Why Warne was the greatest bowler of all time and why there will never be another like him
Never had the world of cricket seen such a complete leg-spinner, with the turn, flight, zip, guile and variations, that it was literal poetry in motion; you had to watch it again unless it was against your favourite team.
Every once in a while, the world of sports finds itself a genius, a prodigy and an icon.
A player that is so head and shoulders above the rest that others don't even try to replicate what that player has done.
A player that transcends eras and time and a player that stats simply cannot do proper justice to.
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Tennis saw Roger Federer before the rise of Rafa Nadal and then Novak Djokovic, football saw Maradona in the 1986 World Cup and golf saw Tiger Woods.
While cricket had Sir Don Bradman among batters, among bowlers, Shane Warne takes the cake for me.
Sir Don has the numbers and the average that is for sure to never be broken in the history of cricket, Warne's stats while good, did not belie the outrageous things he could make the cricket ball do.
In fact, Sir Don's numbers can take him into the category of being the greatest sportsperson of all time, but since I wasn't old enough or lucky enough to see him live, that's a story for another day and another writer.
Warne was a different animal though, a player that was always in command and a man for the big occasion.
He may not have the wicket-taking record of Muttiah Muralitharan but his wicket-taking ability on any surface against any opposition in any format was second to none.
In short, he made spin bowling sexy, exciting, entertaining and even fearsome to those supporting the opposition batters.
Warne was playing at a time when cricket had no shortage of geniuses - Brian Lara, Wasim Akram and Sachin Tendulkar to name a few - but he stood head and shoulders above the rest with what he did.
Mastering cricket's most difficult art, while helping your side win when it matters most and doing it better than other bowlers around you? Yeah, that's Shane Warne in a nutshell for you.
I don't want to talk much about the stats here, or the ball of the century, but I want to talk about what Warne was even on his worst day.
A bowler you simply hoped got his overs done with as fast as possible, and if you could score and make hay, then it was your lucky day.
Never had the world of cricket seen such a complete leg-spinner, with the turn, flight, zip, guile and variations, that it was literal poetry in motion; you had to watch it again unless it was against your favourite team.
While white-ball cricket is now dominated by leg spinners these days, most of them rely on their googlies and variations, but Warne was creating magic with just his stock delivery at times.
Never will the world see a bowler as complete as Shane Warne.
Just think of the spell he had the South African batters under, a team I hold near and dear to me.
This was a South African unit that could beat Lara's Windies, Tendulkar's India, Muralitharan's Sri Lanka, and Wasim's Pakistan.
But against Australia, Warne would be the chief destroyer, the one that created the difference.
And ever since Warne's retirement, the Proteas have found their fire against the Aussies - the 438 record chase, the first team to win a Test series win in Australian soil in the new millennium, and the first World Cup win over them.
Warne was not only a magician with the ball in hand but one of cricket's greatest-ever minds if not the greatest ever.
But like most geniuses, he had his flaws off the field which meant the Australian captaincy was given to Ricky Ponting instead.
Giving it to Warne would have made that near-invincible team even better and stronger and mightier than the mightiest of Aussie teams.
It would have been absolute carnage!
But Warne's flaws off-field made the player and the star in him even bigger and better.
He had the bad boy rep but would always back it up in the field with his performances, throwing all norms away and showing the world what a force of nature he truly was.
He was the hero, the villain, the lead role and the megastar in a team full of stars, shining the brightest because he was Shane Warne.
Indefatigable. Imperious. Immense. The king of spin. The one and only, Shane Keith Warne. May you rest in peace.
Cricket will be poorer but may you make the heavens richer forever now.
