Eleven of Australia's best

Cricinfo has started a series named Eleven of the best where it would pick all-time best teams for test playing nations.

I set out to name my all-time best Australian XI to try simulating the task of Cricinfo jury. The task looks more difficult than it seemed at first. Australia has a rich cricketing culture dating back to the 18th century. You can't leave out players just because you haven't seen them neither can you pick players just because their statistics are great. Statistics are a good, but not the ONLY measure, to compare players across the same eras. However, when used to compare players across eras I would like to quote: Statistics are like mini-skirts: what they reveal is interesting, but what they conceal can be downright fascinating. Keeping all the parameters in mind, I finally came up with a list of my personal "eleven of Australia's best".

Here's the short-listed line-up I narrowed down after an arduous exercise of research.

Openers: Victor Trumper, Bill Ponsford, Bob Simpson, Athur Morris, Clem Hill, Matthew Hayden

Middle Order: Don Bradman, Ian Chappell, Greg Chappell, Allan Border, Stan McCabe, Steve Waugh, Charles Macartney, Neil Harvey

All Rounder: Keith Miller, Neil Harvey

Wicket Keepers: Ian Healy, Adam Gilcrhist, Rodney Marsh, Don Tallon

Spinners: Shane Warne, Bill O'Reilly, Clarrie Grimmett, Richie Benaud

Fast Bowlers: Glen McGrath, Ray Lindwall, Alan Davidson, Fred Spofforth, Dennis Lillee

Selection Logic

Openers

William H Ponsford is an automatic selection for one of the opening slots in any great Australian team selected. The only batsman twice to break the highest individual score in first-class cricket, the man with the a king size cricket bat named the "Big Bertha" and one with a penchant for scoring huge runs. Great against fast bowling, lightning quick feet against spinners "Bill" as he was nick named was asked to open in the Australia Cricket Board team of the century. I go for Bill as the first choice opener for my side

The second spot was like a tough Sudoku puzzle. I dropped Clem Hill, Bob Simpson, Matthew Hayden for two other greats. The spot finally was a toss up between Arthur Morris and Victor Trumper.

Statistically comparing Arthur Morris has a higher average(46.48 in 46 Tests) than Victor Trumper(39.04 in 48 Tests). Both equally good at their art, Arthur Morris was selected to open with Bill by the ACB's team of the century. He's regarded as one of Australia's best opening left-hand batsmen along with Clem Hill, Neil Harvey and Allan Border. Employing an unusual defensive technique to shuffle across the stumps and get behind the ball Morris was particuarly known for shots on both sides of the wickets. His USP was judging the length of the ball quickly which allowed him to get into position to play his shots. His back foot play was entertaining and Morris wasn't ever shy of hooking/pulling the ball. An incident where Keith Miller bowler an 8-ball over full of bouncers evinces Morris' back foot play. Out of the 5 balls he faced he scored 4,4,4,4 and 3.

Victor Trumper on the other hand had a unique ability. He scored on wet wickets which his contemporaries found difficult to score on. In one of the wettest summers on record, he averaged 48.49 in 53 innings without a single not out. A member of the Six Giants of the Wisden Century and ten innaugral inductees in Australian Cricket Hall of Fame Trumper's greatness lies beyond the runs he scored. On wickets where his partners couldn't keep their wickets intact, Trumper was able to play extra-ordinarily and time the ball to perfection.The Wisden Almanack quotes: The strokes with which he drove even the best bowlers to despair demanded a marvellous union of hand and eye. His game at its highest point of excellence could only be played by a young man.

It's been difficult for me to choose between Morris and Trumper but finally felt I should give in for Trumper despite Morris' would maintain a left-right combination. Morris' as great as he was had a bogie bowler in the form of Alec Bedser who dimissed him 20 times in first-class cricket and as many as 18 times in Test matches. Only Glenn McGrath's domination of Atherton proves better in the world cricket currently. Typically Bedser took Morris' out by pitching the ball on leg stump and moving across him. In my personal opinion, great batsmen don't tend to have "bogey" bowlers. Trumper on the other hand in my judgment feels to be the most complementary partner to Big Bill and hence, gets into my list as No.2

