The Hindu : Sport : ‘It seemed as if Inzamam batted with a toothpick’

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‘It seemed as if Inzamam batted with a toothpick’

— Photo: K. Pichumani

TONGUE IN CHEEK: Shane Warne has come up with witty assessment of the players he has played with or against, in his new book.

Melbourne: Legendary Australian spinner Shane Warne has drawn interesting profiles of the world’s leading international cricketers in his just released book.

Sample this: “Inzamam was a huge great bear of a man who looked as though he was batting with a toothpick. The stumps always seemed very small when he was at the crease — that’s if you could see any of them behind his frame.”

Warne’s imagination, however, was followed by a lot of praise for the former Pakistani captain whom he perceived as a genial personality.

“Anybody underestimating him at first sight soon realised that his appearance was really deceptive. He was one of the most identifiable batsmen in the world, but he was comfortable in his big-boned frame.

“He was really a good slip fielder, probably he didn’t fancy patrolling the covers for too long. But when he did, he had a rocket arm.

Good fun

“Away from the game, he comes across as being very relaxed and just as easy-going. He even speaks slowly, but he is good fun to be around and is the sort of guy who can make you laugh,” Warnie wrote in ‘Shane Warne’s Century’.

With his funny bone active, Warne did not even spare his former captains Mark Taylor and Steve Waugh and was brutally honest in penning his views on them.

“There was nothing fancy about Mark Taylor. He had wonderful leadership skills and excellent communication, but his main weakness was his terrible dress sense — the shirts he used to wear were horrendous, although Steve Waugh’s were worse.”

High regard

However, a high regard was in store for David Boon. “If you were building a perfect model of the bloke you would want to wear our Baggy Green Cap, he would bear pretty strong resemblance to David Boon: tough, uncompromising, defiant and proud.”

Warne also felt that Rahul Dravid could have even been called ‘The fortress’ instead of ‘The Wall’. Indian people love to give their cricket heroes a nickname. As these things go, Dravid being known as ‘The Wall’ is pretty much spot on. ‘The fortress’ could also describe Dravid. Because once, Dravid was set, you needed the bowling equivalent of a dozen cannon firing all at once to blast him down,” he wrote.

Mood player

Former West Indian captain Brian Lara, according to Warne, was a ‘mood’ player but wasn’t ever at the crease just to hang around. “(Sachin) Tendulkar was consistent but Lara was a ‘mood’ player. Whether you love him or hate him, Lara was a bloke who captured your attention straight away. He was an awesome player to watch when on song, with his high backlift and his all-around presence at the crease. He had a lovely strut and a swagger; he also had a lot of natural flair.”

Perfect basic skills

About his ex-teammate Glenn McGrath, Warne said his simplicity and perfect basic skills was his virtue. “Nobody underlines the old saying that cricket is a simple game more than my old buddy Glenn McGrath,”’ he wrote.

Murali must be admired

Warne opted not to go into the debate of legality of Muttiah Muralitharan’s action and said the spin bowler must be admired for his achievements. “Time spent complaining is the time and energy wasted, especially in the dressing room. It is better to watch him and admire the way he bowls and ponder the way he does it and come up with a way of trying to counter his skills.”’ — PTI

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