Indian Premier League :: IPL Cricket Forum

[cool.aquarian]

We often see gestures like it on the field, but only occasionally get to hear the tales behind them. Here is one. When Yusuf Pathan tempted Adam Gilchrist out of his crease and had him stranded in only the third over of Rajasthan Royals' match against the Deccan Chargers, no one was more animated than Shane Warne. While his team-mates were still celebrating, he turned towards the Rajasthan dugout and made a little gesture that said: "I told you so."

"We knew it was coming," said Jeremy Snape, who is part of Rajasthan's support staff as performance coach. It had been Warne's idea to throw in Pathan's offspin early against Gilchrist and he had been certain Pathan would get Gilchrist out. "It took us a long time to discuss the machinations of this strategy," Snape said. "When something like that happens, it's brilliant."

With Warne orchestrating the moves as captain-coach, such things have happened again and again with the Rajasthan Royals. Batsmen and bowlers are known to have golden streaks, but for nearly two weeks we have seen a captain in the zone. After a disastrous opening match, the most unfancied team of the competition has won five in row, and everything Warne has touched has turned to gold. The importance of luck in captaincy cannot be overstated, but to repeat a hoary phrase, fortune favours the brave. Warne has backed his instincts and gambled away.

In their second match, against Punjab, he had two legspinners - himself and the unheralded Dinesh Salunkhe, who came into the spotlight through a TV talent-hunt show and is yet to play a first-class match - bowling together after six overs, and they claimed three wickets in as many overs. Salunkhe got Mahela Jayawerdene stumped.

Chasing 217 against the Deccan Chargers, Warne promoted Yusuf Pathan to No. 3 and Pathan blasted a 21-ball half century.

Against the Royal Challengers, the customary deep fine-leg was done away with and a man was posted at the square-leg boundary instead. Rahul Dravid pulled the first ball he faced straight to him, and three more wickets fell to the short-ball trap.

In the next match, against Kolkata, Warne pulled out little-known Swapnil Asnodkar, a frail-looking opening batsman from Goa with a strike-rate of 41.23 in List A limited-overs cricket, and Asnodkar blazed away to 60 off 34 balls.

Against Chennai, Warne handed the new ball to Sohail Tanvir and told him to look for wickets: in the first over, Tanvir took two.


Outrageous luck or flashes of genius? A bit of both perhaps, but it is worth noting that the outcomes wouldn't have been possible without either.

Their only major current international player is Graeme Smith. The batting is thin on paper; and the franchise gambled on appointing Warne - whose antipathy towards professional coaches is only too well known - head of the coaching team.
Rajasthan Royals are the most no-frills franchise in the IPL. They have no Bollywood stars in their entourage, but they do possess a well-knit support team. Apart from Snape, who contributes to planning and strategy, there is Darren Berry, the assistant coach, who, in Warne's words, brings "a structured approach to training".

Above all, Warne has been there to provide the bits of magic that only he can. The Royals' dressing room is still heady with the 16 runs he blasted off three balls from Andrew Symonds' final over against the Deccan Chargers, but it is the dismissal of Mahendra Singh Dhoni in the game against Chennai that will have made fans' eyes moist with nostalgia.

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. Even if Dhoni had missed it, he would have been stumped. It was a sublime working-over, a piece of art.

Warne's and Rajasthan's unexpected success is both uplifting and reassuring. It is a reaffirmation that old-fashioned cricket values and skills have their place in the game's newest, and to many the crassest, form.

Long may Warne continue to reign.

[kareena]

They are certainly playing as team and now got the respect from media and audience as well as a strong TEAM. They dont have star player like other team have but this is the sheer magic of warne ... his captaincy and his coaching. They are certainly looking like as a well tightened team.

Hats off to you warne ..

[varungupta]

well this is an ultimate description of Cricketing intelligence!
Shane Warne has always been one of my favorites on field, i just love this guy as a player!
He has his issues with Australian cricket board which didn't let him leading the side , but he is excellence personified
& he proved it here in IPL
So whichever team won the IPL season Shane Warne is the best captain for me in this IPL for sure

[klm9876]

warnie isnt called a wizard for nothing. he may have been one of the bad boys of cricket off field but on the field there are still countable players in the international arena who could match his excellence. it was probably rightly said that warne was probably one of the best capatins australia never had.