Wicket Keeper

Choosing wicket keepers considering changes the modern game has been through turns out to be a quandary. Earlier, wicket keepers were good enough to keep their place in the side by virtue of their wicket keeping. An important point to be taken into consideration which has led to a dip in the standards of modern day wicket keeping. Healy, Marsh and Gilchrist are all greats in their own rights. Marsh formed one of the greatest partnerships with Dennis Lillee and the pair has 95 wickets to their name. Glenn McGrath - Adam Gilchrist have 90 wickets to their name. After a disastrous debut leading to the nick name "Iron Gloves", Rod improved substantially to enter into the annals as one of the greatest keepers in Australian History. He was termed as an all-rounder through most of his career despite a test batting average of 26.51 suggests. You can almost call Healy as the disciple of Rodney Marsh. Disciplined and his wicket keeping was top notch. Selected as a wicket keeper for the Australian Cricket Board Team of the Century is no mean achievement. The way he kept wickets to Shane Warne was a delight and sometimes as smooth as butter. Don Tallon deserves a special mention. Bradman selected him as a wicket keeper in his all time best XI. Alan Davidson called him the "Bradman of keepers". A lean, tall wicket-keeper with an exaggerated crouch Tallon was a part of the Bradman's invinciblesof 1948. He executed textbook style stumpings by removing one bail without disturbing the stumps which is a thing of past in this moder era. Adam Gilchrist's batting skills overshadowed his wicket keeping skills. His 17 test match centuries are most by any international keeper. However, his wicket keeping achievements themselves stand out. Gilchrist technique as a wicket-keeper wasn't coaching manual stuff but he worked around it using his height and amazing concentration levels. He currently holds the record for the most of number of wicket keeper dismissals in tests for Australia. His batting prowess need no mention in this age of modern communication.

After evaluation all the above parameters, I went for Adam Gilchrist as my wicket-keeper. You can almost differentiate two eras of wicket-keeping. One before Gilchrist and one after. It was Gilchrist who made the Australian side just due to his batting abilities and simultaneously kept wickets with notable worth. A batsman who can alter the course of the match and proven match winner, Adam Gilchrist in my personal opinion makes the best Australian XI as a keeper.

Spinners

The first spinner to walk on to an Australian XI would be Bill O' Reilly. Surprised? Don't be! Known as Tiger O'Reilly, Bill got into the Bradman's XI ahead of Shane Warne despite his strained personal relationship with Bradman. Recently, released ICC's LG ratings rates him as the best bowler of the world for much of his career. His average of 22.59 in 27 Test matches may not do justice to the fact that all of his tests apart from one came in the 1930's where all other bowlers where dominated by batsmen to an unprecedentent extent. 6 ft. 2 inches tall bowling with an unorthodox leg spin grip the "Tiger" is undoubtedly one of the greatest spinner the world has ever produced. He bowled at a pace that can be termed "fast-medium". The Don regards him a better spinner than Shane Warne and I acquiesce his word. People who have watched 4 decades of game even go on to state Shane Warne was less destructive than Bill O'Reilly.

Shane Warne makes the cut as my spinner No.2 ahead of Clarrie Grimmett and Richie Benaud. Grimmett doesn't beat Benaud and Benaud doesn't beat Warne. Warne beats Benaud by a whisker into my XI. Richie Benaud has been and will be one of the most influential characters in the game after the Second World War. However, taking the magic of Shane Warne into account I had to declinet Richie Benaud a place. There was a temptation to include Benaud as he was a better batsman than Shane Warne but I safely overguarded the "batting part" as I went ahead and picked up Warne on only "spin bowling".

Fast Bowlers

Dennis Lillee is an unanimous choice amidst the fast bowlers and my man to open the bowling. Lillee redefined the new fast bowling era and his 355 wickets from 70 test matches at an average of 23.92 prove self sufficient in selecting him as he formed one of the great opening bowling partnerships with Jeff Thompson in cricket history. Lillee is regarded by greats as "a complete bowler" and one of the first 10 inductees in the Australia Hall of Fame. He's also a part of Bradman's XI team of the century which makes him a straight forward choice in selecting the leader of my bowling attack.

The second spot was again difficult to choose and ultimately came up as a throw up amidst Fred Spofforth and Ray Lindwall. Spofforth regarded as the "demon" took 94 wickets from 18 tests at an average of 18.41. Lindwall on the other hand widely regard as the greatest pace bowler of his era took 228 wickets from 63 tests at an average of 23.03. Lindwall also finds a place in Bradman's XI but Spofforth was considered to be the inventor of swing. Finally after much pondering I went for Lindwall as Dennis Lillee's partner. The greatness of Lindwall lies in the fact that he staged comebacks after being dropped which displays his mental strength. He made his way back in to the Australian team at the age of 37 years. Richie Benaud states that Lindwall is the "best technicall bowler he ever saw". Harold Larwood rates Lillee-Lindwall in the same league. Longevity, mental strenth and great comments from great players makes me go for Ray Lindwall as the second fast bowler in my team.

