In Short
- Warne’s first ball in his Ashes career was a thing of beauty
- Warne said that the ball changed his life forever
- Mushtaq Ahmed said that the ball by Warne can never be matched
By India Today Sports Desk4th June will always be remembered by Australian cricket fans fondly as it was the day one of their all-time greats, Shane Warne, a magician with the ball decided to show his finest trick ever to the world.
The stage was set and it was a tense Ashes series as a young Warne stepped up to bowl his first-ever delivery in the iconic series between the arch-rivals. From over the wicket, the ball drifted out of Warne’s hand, pitched outside leg stump and spun sharply to clip the off stump, much to the amazement of Mike Gatting, the crowd and even umpire Dickie Bird.
The Australian legend would put up a post on Instagram about the ball of the century and claimed it changed his life forever.
“This day changed my life 28 years ago (1993). I was just 23 years old and playing in my first ever #ashes series & this was my first ball. Still can’t believe it happened. Thanks for missing it Mr Gatting & making this ball become what is now known as the #ballofthecentury hahaha,” said Warne on Instagram.
Legendary leg-spinners like Anil Kumble and Mushtaq Ahmed commented about the ball to Cricinfo. Ahmed praised Warne and hailed him as a great bowler. The Pakistan legend said that the ball from Warne was a dream delivery.
“He was a great bowler, no doubt. When I saw that delivery, it felt amazing, because it’s a dream ball,” said Ahmed.
Anile Kumble said that it was a delivery that really stood out and also explained the importance of the ball given that it was the Ashes.
That ball is one which certainly stood out. There have been many similar bowled dismissals since then, but, yeah, an important Ashes series, first ball by an Aussie spinner playing in his first game in England.
Ahmed also said the delivery was an unplayable one and it can never be matched. “It will always be an unplayable one. There was a delivery Adil Rashid bowled in an ODI to Virat Kohli in England, and Yasir Shah bowled one to Kusal Mendis – these are balls us legspinners dream of. I used to bowl my googly way outside off, making the batsman leave it, and it suddenly comes in between the legs to dismantle the stumps. That can’t be matched. Shane’s ball will be enjoyable to watch even 60 years later,” said Ahmed.
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