Warne, a pocketful of sunshine

I don’t know about you but I’m starting to get into this tournament. If you’re reading this in England, the chances are you probably couldn’t care less. The English season is under way, the New Zealanders – minus their Indian contingent – have arrived, and everyone is crossing their fingers and toes for Freddie’s ankle. Setanta, not Sky, have the TV rights for the IPL, which means you have even less chance of tuning in, and the only Englishmen involved so far have been Jeremy Snape and Mark Benson. Your indifference is understandable. But out here it’s different.

Last night’s game in Hyderabad was a big one for the tournament. It signalled the start of the third round of matches, which means we can begin discerning trends and inferring sub-plots (context matters, even in Twenty20). It provided a rousing finish, thanks to the old ringmaster Shane Warne. And it contained that most beguiling ingredient of any sporting contest: the upset. To see the way the Rajasthan Royals players swamped Warne after he had carted Symonds for 14 in three balls, and to listen to VVS Laxman defending his tactics and his batting was to feel right in the midst of a proper competition. Who needs cheerleaders?

The performance of Rajasthan since they were embarrassed by Delhi six days ago has been one of the tales of the tournament. While the other seven franchises all spent more than the $5m they were supposedly allowed at the Mumbai auction, Rajasthan forked out a relatively modest $3.6m. The franchise itself cost $67m, a good $40m less than Deccan Chargers, who have now lost three out of three. Rajasthan are punching above their weight, and a lot of the credit must go to Warne.

To see the man in action, both on and off the pitch, is to marvel at a passion that still burns incandescent. He is the Royals’ pied piper. The youngsters in his side unquestioningly play follow my leader, and even the team’s media manager, Anant Vyas, has taken to introducing press conferences by waxing lyrical about Warne’s latest deeds. He is taking wickets, scoring crucial runs and captaining with all his usual intuitiveness. Apparently, that quality can be difficult for the more analytical members of his teams, but there is only one thing that matters, and VVS’s leadership looked one-dimensional by comparison.

Whether the Royals continue to be one of the stories of the IPL is another matter. But right now, it is possible to apply a positive slant to Graeme Smith’s old taunt that Warne was a “frustrated captain” when he played under Ricky Ponting. Smith, Warne’s newest team-mate, was almost certainly right. What he might not have imagined was that one day he would be enjoying the fruits of Warne’s old-time frustrations at first hand.