“Warne is someone who plays hard and parties harder, but he doesn’t drink on the field”: When Shilpa Shetty defended Shane Warne during the IPL 2009 beer scandal

Shane Warne was blamed for drinking beer on the field during IPL 2009, but Shilpa Shetty defended Rajasthan Royals’ captain.

The news of the demise of Shane Warne has shocked the whole cricketing world. Shane Warne was arguably one of the greatest players to ever play the game. He was the first bowler in the world to claim 700 test wickets. He ended his career with 708 test wickets, whereas he has 293 ODI wickets under his belt. Warne also bowled the “Ball of the Century” in the 1993 Ashes.

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. He has also been in a rift with Muttiah Muralitharan, Arjuna Ranatunga and Steve Waugh.  Despite all the off-field controversies, Warne is hugely admired in the cricketing circuit.

Shilpa Shetty supported Shane Warne in the Beer scandal

Shane Warne has always been under a lot of controversies and the same happened in the 2009 IPL as well. In 2009, the IPL was played in South Africa, and there were a lot of fan interactions. In one such event, Warne was allegedly blamed for drinking beer on the field. He was seen taking the glass from a fan on the ground.

Although, Warne said that it was not beer, but Apple juice. The officials said that it would have been impossible for Warne to come out of the Alcohol test clean after the game. Shilpa Shetty (then owner of Rajasthan Royals) said that Shane Warne did not drink on the field.

“Warne is someone who plays hard and parties harder. But he doesn’t drink on the field…,” Shilpa Shetty said.

Shane Warne was famous for drinking beer and cigarettes. After his demise, people of Melbourne gave tribute to him by putting beer cans and cigarettes on his statue.