The Indian Premier League (IPL) is set to enter its 16th edition and will commence on March 31. Since beginning its journey in 2008, the franchise tournament has witnessed several legendary cricketers over the years. Among them, legendary spinner Shane Warne who played for Rajasthan Royals for three seasons unquestionably deserves a significant place.
Joining the team, Warne was assigned as the captain and led the Royals to lift the inaugural IPL trophy. Rajasthan signed Warne during the 2008 IPL auction 15 years ago on February 20. Remembering the special occasion, the franchise, on Monday, shared a post on its official Instagram. They captioned the post, “15 years ago, we got our first Royal. And IPL, their first champion.”
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Looking back at the auction day, Shane Warne was the first player to be drawn out of the hat. He came under the hammer at a base price of $450,000. After auctioneer Richard Madley announced his name, the franchises seemed not quite interested in his service. Ultimately, Rajasthan Royals broke their silence and placed the opening bid at the base price. As no other teams challenged them to a bidding war, the Jaipur franchise successfully signed Warne for a comparatively less value.
Though the Australian cricket team never used Shane Warne’s service as the captain, Rajasthan showed faith in his leadership skill. The decision seems to be clicked well as under Warne’s captaincy, the Royals went on to win 11 of their 14 matches during the group league. They advanced to the semi-finals as the table topper with 22 points.
The dominance continued in the knockout stage. The Warne-led Rajasthan outclassed Delhi Daredevils in the first semi-final, securing their place in the final. Though it was a commendable team effort, Warne made a crucial contribution, fetching two scalps. In the title bout, the Royals had Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings as their opponents. Both teams were determined to take the inaugural trophy home but Rajasthan edged past CSK, winning the last-over thriller by 3 wickets. Since then, the Royals have not been able to win the IPL title.
During his three-year spell with Rajasthan, Shane Warne appeared in 55 IPL matches. He recorded 57 wickets in total with his best figure being 4-21. After taking his retirement as a cricketer, Warne served as the mentor of the Rajasthan unit. The legendary cricketer died of a heart attack on March 4, 2022, in Thailand.
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