Shane Warne spoke to the India spinner for 40 minutes and changed his career forever.
The legendary Shane Warne wasn’t just a bowler of high class and caliber but also a human being par excellence. The fact that he was not only relevant, but as effective and threatening during the final leg of his career as he was in the 1990s is what his genius is all about. It’s a shame the world lost him at just the age of 52, but his legacy will live on for years to come, through his bowling, records, the stories he left behind and lives of those he touched.
The legendary Shane Warne(Getty)
Warne’s accolades for Australia are arguably second to none, but his impact was felt even in Indian cricket, when in 2008, he inspired a bunch of youngsters and seniors alike and led Rajasthan Royals to win in the first-ever edition of the IPL. Think of the names in that squad – Morne Morkel, Yusuf Pathan, Ravindra Jadeja – all of whom went on to become hugely popular cricketing figures. But it wasn’t only his teammates Warne got the best out of. The Warne effect impacted the careers of oppositions as well.
Piyush Chawla, who was yet to turn 19 at that stage in his career, was finding the transition to T20 cricket tough. The leg-spinner had played a few matches for India, including being part of the 2007 T20 World Cup winning squad, but was having a tough time in the IPL. In the first game itself, he was pitted against the mighty Chennai Super Kings, where Michael Hussey pummeled a century, and in the process, Chawla too. It was at that moment that his captain, Yuvraj Singh of Punjab Kings (then Kings XI Punjab) knocked on the doors of Warne. And the rest as they say, is history.
“Our first match was against CSK and they scored some 230-odd runs. I bowled one over and got smashed for 20 runs. Just got one over. I thought ‘It’s ok. What’s done is done’. We reached Jaipur for the second match against Rajasthan Royals. We batted first and I scored some 24 runs off 11-12 balls. When I came to bowl, I conceded 30 in 2 overs. I went to my room and thought ‘This T20 cricket is not my cup of tea’. I was 18 at that time and really worried,” Chawla said on the 2 Sloggers podcast.
And the rest is history
“Yuvraj came up and he made me meet the legendary Shane Warne. I went to his room and started speaking. English I wasn’t able to speak much and the one with accent, couldn’t understand much. But I understood whatever little I could. After 40 minutes, I left his room and I’m not kidding but I felt there is no bowler better than me. He said so many things to me and made me understand the little things about cricket.”
Chawla narrated further, revealing how coach Tom Moody wanted to try out some other spinner in the next game, but Yuvraj and a couple of seniors from the team convinced him otherwise. What helped put Chawla’s two bad games with the ball on the backburner was his knock of 24 off 11 balls, comprising four boundaries which included a sweep off Shane Watson. In the next game, Chawla found his footing with a spell of 2/19. 17 years later, here he is, a veteran of 192 IPL wickets and still going strong.