All Rounder

Amidst the above chaos a direct toss up between Neil Harvey and Keith Miller seems easy to choose but doesn't turn out so. Keith Miller partnered Lindwall for the best opening bowl pair in cricket history whilst Neil Harvey was a very sharp fielder, an attacking left handed batsmen who bowled occasional spin. Miller was "the best captain Australia never had" whilst Harvey was "one of the best left handed batsmen for Australia". Miller had the best statistics for an all-rounder when he retired. Harvey averages a sensational 48.41 in 79 tests ahead of Miller's 36.97 from 55 matches. Miller was short listed for the Six Giants of the Wisden century but failed to make the final cut. However, he finds a place as an all rounder in the ACB's Australian team of the century. Keith Miller was not just a great all rounder but a great captain. A person who bought some vigor to cricket Keith Miller makes my cut as an all-rounder and a vice-captain. However, taking Neil Harvey's consistent performance he takes the 12th man spot in my team.

Middle Order

The most easiest decision to select any best Australian XI is selecting the number 3 batsman. Don Bradman not only takes the cake with the cherry but the wine too! He also is an unanimous choice for the captaincy.

Numbers 4 and 6 require further scrutiny.Chappell brothers deserve everything to be short listed but both can't play at number 4. It's a toss up between Ian and his little brother Greg. As I ponder to check their style of play, record et al I finally go with the ACB's Team of the century to select Greg, averaging 53.86 in 87 tests ahead of Ian Chappell who averages 42.42 in 75 test matches. The final decision came down to more about being a better batsman considering style, range of strokes etc. than mere statistics.

Number 6 is a tussle between Allan Border, Steve Waugh and Stan McCabe. Allan Border the gutsy left hander who led Australia to their first World Cup win and resurrected Australian Cricket. Steve Waugh the successor of Allan Border and the leader of one of the most famous Australian teams in cricket history. Stan McCabe is an Australian hall of fame player who is widely regarded as the most enterprising batsman in Australian cricket history. His 2748 runs at an average of 48.21 in 39 test matches reflect his ability. His finest hour came during the Bodyline Ashes tour where he scored 232 runs in 235 minutes hitting 34 boundaries and a six. He hooked Harold Larwood with panache and while at crease his partners scored just 58 runs as he outscored them in a ratio of 4:1. Such was the impact of this innings that it prompted Douglas Jardine, the England captain to abandon his bodyline approach. I wouldn't say much about Steve Waugh and Allan Border as we have been privileged to watch them on TV and even listen to them.

After careful scrutiny I go for Allan Border as the number 6 on my list. With all due respect to Mark Taylor and Steve Waugh; had it not been for Allan Border as a batsman and captain Australia wouldn't be the same team they are today. For the remarkable guts displayed and for taking Australia to new heights after a flurry of retirements from their great champions which led them down, Allan Border is my number 6 !

The Final List

1. Bill Ponsford
2. Victor Trumper
3. Don Bradman(captain)

4. Greg Chappell
5. Keith Miller(vice-captain)

6. Allan Border
7. Adam Gilcrhist
8. Bill O'Reilly
9. Shane Warne
10. Dennis Lillee
11. Ray Lindwall
12. Neil Harvey (twelfth man)

Credits to Cricinfo and Wikipedia

What went wrong with Australia?

What went wrong with Australia?

1. Andrew Symonds exit
I don't think there's an iota of doubt that the best T20 player in the Australian side is Andrew Symonds. CA, in my personal opinion, went a step further by sending him back to Australia. He had a few drinks with his mates outside the cricket team. According to reports from authentic websites, Symonds customized contract barred him from drinking with "outsiders" viz. apart from the Australia team tourney. Either you have him in your team or you don't. There isn't a middle way out which CA must have learnt by now. The most interesting comment on the Symonds' exit came by Dean Jones:
"He just had a beer and supported Queensland's big win over New South Wales ... He left the hotel without telling anyone," Jones told 3AW. "Can you imagine that in the old days with Dennis Lillee or Jeff Thomson having to tell the manager where they were going. It's a security reason for whatever reason. But they're in England aren't they?"


