Shane Warne led Rajasthan Royals to the title of Indian Premier League in 2008 and Mohammad Kaif has shared an interesting story.
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Shane Warne was arguably one of the greatest players to ever play the game. When Shane Warne passed away in March this year, it was a shocking news for all. Shane Warne ended his test career with 708 test wickets and 293 ODI wickets. He was the first one to breach the mark of 700 test wickets.
Apart from his on-field records, Warne has had a lot of controversies throughout his career. He failed the drug test ahead of the 2003 World Cup. Warne even passed on the critical information to a bookmaker about the game.
Rajasthan Royals surprised everyone by winning the Indian Premier League 2008. They spent the least in the auction, they were a team of underdog players. However, the captaincy of Shane Warne played a huge part in the tournament. Many of the members of the squad have shared their Shane Warne stories.
Mohammad Kaif shares an interesting captaincy decision of Shane Warne
Former Indian cricketer Mohammad Kaif, who was a part of Rajasthan Royals in 2008 also revealed an incident about Shane Warne’s captaincy. He gave an interview to Sportskeeda, where he talked about the incident in Deccan Chargers vs Rajasthan Royals game in 2008.
Mohammad Kaif revealed that he was shocked when Shane Warne decided to bowl Yusuf Pathan in front of Adam Gilchrist with the new ball. He asked the captain about the same, but Warne knew what he was doing with Pathan.
“When we went to play the Deccan Chargers, he gave the new ball to Yusuf Pathan to bowl against Gilchrist,” Mohammad Kaif revealed.
“I was shocked that, ‘Boss, how is Yusuf Pathan bowling?’ But he knew Gilchrist very well, he knew Gilchrist liked the fastball but might struggle against off-spin. And Yusuf got him out in that game.”
“He was very clever, very shrewd, very attacking, chirpy, talkative – he would not relax even for a single ball.”
Mohammad Kaif, who has worked for different franchises in the IPL revealed that Warne was the one who always used to target the wickets, instead of bowling dot balls.
“I have worked with IPL teams, and in the bowling meetings, the talk is always about bowling short or wide outside off stump and conceding a single. But he would always ask his bowlers to get the best batter out,” Mohammad Kaif said.
