While there is no taking away from the blond Aussie leg-spinner, Shane Warne, the status of being the best of his type ever, it becomes boring when occasionally he makes a statement to keep himself in the news.

One has heard so much about his book, Shane Warne’s Century, the novelty has gone. Whether or not he was frightened by Sachin Tendulkar, the batsman, is of interest to nobody, because those who saw the Indian maestro thrash the Aussie  in 1998, were blessed to witness mastery of bat over ball that even old-timers were not able to remember the likes of before. But then Warne wants the book to be a bestseller.

Indian cricket fans of 1956 vintage remember till this day the manner in which an Australian, Neil Harvey, went after the best leg-spinner of the time, Subhash Gupte. The Indian genius was completely at a loss as to what to do against a batsman whose twinkling footwork was morale-shattering.

Tendulkar’s methods against Warne in 1998 were not elegant but brutally effective. One could see the bowler’s confidence disintegrate. Nobody said then that Warne was frightened to bowl to Tendulkar. And one cannot remember Tendulkar saying it.

It is well known in the game that there are some batsmen who play a particular type of bowler or bowling better than they do others. Similarly, there are batsmen who have problems against a type of bowling and its purveyors. But these shortcomings do not at all influence their standings as either batsmen or bowlers. Just because Warne was caned in 1998 by Tendulkar, it does not, for a moment, undermine his reputation.

Of course, Warne understands this only too well. But then he has to be in the news even after he has retired from the game as life otherwise would be dull. There is also every indication that he is all set to exploit his fame and undoubted skills even after retirement.

Having led the Rajasthan Royals to their first Indian Premier League triumph in the inaugural year, he now expects the franchise to pay him well. He has said, “The first year was amazing. I’m looking forward to going back and defending our title. I reckon I deserve a lot more now that we won it. The franchise has tripled, maybe quadrupled in price. They’ve got me cheap.”  

Unless he is in the news and quoted by the media, how would his franchise know he wants more money!