Not many bowlers managed to create the kind of impact Shane Warne did on the Gentleman’s Game. A fierce competitor on the field, Warne revived the art of leg-spin bowling with his skills and won the hearts of millions of fans across the globe. The death of his demise stunned the cricket fraternity as the legendary Australian cricketer passed away on March 4 following a heart attack. Warne was good friends off the field with many world-class batsmen, including Sachin Tendulkar – who was the second cricketer invited alongside Warne by Sir Don Bradman on the occasion of his 92nd birthday.

Tendulkar, the only cricketer in world cricket to have 100 international tons under his belt, played some of his finest knocks against Australia and the ‘Tendulkar vs Warne’ contest was one that caught the attention of millions of fans and experts. Tendulkar and Brian Lara, two of the greatest batsmen of all time, recalled the legend of Warne and revisited their fond memories with the Australian cricketer.

“It was in the year 1991 that I played against him. We were playing a practice game against Prime Minister’s XI. And here comes a stocky, strong, blonde guy bowling leg-spin. The focus was on other bowlers, by that time I had played a couple of years of international cricket and the focus was on the rest of the attack. But Shane came and bowled some incredible deliveries.

“He was not as accurate compared to what he became towards the latter part of his career but it was evident that he had strong fingers, good wrist position, strong shoulders and gave it a good rip. I was beaten on a couple of occasions as the ball spun. On Australian surfaces, the ball didn’t spin initially but as the match progressed, the ball started turning. But Shane was someone who was able to spin the ball from Day 1,” Tendulkar said on his official app 100 MB.

On the other hand, Lara hailed Warne as a bowler who did not give up and cherished the big moments against world-class opponents.

“An England-Australia Ashes series is the biggest series in the cricketing world. Shane Warne cherished those moments and saved many of his performances for those series. Every time I played against Australia and you have to remember West Indies were the best team in the world for 15 years. A series against Australia, home or away, was the most significant series for me. There were Glenn McGrath, Jason Gillespie but the most important for Australia, was Shane Warne. The battles were great. The most significant thing about Warne was that he never gave up and produced that one delivery that you did not know was coming,” the former West Indies skipper said.

Tendulkar also shared his views on the 1998 series between India and Australia which was tagged as the Tendulkar vs Warne series by fans and experts.

“That was my first proper series against Shane in 1998 in India and everyone tagged that series as Tendulkar vs Warne clash. And to remind people, it was not Sachin Tendulkar vs Shane Warne but India vs Australia. But such was the following and that kind of following is going to put you under pressure. When you are playing a world-class bowler like Shane Warne, you just can’t turn up and hope that things are going to be okay. So I had to prepare properly not just in the nets, but even when you are sitting in the room, you have to try and be a step ahead of what he would be thinking. Because he was extremely good at putting pressure and playing mind games and trying to plan your dismissal.

Tendulkar, who was involved in many battles against the maverick leg-spinner on the cricket field, further lauded Warne as one of those rare bowlers who made it difficult for the batsmen to hit strokes against his leg-spin on the rise.

“You looked at his body language, you couldn’t know whether Warne had picked up four wickets, five wickets or if he was wicketless. Every delivery that he came and bowled, he was a fierce competitor. So even if we were facing the second-last or the last over of the day, one had to keep his eyes open because he was always up to something and figure out how could he dismiss the batsman.

In my career, there were a number of good spinners that I played against but Shane Warne was different, one of those very few bowlers against whom you could not hit the ball on the rise. When you are batting well, there are a number of spinners against whom you can hit the ball on the rise but Shane was someone, if you did not get to the pitch of the ball, there was no way one could go and drive on the rise.

I think that was his class. The way he got the ball to drift. And that can only happen if you have strong shoulders, you are giving it a rip, the ball drifts down the leg side and then it’s leaving you, spinning away from you, not many bowlers could do that in world cricket. There were some great spinners around but Shane was without any doubt different. I also had to practice differently because till then, nobody had bowled round the leg, in the rough, trying to get you out,” the Indian batting icon said.

Tendulkar last met Warne in London – where he had paid a visit after IPL 2021 and got in touch with the Australian as the two met and also played golf together. Tendulkar said he last messaged Warne to ask if he was all right following a bike accident.

“After the last IPL, I went to England to spend some time in London where we got in touch with each other and also planned a round of Golf. It was fun. When Shane was around, there was not a dull moment. He was full of entertainment and jokes and those mini battles that we had, I realise it was not just the spin but also the swing came naturally to him. He was a good golfer. I hate saying he was because we have to accept what has happened. For us, he will continue to live in our hearts. I enjoyed physically meeting him in London but even post that, I remember my last message to him was when he met with a bike accident. I said hope you are okay, everything is fine? He said no I just took my bike out for a spin and it skidded and I am injured but I should be fine. So my response to that was – you could spin the ball the way you wanted to but taking out your bike for a spin isn’t a good idea, my friend. And he responded by saying he was on pain killers for 4-5 days and that he should be okay,” Tendulkar said.