Royals make a splash

Royals make a splash


Bengaluru: What would a captain do if he had started IPL 2010 season on the worst possible note? He would probably sit with his coaching staff, chalk out strategies or sweat out in the sun. But what would someone like Shane Warne do?

Eat this. Warnie took his team out to the swimming pool where the members did aqua-pilates and celebrated being with teammates. Warne and his hitman Yusuf Pathan kept everyone engaged and made sure each one of them was involved in the exercise.

Warne made sure that his sense of humour kept everyone entertained. For many it would have been a shock, but for people who know Warne long enough to understand him - it was just another team building measure.

Richie Benaud once wrote that a captain must always appear to have a trick up his sleeve even if he really didn’t. The bluff has been a Warne specialty even when he was bowling in his whites.

Much of his captaincy is assessment. His ability to create a bubble where pressure, defeats and concerns are kept away from players is noteworthy.

Warne’s standing in the game is such that he convinces his team mates of their own quality. He made diminutive Swapnil Asnodkar agree for a race with lanky Morne Morkel in the pool. The result was predictable but Swapnil gave his best. The young opener might have lost the race but Warne knows he will win - in the long run.

Shaun Tait, who is not in the best of forms, was watching the race from one corner of the swimming pool. Warne caught him and instigated him by splashing water on him. Tait soon joined the group of boys and became part of the exercise. That is Warne for you.

Ask Warne about Graeme Smith and Dimitri Mascarehanes being ruled out and his side’s chances in the tournament now and he shoots back, "If you want you can write us off. But we will come back to bite you."