Sachin Tendulkar’s dismantling of Shane Warne during the 1998 season is no folklore. It is a well-documented story that has insight, and also intrigue. At a time when Warne’s laudatory obituaries have needlessly side-stepped his underperformance on those India tours, the iconic contest needs a Rashomon treatment.
When excerpts from the biographies of Sachin Tendulkar and Shane Warne mutate, an unheard version of one of Indian cricket’s favourite cricketing tales is born. Warne’s dodgy shoulder and a depleted Aussie bowling attack played no part in his defeat at the hands of India’s greatest ever batsman. Disclaimer: Warne, by his own admission, ended second-best to Tendulkara, who was in the form of his life. But like always, the greatest leg-spinner with the biggest heart never gave up.
Dig deeper and one unearths a lesser-known eyewitness account of an insider to give a final twist to the “most intense” encounter between Sachin Tendulkar and Graeme Swann at the Oval in 1992. Saving the curator’s googly to the world’s most famous leggie for the last, first a primer.
Complete News Source: The Indian Express
