Australian legend Shane Warne is synonymous with leg-spin bowling in world cricket. One of the greatest cricketers to have played the game, Warne took 1,001 wickets in international cricket. Only Muttiah Muralitharan, with 1,347, has taken more, and nobody else has reached 1,000. 

In 2000, Shane Warne was named amongst the five Wisden Cricketers of the century alongside Sir Donald Bradman, Sir Garfield Sobers, Sir Jack Hobbs and Sir Viv Richards, making him the only active cricketer to receive the honour at the time. 

In his international career spanning close to 15 years, Warne bamboozled the best of batters with his craft and guile all around the world. However, the Spin King didn’t always have it his own way on the field and especially when squaring off against sub-continental giants India. 

Shane Warne’s record vs India: Know the numbers

Amongst all the nations he competed against, Shane Warne’s bowling average is the least flattering against India across both Tests and ODIs: 47.18 in Tests and 56.26 in ODIs. Warne’s strike-rate of 91.2 and 64.9 in Tests and ODIs against India is also the worst amongst all the countries that he played against.

Format Mat Wkts Econ Ave SR Best
Tests 14 43 3.10 47.18 91.2 6/125
ODIs 18 15 5.19 56.26 64.9 3/38

Shane Warne’s record in India: The underwhelming stats

As far as his record in India is concerned, the spin legend had relatively underwhelming experiences in Test cricket with 34 wickets coming in nine matches at an average of 43. 

Warne’s best bowling performance in India came in the second Test at Chennai in October 2004 where he snapped six wickets while conceding 125 runs. Of the seven teams he played at least 10 Tests against, India are the only one against whom he took just one five-wicket haul in international cricket. 

In the ODI format, Shane Warne fared slightly better, averaging 31 in India. 

Format Mat Wkts Econ Ave SR Best
Tests 9 34 3.19 43.11 81.0 6/125
ODIs 15 21 4.43 30.76 41.5 4/34

Author: Kaustubh Potdar

Featured photo: Alexander Joe / AFP