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IPL 2020: ‘Jofra Archer is a weapon, brings the fear factor,’ says Shane Warne
IPL 2020: In an interview, Shane Warne talks about his Sharjah memories, the captaincy style of Steve Smith, the ‘fear factor’ of Jofra Archer, the prospect of Sanju Samson and of course, RR’s new poster boy Rahul Tewatia.
Shane Warne has wonderful memories with Rajasthan Royals, but not so much with the Sharjah Cricket Stadium. Until now, perhaps, as the Royals, mentored by Warne, got off to an explosive start to the IPL with two straight victories at Sharjah.
Warne, who led Royals to a fairytale triumph at the inaugural 2008 IPL, is back with the franchise in the UAE. The spin great hopes that through his team, there will be a personal redemption as well, for the nightmare he endured at the hands of Sachin Tendulkar during that torrid “desert storm” innings from 1998.
In an interview, Warne talks about his Sharjah memories, the captaincy style of Steve Smith, the ‘fear factor’ of Jofra Archer, the prospect of Sanju Samson and of course, RR’s new poster boy Rahul Tewatia.
Excerpts...
Shane Warne, Sharjah and Sachin Tendulkar. For Indian cricket fans those three are stuff of folklore…
Every now and then there are some special innings played in Sharjah. (Back) then Sachin played a couple of great knocks against us in that desert storm. Smashed us all over the park, smashed me, smashed our quicks and it was two wonderful innings. So yeah, I won’t be in a rush to get back to Sharjah. Hopefully the Rajasthan Royals can win (their matches here) and that’ll erase every single memory I have of Sharjah.
As the mentor of RR, what is your role?
My mentor role, it’s a bit different this year. I’ll be sitting in the stands, watching the games, not in the dugout. I won’t have anything to do with anything actual in-game. I’ll be sitting with coach Andrew McDonald and captain Steve Smith after each game. If I saw anything, talk to them and listen to them talk and their ideas, add some of my thoughts. So that part, and then being around training, motivating the group, helping out individuals in the team, trying to get the best out of them.
Is there an aspect of Steve Smith’s game that you would want him to improve?
I think Steve Smith brings a lot to the table. (With) his overall experience, he’s obviously a phenomenal batsman and is a good leader of men. He’s very good tactically and I think he’ll get the best out of his squad and give them confidence. I’m looking forward to watching him in action. I’ve watched him captain different sides over the years, he’s done a good job and hopefully he can do a great job for the Royals.
RR have started brilliantly this year with Sanju Samson taking the lead. You also have a young Indian talent in Yashasvi Jaiswal
Yashasvi Jaiswal, I mean what a story. It’s amazing and he’s such a good young player. Let’s hope he has a huge IPL this year.
Sanju Samson, I mean I’ve been saying it for a long time now - Sanju should be playing all forms of the game for India. He is such a quality player, he’s shown that class again in the first game and I hope he has a consistent tournament this year. If he has a consistent tournament this year, I think you’ll see him representing India in all forms of the game. He’s just such a talented player.
I’ve seen a lot of talented cricketers in my time but watching Samson bat, in the nets being around him, speaking to him over the years and now watching him evolve I mean he is something else. He is a very special talent and I hope he hits the international stage very soon.
Having Jofra Archer in your team also gives you a serious edge...
Jofra’s a superstar. He brings the x-factor to the table, the fear factor for the opposition. They would all spend so much time talking about Jofra Archer as in ‘do we see him off? Or, do we try to score off him? how do we play him?’
He’s a weapon and can change the course of the game in an over or two. The last four or five overs are so important for the batting team and when you’ve got Jofra bowling a couple of overs at the end it’s very difficult. So, some of the opposition teams might have to go a little bit earlier rather than wait till the end because they’ve got to face Archer. Tactically that’s an advantage.
And then there’s Rahul Tewatia...
That has been the beauty of RR. There is always a great balance with young talent and some experienced players. There are power hitters and manipulators of the ball like Rahul. We have good combination of left and right-handers in batting. We have good variety in the bowling attack too. If we can deliver our skills and I feel it could be the Royals’ year this year in 2020. Hopefully Ben Stokes would play a part this year. He’s a big loss and our thoughts are with him. But if you add Ben Stokes to the team that played the other night...it looks a very, very good side.
Apart from the sanitised environments that this year’s IPL is being played in, another new thing is bowlers are not using saliva
The saliva ban will probably help the spinners. The ball will get rougher, a bit more coarse and it’ll be easier for the spinner to grip it, especially when there’s a bit of dew around. So I think the spinners will play an even bigger role in this year’s IPL.
From 2008 when you won the IPL to 2020, how do you think spinners’ role have evolved in T20s?
Back in 2008, it was really the first time T20 was taken seriously. Before that it was just a hit and giggle and a bit of fun. In 2008, spinners played a huge role in trying to take wickets in the middle but batsmen thought they should just smash the spinners out of the park and that it was going to be all about the fast bowlers.
As we’ve seen for some time now, leg-spinners can win you games. Everyone wants at least one, if not two spinners, in their team and especially leg-spinners having that mystery. Because they can spin it both ways. We’re actually really lucky to have good leg spinners in our team. There’s a lot more responsibility now on the spinners in those middle overs where they become weapons as big as the fast bowlers, if not more. If you can take wickets in those middle overs, you can really restrict the opposition.
