Indian bowlers need to stay fit, says Warne
Australian spin legend predicts big runs for Tendulkar and Dravid in Test series
Australian spin legend Shane Warne believes India’s chances of upstaging Michael Clarke’s men in their own backyard in the upcoming four-Test series will largely depend on the fitness of their pace bowlers — Ishant Sharma and Zaheer Khan.
“India has a quality team, as they’ve been showing in recent times. In Test cricket we’ve seen them, against West Indies, do well. But before that they played England in England and got beaten 4-0 with a swinging ball and a good English seam attack. Their batsmen will do pretty well,” Warne said after the unveiling of his bronze statue outside the MCG.
“Their bowlers will have to stay fit. If Zaheer or Ishant get injured, then I think their bowling attack could be quite weak. The Australian batsmen could perform pretty well. I think it’s going to come down to how India are going to take 20 wickets with their bowling,” he added.
Warne said he expected Indian batsmen to do well in the series. “I think their batters, especially Rahul Dravid, will make big runs. He’s a quality person, he’s a quality act, he’s a quality player. Hopefully Sachin (Tendulkar) will get his hundredth hundred here. It would be a great time to do it here at the MCG in front of 70 or 80,000,” he said.
The first match against Australia would be Tendulkar’s 185th Test. He has so far made 15,183 runs from 303 innings with 51 centuries at an average of 56.03 in five-day games. Tendulkar also has 18,111 runs from 453 ODIs with 48 centuries under his belt at an average of 45.16.
Tendulkar, though, has struggled to add to his tally of 99 international centuries this year — his last ton being 111 against South Africa at Nagpur in March during the World Cup. His last Test century was also against South Africa - 146 at the Newlands, Cape Town in January and has been without a ton in the longest format of the game in his last 14 innings.
Warne’s moment
Almost five years to the day after Warne claimed his 700th Test wicket, the legendary spinner was at the MCG to see a marvellous creative work of sculptor Louis Lauman, a 2.5-metre bronze statue that recreates his classic action in his heydays.
Warne’s fiancé Elizabeth Hurley, his children Brooke, Summer and Jackson, her son Damian and his former captain Mark Taylor were among the hundred-odd people present at the unveiling.
“That’s 300 kg, so it’s pretty lifelike from when I played,” Warne joked. “It’s fantastic Louis. Congratulations mate, you’ve done a great job,” he said.
On the statue’s grip of the ball, Warne said it looked like a leg-break. Warne joins cricket greats Sir Donald Bradman, Keith Miller and Dennis Lillee in having his statue erected on the Parade of Champions outside the hallowed ground, the Australian media reported.
Recalling the fun and flare Warne brought flair to the Australian team, Taylor said: “When Warney came into the side in the early 1990s the game was dominated by fast bowlers,” Taylor recalled.
“We had a guy who could, at the end of the game, make as big an impact as the West Indies fast bowlers could at the start. No matter how many runs we had on the board, with Shane Warne in the side we could still make them enough to win the game.”