2. Cricket Australia(CA) selection issues
CA needs to seriously consider their selection policy. Lately, certain selections by the CA have left more than a fair share of ex-Australian cricketers completely muddled. Be it their selection for Ashes or for the T20 WC. CA feel that they can get away with part-time spinners to fill in for front-line Test bowlers. If CA needs an example to look at they need to turn their head north-west and look at South Africa. The first time after their return to cricket we see SA having two potent spinners who are front-line bowlers to bowl in a T20/ODI.With the return of Botha and Van Der Merwe proving his worth SA have become a more balanced side now and suddenly look ominous and in my personal opinion are the tournament favorites. They gain a slight edge over India on current form. Their selection for the Ashes also backs the same theory which made Ian Chappel make this comment: "Containers are a blessing in the shipping industry, but not a priority when choosing frontline Test bowlers".
Andrew Hilditch and his team have made more than a few blunders in recent times but continuing the same mistake is not what one expects from a cricket board which in the last two decades have established the adjective "astute" for themselves.

2. Ricky Ponting: The batsman & The Captain
I would repeat a line from a journalist who made a similar comment to John Buchanan, former Australian coach. "Tell me Ricky did you made the team great OR did the team make you a great captain?". Certainly, there isn't much Ponting can do if their his batsmen don't score runs and bowlers don't take wickets but even considering these limitations he hasn't done well enough. The fact that his batting hasn't been upto the mark in T20 has build up some more pressure. Ricky Ponting's last 6 innings scores in T20 Internationals in 2009 read: 21,38,1,1,0,25. He averages 24.21 overall in T20 International's a shadow of himself . As Bryan Coverdale, suggests in his article at Cricinfo, Australia need a major T20 re-think. Taking into consideration Ricky's age and his mindset towards the game, in my personal opinion, I don't see Ricky Ponting being the man who can do so. Micheal Clarke seems much better suited for the role and his recent captaincy stint against Pakistan in the UAE makes a strong case for itself. Ricky Ponting's selection against West Indies too didn't make sense. Given the way Nathan Haurtiz bowled against Sri Lanka it's beyond doubt to suggest he would have been more than a handful against Gayle and company. Gayle especially likes the ball to come to the bat and hence fancies his chances against Lee. Bracken on the other hand troubles him with his cutters. Hauritz with his flight and turn would surely have made up for an exciting contest. Considering, there was no front-line spinner in the Australian team playing Hauritz would've made much more sense. The role of spinners in T20 was evinced by IPL 2009. Ponting had a very good chance to follow the whole season from the comforts of his room. Pity that he couldn't take a cue and continued to back the "floaters" in his side.

As T20 WC 2007 proved, the best teams were the ones with a potent bowling attack. Australia didn't even field their best bowling attack and they have paid the price for it. Recently, CA made a statement that they back Ricky Ponting to lead Australia in all formats of the game till the 2011 WC. It's a pretty bold statement one which I don't agree too. If the situation demands to ease out Ponting, CA should consider T20 as the first place to get their hands dirty.

Three top-notch tricks to become the 'Best Captain' in Cricket

I will present three top-notch tricks which captains have successfully used in cricket to get the best out of their players. Not only in India but also the whole world. Sometimes it has also helped the opponents to perform well too. Captains over the world are now requesting the ICC to make these "tricks" as rules.

Disclaimer: The tricks mentioned below are practiced for years by professionals. Please don't try this at home/field/office/school.

Number 1:

Ask your “menace” player to hit your strike bowler with a bat.

Result: This is more of getting the icing with the cake. The "menace" player is banned and the affected player is match-fit. He will lead your bowling attack throughout the tournament. In fact, he will demoralize opposition and go on to become one of the best bowlers in the tournament.
{In reference to Mohammed Asif-Shoaib Akhtar-Shahid Afridi incident}


Number 2:

First make a team mate your "like" brother. Once you play for a different team treat him like your "half" brother. Congratulate him after the match. Wait for him to say "Hard luck!". The moment he says that slap him. Wait till he cries and them ask your coach to clap at his state.

Make him your "like" brother again. Convert an "on-field" matter to a "family" matter. Declare the matter over but raise the matter to your boss.
{This is also more of a WIN-WIN situation. Reminds me of the WIN-WIN model by Roger Pressman}.

