Thursday, May 19, 2011

Warne, spin genius with soap-opera life

SYDNEY: Shane Warne mixed legendary cricket deeds with lurid headlines away from the pitch in a career as bewitching as his famed wrong 'un.

Warne, who bows out of professional cricket aged 41 on Friday with the Indian Premier League's Rajasthan Royals, was never one for half-measures throughout his extraordinary 15-year Test career.

The greatest leg-spinner of them all carved out a flamboyant lifestyle cast outside the mould of a traditional cricketing icon, often putting himself at odds with the game's purists.

Vainglorious Warne did things his way and will be remembered for his dalliances and forthright opinions as much as for his pioneering 708 Test wickets in a 145-Test career that made him the scourge of batsmen worldwide.

Warne is entrenched in Australia's sporting pantheon - in the eyes of many he is second only to cricket's immortal Don Bradman.

Yet his achievements are tempered for some by his penchant for a zesty private life, including a recent tabloid affair with British actress Liz Hurley.

But Warne's contribution to cricket is inarguable, notably after he resurrected the waning art of leg-spin, became the first bowler to take 700 Test wickets and delivered the most famous ball in the sport's history.

Warne posted inauspicious figures of 1-150 in his 1992 Test debut but knuckled down under spin guru Terry Jenner. Eighteen months later, Warne riveted the cricketing world with the "ball of the century" against England.

Warne's first leg-break delivery in an Ashes Test turned viciously to bamboozle England's Mike Gatting at Old Trafford in 1993 that heralded the arrival of a cricketing superstar.

He was a master of mind games, targeting batsmen ahead of a series and warning he was working on a new mystery ball to bowl out his "bunnies" in the opposition line-up.

He gave a man-of-the-match performance when Australia won the World Cup in 1999, and is known for a sharp and inventive cricketing brain which saw him long touted as Australian Test skipper.

But even Warne himself once described his life as a soap opera, such was the litany of off-field controversies.

"Warney", also nicknamed " Hollywood", survived drug and bookmaking scandals and pursued an energetic love life which is widely thought to have cost him the Australian captaincy.

In 1998 it emerged that Warne and Australian team-mate Mark Waugh had been fined three years earlier for supplying information to an Indian bookmaker.

Warne was stripped of the Australian team vice-captaincy in 2000 after it emerged he had bombarded an English nurse with lewd text messages after meeting her in a nightclub.

A series of infidelities culminated in his very public break-up from his wife of 10 years, Simone, with whom he has three children.

And yet his performance in Australia's failed Ashes campaign in England in 2005 is regarded by some pundits as the pinnacle of his career, when he overcame his disintegrating marriage and a tabloid frenzy to take 40 wickets.

He also missed the 2003 World Cup in South Africa after he tested positive on tournament-eve for a banned diuretic - a weight-loss pill sometimes used to mask steroids - in a drug scandal which saw him banned for a year in 2003.

Warne returned to Test cricket in March 2004 but never again played international one-day matches, instead preferring to concentrate on the longer form of the game.

Warne was always sensitive about his weight and recently shed more than 10kg (22lbs) after dropping alcohol and fast food and replacing them with water and health shakes.

Warne continued playing after ending his Test career in January 2007 and scripted a title triumph with a rag-tag team in the IPL Twenty20 competition's first edition in 2008, highlighting his nous and motivational skills.

But his final season in charge of Rajasthan this year did not offer his hoped-for fairy-tale finale.

He started well, initially managing to fox batsmen with his turn and flight, but gradually lost his rhythm as even inexperienced youngsters began hitting him for sixes with ease and regularity.

Off-field troubles also spoiled his valedictory season.

He had an ugly spat with a local cricket administrator, a tiff with Indian superstar Sachin Tendulkar, and appeared dejected in his final matches after criticising the pitch used at home games.

This week Warne was fined $50,000 over a row with the secretary of the Rajasthan Cricket Association, whom he berated in front of TV cameras over the choice of wicket.

Right to the very end, Warne's cricket career was never dull.

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Our focus is to move to second spot in IPL table: Gambhir

MUMBAI: Relieved to secure a comfortable seven-wicket victory over Pune Warriors, Kolkata Knight Riders skipper Gautam Gambhir on Thursday said his team would aim to win their next match and finish atleast in the second spot in the IPL points table.

Gambhir admitted he was nervous before their match against Pune and attributed their comfortable victory to the all-round display of his side.

"Very important two points today. It was a very important game and I was nervous, we had everything to lose today. We needed to be professional. We had come so close we couldn't afford to let it slip from here," he said.

"We needed to be up there, up the energy and if I am asking so much from the team I needed to have that first so I wanted to lead from the front and bring that intensity in the field.

"Credit goes to the entire team. We were never too keen on batting in a hurry for the Net run rate. It wasn't that kind of pitch," he added.

Asked about their next match against Mumbai Indians, Gambhir said, "We want to go out there and look to win the next game as they we would have a very bright chance of moving into the second spot in the table, so that's what we will focus on."

"Jacques' been doing a great job, his injury gave me an opportunity to open today. I want to give credit to the entire bunch of bowlers, everyone bowled well," he added.

Man of the Match, Yusuf Pathan, who scored 29 runs and scalped two wickets, said he was relaxed before the match.

"No tension ahead of the game. Gauti (Gautam) utilised me very well with the ball, I could get wickets and keep the runs down," he said.

Pune Warriors skipper Yuvraj said toss played a crucial factor and reckoned 140 would have been a good score in this pitch which turned a lot in the beginning.

"135-140 would have been a good score. Toss would have been vital, it turned a lot earlier in the first innings and not much in the second half. But credit goes to KKR they bowled according to a plan. we lost too many wickets in between," he said.

Yuvraj said he was giving the youngsters chance to bat up the order so that he can handle the pressure down the line.

"I am happy to allow youngsters bat ahead of me up the order. I have batted for India in tough situation and can handle the pressure," he said.

The left-hander said things didn't work out for his team once again and it was disappointing.

"It is difficult when you are out of reckoning and you have to play for your pride. Today again things didn't work for us, shots were going to fielders," he said.

Asked about Callum Ferguson whose two overthrows fetched Kolkata two boundaries, Yuvraj said, "All I could do when Ferguson's throws were going for four was smile, I think this is the best medicine in such situations and so that's what I did."

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