Former Australia all-rounder Shane Watson reminisced about late Shane Warne’s leadership skills while recalling their time at the Rajasthan Royals for the first few seasons of the Indian Premier League (IPL). Warne was the coach and captain of the RR franchise, while Watson played a huge role in RR winning the inaugural title.

Warne, who played 55 matches for Rajasthan Royals between 2008 and 2011, led the side to its only IPL title in 2008.

Shane Warne sadly passed away at the age of 52 while vacationing in Thailand on March 4, sending shockwaves across the cricketing world and leaving his teammates and fans in deep sorrow.

Watson recalled his time with Shane Warne together at the Rajasthan Royals during a Delhi Capitals virtual press conference.

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He said: "The thing that stood out for me was that Rajasthan was written off because we didn't have big names as compared to the other teams. The advantage that Rajasthan had was the ability to pull the team together very quickly.”

“The incredible skill that Shane Warne had was seeing what people's roles were and then tap into that role. For me, that was why he was an incredible leader because he knew how to tap into a player's best version.  He believed in the players, knew their skill set and where they fit in. For me, that's why Rajasthan did so well in the first season. He pulled all these from different cultures and different phases of their careers and led from the front,” Watson added.

Shane Warne played international cricket from 1992-2007 and picked 708 wickets in 145 Tests and 293 wickets in 194 ODIs.

(PTI inputs)