Shane Warne looks back at the first time he faced off against Sachin Tendulkar

Shane Warne might have been the King of Spin and the ball of the century might have belonged to him, but Sachin Tendulkar still gives him nightmares. Perhaps Warne doesn’t lose his sleep over the thought of bowling to Tendulkar anymore since both he, as well as the Little Master, have hung up their boots. But in their heydays, Warne was taken to the cleaners by Sachin, especially when the two first faced off in 1998.

The Australian legend still has vivid memories of Sachin Tendulkar’s disdain towards his bowling. He says he still remembers Sachin ‘smashing me all over the park every time I bowled to him’.

At the Salaam Cricket 2017 event, Shane Warne said that Sachin Tendulkar and Brian Lara were the two best batsmen of his time. “They were something special. The third one would be Jacques Kallis, as a cricketer, being a batsman, bowler and fielder,” Warne said.

Who would Warne prefer bowling to?

Shane Warne also added that he’d rather face the current Indian team than face the team which was led by Sourav Ganguly. He said, “I wouldn’t mind bowling to the Indian team now. I would fancy my chances against this team compared to the team which had Ganguly, Tendulkar, Sehwag and Dravid.”

However, Warne mentioned that Virat Kohli would certainly be a threat, but his underlying point was that the current Indian team aren’t the best players of spin.

Shane Warne also shared his views about Indian fans and their passion for cricket. He said that he really enjoyed playing in India. “Indian fans respected what I did. They knew how difficult it was to bowl leg spin.”

Warne had a successful first season with the Rajasthan Royals. Despite being the least expensive team, Warne’s inspirational captaincy guided them to their first IPL title in the inaugural season of the cash-rich league.

Shane Warne versus Sachin Tendulkar

The Aussie recalled the first time he ever faced off against Sachin Tendulkar in India. “It was during the 1998 series, and both of us were on the top of our games,” Warne said.

Warne reminisced how the crowd erupted in chants of ‘Sachin-Sachin’ at the fall of the second wicket during the first innings.
“We went into a huddle to discuss how we could get Tendulkar out, and I said, I will get him out,” Shane Warne shared.

“The very first ball I bowled, he smashed me for a four. But, on the third or the fourth delivery, he nicked the ball and I got him out,” Warne said. He also mentioned that at the fall of Tendulkar’s wicket, the crowd went completely quiet.

Warne may have been successful in removing Sachin in the first innings, but it is the Little Master’s second innings that haunts the Australian until this day. “(Sachin’s) next innings was one of the greatest innings against the Australian team of my time,” Warne said. “He scored around 158 and it was the best 100 I’ve seen against an Australian team that I’ve played with.”