We're competitors on field: Warne

In bringing up his first double century after nearly a decade of first-class cricket, Tendulkar subjected the Australian leg-spinning legend to the kind of battering Warne had hardly encountered till then.

That unbeaten double hundred set up Mumbai’s crushing triumph over the Australians and set the tone for India’s 2-1 series triumph in 1998. It also triggered a sequence of Tendulkar versus Warne that ended with the leggie confessing that he had recurring nightmares of the little man dancing down the track and hammering him back over his head.

Warne is long retired from international cricket while Tendulkar has gone from strength to strength. The passage of time has only strengthened a bond arising from mutual respect and admiration; the duo will come face to face again at the Brabourne on Saturday when they walk out for the toss to herald the start of Mumbai Indians’ first match in IPL III against the Rajasthan Royals.

“Sachin has been a friend for a long time,” Warne said on Friday, looking ahead to renewing a friendship and a rivalry. “He has won some battles, I have won some. I think a lot of people like that contest. We are good friends, but as soon as we are out in the middle, I am at one end and he is at the other, I am trying to get him out, he is trying to hit me for a six and not get out.

“I suppose that is something the fans like to watch as a contest and they have seen it for a long time. Particularly out here, they have seen him win most of the times and hit me half way out of the stands; I wish to put it right tomorrow. I have only got him out a couple of times out here, but last time I got him out at a crucial time of the game. I am looking forward to the battle.”

A little over a fortnight back, Tendulkar showed that there still is plenty of good cricket left in him by making the first double ton in one-day internationals.
“He is just a good player,” Warne said, simply, but the respect was all too obvious. “Good players, no matter what the situation is, they adapt. He has been the greatest batsman in my 20 years of playing international cricket. He has been the greatest challenge to bowl to. He went through a patch when his form was not good for a few years, but if you look at his form now, he is the first man to get a double hundred in one-dayers!”