Result: The captain gets banned for the rest of the matches. The "like/half" brothers hug each other. They stay in the same hotel room. The "half" brother tells that it wasn't a slap but a shake-hand in the "wrong" place. The "half" brother starts bowling excellently. Consistently picks up wickets in the future matches. In fact, commentators laud him and tell that his thought process is now "clear".

{In reference to Harbhajan-Sreesanth slapping incident}

Number 3: {This tops the list !}
First call your opponent a monkey. Then argue that you never called a monkey a monkey. Find out words rhyming with monkey and argue that you told those rhyming words in place of a monkey to a monkey.

Result: The whole country supports you. Monkeys are suddenly elevated from their status. Politicians use monkeys as symbols for their parties. There’s an emergency parliament session for the issue. Zebra crossings are changed to Monkey crossings. Monkeys are given 27% quota/reservation in zoos/sanctuaries. India wins the CB series.
{In reference to, Harbhajan-Symonds racist abuse row }

'Ganguly should coach Team India'

Hi folks,
I am particularly impressed with some Indian talent which has come up during both the ICL and IPL. TP Singh from ICL really looks good. However, coming back to IPL Indian many players have showcased their talent on the big stage. None better than Ashoke Bhimchandra Dinda.

This lad is nippy and has an economy of 6 RPO in a tournament where bowlers have struggled to keep a stranglehold on the batsmen. In this form of the game, having an run rate of 6 RPO shows this lad has some talent in him.
After 7 matches and bowling 138 runs for 5 wickets and an average of 27.6 this guy surely can bowl. Looking halfway through the tournament, only Yuvraj Singh (Kings XI Punjab), Sourav Ganguly(Kolkatta Knight Riders), Sohail Tanvir(Rajasthan Royals) and David VijayKumar(Deccan Chargers) are having better economies than Dinda. However, all the bowlers in the list have bowled significantly lesser amount of overs than Dinda. The next best economy rate is Glenn McGrath who in 7 matches for the Delhi Daredevils has bowled 28 overs (goes to show he has bowled his full quota every time), bowled 2 maiden overs (one of them was a wicket maiden) conceding 171 runs and bagging 6 wickets. McGrath’s economy rate is 6.10 at an average of 24.42.
Nonetheless if a bowler is ahead of Glenn McGrath in economy after playing equal number of matches he certainly has something.

What makes it difficult to play Dinda is his high “kangaroo” jump action. It is his action itself which gives him the nip in his bowling, taking into account his height. It takes a while for a batsman to get used to him, quite similar to Sohail Tanvir. These two bowlers in fact have lot of similarity between them.
Both are nippy, both have an awkward action and both bowlers need time to get used to. Which in turn works at their advantage as T20 just doesn’t have the time. Moreover, both of them open the bowling and with the field restrictions on, batsman are looking to capitalize. However, what makes Dinda stand out is his more than nippy bouncer. He can really get the bowl to rise on the batsman and if it’s well directed can get the batsman in trouble.

Dinda now needs to learn a few more tricks of trade. Aged 24, it’s only his temperament that can militate against his success. He should learn to keep himself calm under pressure and maintain his composure. If we are looking for a guy to bowl first change for India I think he {though Ranadeb Bose might be a good contender well} might be a very good option. Dinda must also learn that it’s good to be tacit sometimes. One more thing that concerns me about Dinda, is his wicket taking abilities. He has got 5 wickets and I want him to add more to the tally. Bowlers, however, economical they are must be able to take wickets. He would probably learn that in time that wicket taking is an art rather than a science as Wasim Akram says.

Finally, it’s clear Ganguly’s backing has bought this little man here or rather another little man here. According to few of my friends from Bengal{who are close family friends of Dinda}, Dinda has been completely supported by Ganguly financially. Ganguly bore his expenses for a training camp in Australia where Dinda must have learnt quite a few things and developed into the bowler he is today. He comes from a small family from Midnapur district and his family isn’t a well off. He was a last minute addition to the Kolkatta Knight Riders side {needless to say due to Ganguly} and has certainly proved worth every penny spend on him. Another example of Dada’s generosity.

I would just go to add that Ganguly certainly can’t be the captain any longer but he can be the future coach for Team India, considering the interest he has shown to coach as well. On a lighter note, I think he now knows where the power lies.

Commentary advertisements in IPL

Something has been really irritating me ever since this IPL started.
The typical advertisement words used by commentators during the match. It’s sounds so silly and incorrigible.

