In the recently released autobiography named ‘No Spin’, the legendary Australian leg-spinner Shane Warne elaborated that how the United States exhibition matches plan has been failed due to the differences of opinions between him and the Indian cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar.
In 2015, the Cricket All-Stars Series was played in the US where many retired world cricket superstars participated in the three-match T20 series between Sachin’s Blasters and Warne’s Warriors. Warne’s Warriors won that series by the 3-0 margin but then the next edition hasn’t happened again.
In the recently released autobiography, Warne elaborated how that plan was failed as well as he expressed his view on this failed plan.
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Warne wrote that Sachin was taking the care all the expenses but the Australian legend wasn’t happy on Sachin’s selected candidates on the board.
According to some media reports, the leg-spinner wrote, “Sachin had this guy here, Sanjay, who was very much a mentor and a business advisor. I explained my concept and gave them a slideshow. They loved it and flew a guy named Ben Sturner, who is a CEO of a sports management company from America. Sachin was adamant that his team of people run the whole thing.
“Well, it’s my idea. I know I can get the best players and I’m prepared to go 50-50 with you. I suggest we pay experienced people to organise it and appoint two from each of our camps.”
“Sachin said, ‘No I have to have Sanjay and Ben.’ “I was uneasy with that but remained sure Sachin and I together would make it work, so I agreed. At the next meeting, he brought a couple of other guys along who seemed efficient and on the ball.
“I figured, okay, I have known Sachin for 25 years and he’s done unbelievably well off the field, so he must have the business side of his life well organised. Relax and go with them.”
Though Warne called Sachin’s selected candidates the ‘decent guys’, that tournament was too big to handle for them.
The 49-year-old wrote, “The organisation was not as it could, or could have been, which was a real shame. They were decent guys but the event got too big for them.
“The truth is, if you ask me, that they didn’t do the pitch/ground deal quite well and fell foul of that old line of the devil being in the contract. This, along with small and important aspect of a top-level event…..was all very last minute and not slick as I wanted.”
Warne then talks about the ‘Indian way’ that he believes to leave everything so late and he didn’t like this system at all.
He wrote, “I think it’s because Indians leave everything so late, which they can make work at home, but it’s not easy to pull off in someone else’s country. Each day felt like it was flying by the seat of their pants and I didn’t like that at all.”
