Australia spin great Shane Warne was given a fitting farewell on Wednesday, March 30 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), with many greats of the game including his former teammates rivals paying rich tributes to the bowler who passed away at 52 on March 4.
A stand was also named after Shane Warne at the MCG, which was unveiled by his three children, and many cricketers from Australia and England were present and shared their anecdotes about Shane Warne.
One of them was former Australia captain Mark Taylor, who recited a story about the famed rivalry between Shane Warne and Sachin Tendulkar. The two geniuses of their craft faced off in a proper contest in India during the three-Test series in 1998.
Their first official meeting was in 1992 when India toured Australia, but Warne had made his Test debut in that series, while Tendulkar was just a young 18-year-old at that time. The 1998 Border-Gavaskar Trophy series happened when both the players were at the peak of their abilities.
Shane Warne given an emotional farewell at the MCG; stand named after him unveiled
Taylor revealed that Tendulkar made special preparations to face Warne, adding that he had asked the leg-spinner to target the Indian batter straight away.
"There was a lot of report of Sachin doing extra work to face Shane Warne. So I told Warne that as soon as Sachin walks out to bat, I'm putting you up straight away because he is obviously thinking about you. The first match we played was against Mumbai, and Sachin was playing for Mumbai which surprised us.
I brought Warnie on. Sachin made around 180 and he smashed Warne all around the park. But to be fair, I don't think Warnie was giving his absolute best. Then we got to the first Test in Chennai. We got India 2 for 60-something and Sachin came out. I told Warnie, 'you are on next over',” Taylor said during Shane Warne's State Memorial Service on Wednesday.
“First ball, Sachin gets down the track, hits Warnie over his head for a four. Two balls later, Warnie tossed it up, bit higher, Sachin went down the deck to hit over cover, edged it, straightaway to me at first slip. And he was out on 4. We thought we have got his number,” he added.
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But it was not to be, as Tendulkar made a remarkable comeback in the second innings, remaining unbeaten on 155. India eventually won the game by 179 runs.
“In the second innings, out came Sachin again and I told Warnie, “you're on.” Once again, Sachin goes back over his head for four. Warnie said he would go around the wicket and use the footmarks on the leg stump. Next ball, he went inside out for four. In third or fourth ball, he slog-swept him for six. At the end of the over, Warnie asked me, 'Hey skip, what do we do now?' and I said, "Warnie, now we lose! Sachin made 155 and I got one thing right. We lost!" Taylor said, inducing laughter from the crowd present at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
Shane Warne took 10 wickets in 3 Tests at an average of 54 with the best of 4/85. On the other hand, Sachin Tendulkar made 446 runs with 2 centuries and one fifty with a best of 177 and an average of 111.50.
