Shane Warne didn’t want to tour Pakistan early in career

Former spin wizard Shane Warne was known to be a colourful character both on and off the field during his playing days. In 1999, he won the Man of the Match awards both in the semi-final and final of the cricket World Cup. In Tests, he ended up as the second-highest wicket-taker in the world with 708 scalps. A man with 1,001 international wickets under his belt. Warne is known for his forthright views on matters related to cricket and recently, he opened up with his views in an interview.

Warne was asked 25 questions on the interview which was aired by ESPNcricinfo and the 49-year-old came up with some interesting answers. For instance, he was asked by Nikhil Naz to name the country he did not like visiting in the early part of his career. Warne gave it a thought and said “Pakistan”.

The Asian country has remained sidelined for a decade as a host to international cricket after the Sri Lankan national team was attacked by terrorists during a tour. The players had to be airlifted from the middle of the Lahore stadium and no international series has taken place in that country all these years. Warne has played only three Tests in Pakistan (in 1994) out of his 145 and took 18 wickets in them.

Warne picks Kuldeep Yadav as most complete wrist-spinner in current times

Warne was also asked to name a current wrist-spinner who he finds the most complete and the former player named India’s Chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav. However, the spinner isn’t having a great time in his career as he underperformed in two major consecutive tournaments – the Indian Premier League and the cricket World Cup.

The legendary cricketer was also asked to name three current cricketers to be put in the British reality TV series ‘I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here’ and he took the name of India captain Virat Kohli first, saying “Virat Kohli, definitely one.” He then picked England’s hard-hitting wicket-keeper-batsman Jos Buttler and veteran Pakistan spinner Yasir Shah as the other two.

The former Australia vice-captain was also asked a question about his preference to dine with either Steve Waugh or John Buchanan, the former Australia captain and coach, respectively, he first said Buchanan and then changed it, saying “none”.