warne made his Test debut in 1992 against India in Sydney. But it turned out to be a bad experience. Warne bowled 1/150 in Ravi Shastri's double century. He gave away 78 runs without a wicket in the next Test.
Warne, who bowled like that in January, was given another chance against Sri Lanka. Warne gave away 107 runs in the first innings and struggled again to take wickets. Until then he had leaked 335 runs in Tests and taken only 1 wicket.
Warne was not worried about his bad luck in those three Tests. He proved who he was in the 2nd innings. Perhaps Warne would not have gotten another chance if he had not bowled like that in it. Australia set a target of 181 for Sri Lanka. As Sri Lanka came close to victory after losing 7 wickets for 150 runs, the first team to face Warne's unbeaten performance was Sri Lanka. Warne took the last three wickets for 14 runs to give Australia a convincing victory. Aussie captain Allan Border was the first to trust him. Captain Alan Border. Warne gave Australia a series of victories.
In his first Boxing Day Test in 1992, he took 7 wickets against the West Indies and won the Man of the Match award for the first time. Since then he has become a huge player to win a total of 17 Man of the Match awards in Tests.
The following year, Warne became famous for bowling the best ball of the century. Every Aussie cricketer’s dream is to play in the Ashes series. Warne got the wicket of Mike Gatting of the first ball he bowled in that Ashes series. The ball, which was pitched outside the leg stump, knocked out the off stump. It was celebrated as the best ball of the century. Warne took 34 wickets in 6 Tests in that Ashes series. Everyone who watched Warne's bowling felt that a new era had begun.
Warne has faced many controversies outside of cricket. In its first episode, the Cricket Board of Australia fined Mark Waugh and Shane Warne in 1995 for informing gamblers about the game. This was also discovered by the media and brought out three years later.
In Test cricket, Warne instilled in the youth the hope that they could achieve in leg-spin bowling and take plenty of wickets. Even so, there is no spinner in Australian cricket who was not influenced by Warne.
For the next five years from 1993, Warne added success wherever he went in Test cricket. He became an unparalleled spin bowler. Warne amassed enough wickets to take almost 5 wickets in each Test during this period. Warne instilled belief in the fans and fear in the opponents that the wicket would fall whenever he bowled.
Warne played three Tests against Pakistan on home soil in 1995. In one of these Tests, he never bowled. However, he took 19 wickets in that Test series. The average is 10.42. Warne did not get these numbers in any other series. The cricketing world wondered if the Pakistani players would struggle this far in the spin bowling. (He has taken 90 wickets in 15 Tests against Pakistan in total.)
The 1996 and 1999 World Cup semi-finals are thrilling to watch even now. West Indies, who had 6 wickets in hand in the 1996 semi-final. They needed just 30 runs to win. Will this be possible when Warne is there? He took wicket after wicket in later stages in that match and bowled 4/36 to give Australia an incredible victory by 5 runs. We can even say that the slide of the West Indies team started from here.
From 1998 to 2001, Warne realized that nothing in the game was permanent. He suffered a shoulder injury and the Indian batsmen, including Sachin Tendulkar, handled Warne's spin brilliantly. The 9 Tests he played against India during this period also taught him a new lesson. He realized while playing against India that he too could be taken to cleaners by a team. These series were the main reasons for his conversion as he had a long way to go and a lot of skills to learn. His average was just over 40 in all three-Test series played against India. Warne could never beat India. His average against other teams was below 30 as it was only 47.18 against India. The Indian batsmen played Warne's bowling brilliantly. It was a golden period for Indian fans.
Warne underwent finger surgery in 1996 and underwent another operation in May 1998 for a shoulder injury. Doctors have said it is difficult to play anymore. Warne, who played Test cricket in January 1996, was able to play again in November of the same year. He also played until March 1998. He returned to play in January of the following year. It's just that these two are not a big gap. But in a way, these injuries have also been a reason for the slight slip in his cricket career.
Warne's name comes to mind when it comes to the 1999 World Cup. Warne, who did not make a big impact at the start of the world cup, became the main reason for the team to win the trophy. Warne, who bowled out 4/29 against South Africa in the semi-finals, went on to win the Man of the Match award in both the crucial matches with another impressive 4/33 in the final. He took 20 wickets in that World Cup.
With less than 10 years of playing, Warne has been named one of the top 5 cricketers of the century by the Wisden media. He is the only current player in the top five. Other achievers include Bradman, Sobers, Jack Hobbs, and Richards. The Aussie took the most wickets in Test cricket in 2000, surpassing Dennis Lillee's 355 wickets, and became the highest wicket-taker in tests for Australia.
