Warne gone, but his legacy lives on with Royals

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Shane Warne started a trend when he handed over “Pinky, the doll”, to his Rajasthan Royals team-mate Johan Botha for turning up late at a practice session. It was one of the many innovations that began under the legendary spinner.

And while the Australian is no more a part of the Royals’ set-up, his former team-mates are ensuring that his “good work” is carried forward.

When the team regrouped here ahead of the IPL Season Five, the first thing that was agreed upon was to “let everything continue in the same manner”.

“How can we let all that go?” says Royals batsman Ashok Menaria, who shared many happy memories with the spin wizard. “Rajasthan Royals have an identity and that is all thanks to one man, Shane Warne.

“If people talk about our performance, they also talk about the reasons behind it. Warnie’s nicknames for all of us, the swank dressing room with special place assigned for everybody, different groups for team bonding to deciding on what to wear for parties, that has been the heart and soul of the Royals.
“And it will continue as Warne’s legacy,” asserts Menaria.

Besides his creative ideas, Warne also never shied away from pushing the youngsters into the limelight and preparing them to take up greater responsibility.

“Imagine that you are warrior on a horse waging a lone battle to save the fortress,” Warne would often tell his young team-mates, in their quest for the Indian Premier League title.

“He would always come up with the unthinkable. One day I was asked to bowl the opening over of the match. Me? I asked him wide-eyed. He simply nodded, smiled and handed over the ball to me.That is the kind of player and captain he was,” says Menaria.

One man who spent the most time with Pinky – a doll signifying punishment for players turning up late or messing up during training, etc. – was wicket-keeper batsman Dishant Yagnik. “I think Pinky and I shared the most number of bus journeys,” laughs Yagnik. “One day I had forgotten my bags at the ground and with Warnie, it doesn’t go unnoticed. Another time I was late by 25 seconds!

“But on a serious note, he never discussed success and failure. For him, the process and the intensity put in to achieve it was most important,” said Yagnik, adding that the team would look to emulate the success of the inaugural year under new skipper Rahul Dravid.