Shane Warne, a person with mixed blessings

Warne – the achiever: Shane Warne's contribution to Australian cricket has been commendable and his name will go in history as someone who redefined the way spin was looked upon.

Shane Warne has the strange habit of enticing the newspapers into writing about him even when he is off the field. No doubt he has been the legend of the game that every practicing young spinner would like to heed but his ‘life-outside-cricket’ headlines haven’t been something to advertise. Recently, he has bowled himself into another trouble following his acrimonious public spat against the Rajasthan Cricket Association (RCA) secretary, Sanjay Dixit and has been fined $50,000.

Known for his simple action, he foxed batsmen around the world with his leg-breaks and flippers right from when he cut his teeth in international cricket in 1992. His delivery that uprooted the leg stump pitching outside off, to nail Mike Gatting will remain enshrined in the memories of cricket lovers. He redefined the art of leg-spin, which was once languishing, with his control, accuracy, acumen and simplicity.

He was rated as one of the five-greatest cricketers of the 20^th century. He picked up 708 wickets which was a record in tests until Sri Lankan spin-legend Muthiah Muralitharan surpassed his feat. He bid adieu to cricket after Australia ground England into submission with a whooping 5-0 win over them in the Ashes, in January 2007.

A year later, he was a part of the Indian Premier League and was asked to lead the Rajasthan Royals. His captaincy style drew a huge applause from the experts of the game. Many even went to the extent of saying ‘Australia missed Warne as a captain’. Under his leadership, Warne has made players believe in their ability, convinced them with his tactics and delegated the job to perfection. His team clinched the trophy in the inaugural edition with a team that was branded as ‘a bunch of no-hopers’, by mustering his magical skills. He has now decided to retire from Professional cricket with this edition of the IPL.

Warne and Conspiracies: Warne made his debut to the field of controversy after he and Mark Waugh passed on innocuous information about the weather and the pitch in the year 1994 to "John the bookmaker"

While his achievements has convinced people and made them believe that he is the greatest leg-spinner of all time, his off-field conduct and ethics has evoked chafe even among his closest cronies.

• Warne made his debut to the field of controversy after he and Mark Waugh passed on innocuous information about the weather and the pitch in the year 1994 to “John the bookmaker” (as they call it) preceding a test match against Sri Lanka.
• In 1999, he was charged for his criticisms against Ranatunga in a British newspaper column.
• In 2003, he was banned from the game for one year after he tested positive to a dope test days before the World Cup.
• Shane Warne and Simone Callahan parted ways in 2005, after his marital infidelity was exposed and when she said, “My husband Shane lives in rarefied bubble,” it only exemplified his personal life.
• A year later Warne was then caught with his pants down in yet another scandal in 2006.
• After they were reported to be getting back together, again in 2007, it was revealed he had accidentally sent his wife a text message that was “clearly intended” for a lover, prompting her to return to Australia within the last two weeks.

Despite getting mired in all these shenanigans, his on-field performances have never fallen prey to his off-field infidelities, which is something to cherish. His work-ethic and attitude as a cricketer are staggering. His contribution to Australian cricket has been commendable and his name will go in history as someone who redefined the way spin was looked upon.

However, what made him great as a cricketer made deserted him as a person – his discipline. His achievements speak volumes of his work-ethic and attitude, while his personal life indicates the compromise he has made over the values and ethics.

Over the last twenty years, Warne has managed to fill up two different diaries out of which, one would cricket will hold one in its sacred library while the other, he would wish he had concealed it from public view. There are greener sides in his life that made him a cricketing-great, which one could regard with pleasure when the others could elicit consternation. It is for the people to be sagacious enough to decide on what they should heed and what they shouldn’t.