Shane Warne is one of the greatest cricketers to have played the sport. With 708 Test wickets and over 1000 international scalps, the former Australian cricketer, is considered a legend of the sport and is hailed to have revolutionized leg-spin bowling.
But as competitive a bowler Shane Warne was on the field, he was equally friendly and hilarious off it and former India cricketer Sachin Tendulkar has one such story to reveal. The former leg spinner passed away on Friday, aged 52, with an autopsy report revealing natural death.
Shane Warne Couldn’t Handle Spicy Chicken Dish Served At Sachin Tendulkar’s Place
Speaking on his documentary on Amazon Prime, Shane Warne had recalled one of the most hilarious dinner stories involving his long-time cricket rival and India legend, Sachin Tendulkar. During his 1998 tour of India, Shane Warne was invited to Sachin Tendulkar’s place in Mumbai where he was served a spicy chicken dish and although he believed he could handle it, he couldn’t.
“Sachin and I got along great, we were great mates and still are,” Warne said. “When we got to India, it was Warne vs Tendulkar, it wasn’t Australia vs India. Everyone wanted to see it. I went to his place…I thought I will go for dinner and then go back to the hotel.
“I took a bite of the chicken to start with and nearly blew my head off. I kept cutting it up and moving it to the side. I had too much respect for him and for his family.”
Considered one of the greatest bowlers of all time, Shane Warne retired from international cricket in 2007 with a whopping 708 wickets in 145 Test matches and 293 wickets in 194 ODIs.
After retiring in 2007, the veteran leg spinner embarked on a successful stint as a commentator and also led Rajasthan Royals to victory in the inaugural season IPL 2008 of the Indian Premier League (IPL), for which he briefly came out of retirement, as their captain.
Sachin Tendulkar: Shane Warne Could Not Handle Spicy Food But Was Making Sausages, Beans And Mashed Potatoes
The former India cricket too recalled the story saying that Shane Warne had ended up cooking a traditional Australian dish for dinner – bangers and mash.
“We were in Mumbai and I said why don’t you come home for a meal. I said do you like Indian food? He said I love it and he said however you guys cook at home,” Sachin said.
“I noticed that Shane kept nudging my manager all the time…my manager told me that Shane hadn’t eaten anything. While I am busy serving others, Shane is putting his food onto his plate and that’s when I realized Shane can not handle spicy food.
“He didn’t want to hurt me, but he kept nudging my manager and saying ‘help me’. By the end of that evening, Shane had gone into the kitchen and was making sausages and beans and mashed potatoes – he ended up eating that at my place.”
Sachin Tendulkar and Shane Warne had a number of memorable battles on the field during their illustrious international careers and have expressed respect and admiration for each other on numerous occasions. The duo faced each other in 29 matches at the international level where their face-off was riveting, to say the least.
Shane Warne dismissed Sachin Tendulkar on four occasions whereas the latter also smacked him all around the park during many of his memorable knocks versus Australia. Shane Warne signed off from international cricket with second-most Test scalps (708), a hat-trick in the purest format, an ODI World Cup medal and also the Player-of-the-Match in 1999 edition’s finale.