Three advertisements that are frequently used :
A] DLF Maximum Sixes award: Phew! This rules the roost over most of the other commentary advertisements. Every time a batsman hits a six, and the commentator will start the radio, “Another contender for the DLF Maximum sixes award”. What a dud! It’s the similar AIR type where the jockey used to say “Dharti phat gayi, Aasman girne laga aur aakhon ke saamne andhera chaa gaya”

B]Pepsi: Their advertisement frequency has gone down now but nonetheless they were irritating. In the middle of a cricket match, the camera was focused on commentators having Pepsi. What’s more, the commentators used to adulate Pepsi so much as if they were grown up on Pepsi, not milk !

C]CitiGroup: This is a new entrant I noticed yesterday. Every time a wicket falls or something good happens for the team the commentator starts, “ This is surely a Citi moment of success”. Give me a break, what has CitiGroup got to do with a bowler taking a wicket or batsman scoring the winning runs?

Advertisements do help to generate revenue but it’s best if we kept these out of the ground and especially outside the cricketing domain expertise. No wonder SetMax bids high for telecast rights and gets the money out as well.

The IPL body instead of just putting a gag on players speaking to the media must also put a gag on the telecast right owners for the betterment of cricket and globalization of the sport. We have new crowds getting attracted to T20 and cricket certainly doesn’t want to lose popularity due to advertisements irritating the viewers.

Fab4 in T20

With Sourav Ganguly having a string of low scores in T20 comes to debate the point of the “older” generation playing T20.
A lot has been talked about VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid but the other member of the club Sourav Ganguly has actually not done much as well. It all brings on the question of whether the senior players can play T20. Sachin has yet to make a debut in the IPL and it would be wise to leave him out of the discussion {for the moment at least}. So what’s causing these players not to score?

There are conglomeration of factors. However, the most deciding factor of them is the “mental” mindset. We all know Ganguly can be explosive on any given day but the kind of mindset that T20 demands is a little different. In ODI’s too you have the field setup inside the 30-yard circle but it’s for a longer duration of time {15overs earlier-20 overs now}. So you can afford to play yourself in, even if that means using up and over or two. In T20 though, 1 or 2 overs can change the course of a match drastically. So there isn’t any time for them to settle down. Since, that has been their game play ever since they started playing cricket it’s quite difficult now the change it. VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid might not look T20 players but they have it in them to score at a brisk rate and they have done it in ODI’s too. But the “mind game” factor comes into picture which makes these great players, including Ganguly, look ordinary.

No doubt these players had opted out of the T20 WC2007 in South Africa as they felt that it was a young generation game. Has it all of a sudden become an “all generation” game. This question can only be answered by the BCCI. According to me, BCCI has made these players compulsory play the IPL just to give it an initial face lift. Considering the fact that most of these players are icon players just buttresses the fact.
Currently, the only batsman to look like scoring in the IPL T20 is Sachin Tendulkar. It may be because he hasn’t played a game plus to the belief {can be called as a fact} that he can do anything on the field makes it more likely. Sourav Ganguly follows in at second place but it’s highly improbable that he might have a long lasting impact with his batting. VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid seem like not making an impact at all.

However, with the drain of foreign players the second phase of the IPL might see the ‘fab4’ rise like a phoenix from the ashes

Shane Warne ... can spin it

Till that man Shane Warne is with the Rajasthan Royals anything can happen.

He was tipped off to be the next Australian captain but lost it due to the various reasons. Even Australian greats like Ian Chappell, Greg Chappell, Richie Benaud, Mark Taylor including Steve Waugh always felt that Shane Warne would have been one of their best captains in history.

He comes from a different school of thought in contrast to Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting. One was groomed under Mark Taylor while the other was the successor of Steve Waugh. But in all due to respect to both of them, Warne would have been a much better inspirational figure.

He made two great decisions in two matches.

During the match against the Kings XI Punjab, apart from himself he bought on, Salunkhe to bowl who immediately foxed Jayawardene in flight and had him stumped. Warne himself got rid of the dangerous looking Sangakkar who had hit 19 runs of 6 balls of the previous over.

In the match against Deccan Chargers, he bowled Yusuf Pathan from nowhere and he got rid of both Afridi and Gilchrist in the same over!

If that wasn’t enough, he finished the game by a 4,6,6 to clinch a thrilling win with 1 ball to spare. Afridi’s verbalisms sure must have spurred him on. I think Afridi got his answer in typical Australian style, “You never mess with Warne mate!”

Shane Warne can surely spin it on the head; be it the game or the ball !