After 2001, one was able to see the vintage Warne. In fact, in the last five and a half years of his cricketing career, Warne has received many more accolades. At that time he was world famous for taking 6 wickets per Test. Won 9 Man of the Match awards.
Tragedy awaited fans before the start of the 2003 World Cup. Warne has been banned for a year by the Australian Cricket Board for taking drugs. Warne said the problem was caused by a drug used for weight loss. This marked the end of Warne's one-day cricket career. The team won the 2003 World Cup without Warne.
Warne has never played more matches in ODI cricket. Ponting, Steve Waugh, Gilchrist all played more than 280 ODIs. He took 293 wickets in it. Economy - 4.25. Economy - Only 3.83 out of two ODIs played in the World Cup. To that extent the opposing players faced Warne’s bowling with caution.
Warne returned as a new man in 2004 and proved himself once again. Australia won 3 of 3 Tests played in Sri Lanka. Warne took 26 wickets. He became the first spinner to take 500 Test wickets in the series. In the same year, the Australian team won the Test series in India and set a historic record. Warne became the highest wicket-taker in Test cricket, surpassing Muralitharan in the series.
Who can forget the 2005 Ashes series? The ball that got the wicket of Andrew Strauss in the Shane Warne spin was named the best bowling of the 21st century. Thus only Warne was able to throw the best ball of the century. He took 40 wickets in 5 Tests in that series and mesmerized the cricket world. Warne also became the first bowler to take 600 wickets in the same series, taking 96 Test wickets in 2005 alone. No one else has taken so many wickets in a year. Warne has made great strides whenever he has problems in his cricketing career such as injuries, surgery and a one-year ban. Proof of that, these figures.
In 1992 he took 12 wickets in 5 Tests. He took 291 wickets in 59 Tests from 1993 to February 1998. He took 5 wickets 13 times and a total of 10 wickets 4 times in a Test. He bowled even better after 2001 as if all of this was nothing. Slight slip in the middle. He took 73 wickets in 23 Tests from March 1998 to June 2001. He took 5 wickets only twice in 23 Tests.
Only after 2001 did he prove himself a king again. The interest in taking wickets can also be described as a period of mania. He took 332 wickets in 58 Tests. That means he took 41 more wickets in one Test than in the 1993-1998 season. He took 5 wickets 21 times and a total of 10 wickets 6 times in a Test and retaliated against all criticisms on the field. Thus Warne made such a big impact that the batters would tremble if he came to bowl.
Warne may not have messed up at crucial points. He has taken 195 wickets in 36 Tests in the Ashes series, which is the breath of Australian cricketers. No one else in the Ashes has taken so many wickets. Glenn McGrath is next with 157 wickets. Warne's bowling will be a whirlwind in the 3rd and 4th innings of the Test. Has taken 5 wickets 37 times. He took 5 wickets 19 times in the 3rd and 4th innings alone. How can any team beat the Australian team, if someone throws the ball like this? This is why the Australian team has become an invincible force in all forms of cricket during this period.
Despite playing in only two ODI World Cups, Australia could not have achieved much without Warne's bowling. Warne has won the Man of the Match awards in two semifinals and one final. On top of this, how can a player contribute to a team’s success? He took 4 wickets twice in both the semi-finals when the Australian team was in crisis and led the way to victory.
Australia avenged the 2005 defeat by beating England 5–0 in the Ashes in 2007. Warne took 23 wickets in the series and said goodbye to international cricket with 708 Test wickets. Warne was the highest Test wicket-taker at the time.
Not without his mark on the batting either. Warne scored 3154 runs in Test cricket with 12 half-centuries. In 2001 he missed a century on a run in Perth.
It is unfortunate that Warne, who excels at discovering talent, was unable to lead the Australian team on a large scale. Warne, who captained Australia in 11 ODIs, led the young Rajasthan team to the title in the opening year of the IPL (2008). It will not be easy for anybody to lead the IPL team and win after retirement. He was the 2nd highest wicket-taker in the IPL that year.
After Warne's demise, not only Aussie cricket fans but fans all over the world are shedding tears. Warne was a great role model for those who started watching cricket in the 90s. Everybody who wanted to bowl leg-spin imitated his bowling actions. Even after his retirement, he had much more to contribute to cricket. Even recently he responded enthusiastically to Sachin's tweet about the rules of cricket. Only once in a century do such talents appear. Suddenly no one expected that one day everyone would be left stranded. Warne's bowling and his skills will continue to be talked about for centuries to come.