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Warne – leading from the front

Warne has shown that an intelligent captain can convert a decent outfit into a winning team, writes W.V. Raman

— PHOTO: PTI

ALWAYS ON THE MOVE: Skipper Shane Warne has put mind over matter even when operating on an aggressive mode and has taken Rajasthan Royals to the top of the table.

The matches in the IPL have provided a lot of entertainment and thrills to the purists as well as the recently converted fans. The tournament has provided the opportunity to see the great, good and the upcoming cricketers on the same platform.

The cricketers belonging to the different categories have displayed admirable skills but some have shown that excelling in mind games backed up by skills is the domain of a great cricketer. The likes of Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath have provided a lot of delight to the public apart from teaching their younger colleagues a thing or two about this game.

Rare genius

Warne for one has shown that the axiom “a captain is only as good as his team” is apt and restricted to only good cricketers. He has shown that an intelligent captain can convert a decent outfit into a winning team. The way he has prevailed over some of his opponents in terms of outwitting them in the IPL games has only reiterated that he is a rare genius.

Warne had proved all there was to be proved in his outstanding career and he needed more than a lucrative offer to spur him on to turn on his magic. Assuming the dual role of player-cum-coach for the Rajasthan Royals team seems to have provided the spark to stoke the dying embers in his belly. He was given a talented bunch of youngsters to handle and was given the task of making men of those boys.

The way he has managed to elevate their levels of commitment and belief has taken the least fancied team to the top of the table. One of the main reasons for this outstanding success is due to the way he has lead from the front. In a format where bowlers don’t have many factors to be gung-ho about, Warne has shown that mental domination is the best option.

The first signs of warning came in his spell against Kings XI Punjab as he mesmerised and got rid of the top order batsmen. A victory against Kings XI started the turnaround and one has to agree that Warne has been ahead of the game as a captain.

His duel with M.S. Dhoni at Jaipur should go down as a classic example of how to destroy an opponent mentally. Sensing that Dhoni’s wicket was important at that stage, Warne brought himself on with a slip in place. The first one spun right across Dhoni from just outside the leg stump and had that one clipped the bail, it would have compared to the one he bowled to dismiss Mike Gatting. Mahesh Rawat, the ’keeper out of deference to Warne did not utter “nice Warney” like Adam Gilchrist and Ian Healy did during their careers. The big spinning delivery made Dhoni shut shop mentally and he was looking to play the wizard out.

The second delivery was a stock delivery and was negotiated safely. The third was tossed up a shade wider and the conditioned reflex developed through years of practice won over his mind as Dhoni played a half-hearted drive only to edge it to Graeme Smith. The wicket of Dhoni was obtained and that too through sheer audacity to signal the beginning of the end.

A dropped catch in his second over was accepted as a part of the game and when Albie Morkel tonked Warne for runs in the third over, he took himself off, not yielding to the temptation of bowling another over.

The ever alert mind decided not to take risks when the odds were not in favour. Yet another pointer that it is a case of putting mind over matter even when operating on an aggressive mode.

After seeing Warne lead the young side, it makes one wonder whether the cricket world missed out on seeing an outstanding skipper in international cricket.

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