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efore the start of the DLF IPL, Jaipur was best known
for its history, its culture and its colourful buildings, glazed
in pink in 1876 by the Maharaja Ram Singh to welcome the
future King Edward VII: the colour was linked with hospitality.
Following the achievements of Rajasthan Royals, another coat
of pink paint may be in order, this time to let Shane Warne know
he is welcome to return to this distinctive city in the north of
India any time he likes.

If Jaipur has been described as the ‘richly colourful capital of a
richly colourful state’, it may never have been more colourful
than during Warne’s tenure as captain of the Royals – a team
that started out as no-hopers before going on to lift the IPL
trophy in what can only be described as living proof of cricket’s

glorious uncertainty. As Rajasthan Royals lost their first game to
Delhi Daredevils by nine wickets with nearly five overs to spare,
even the most optimistic camp insider was wondering how
humiliating the tournament would turn out to be. In the end,
Rajasthan, comfortably the most frugal of the franchises, were
the ones dishing out the humiliation rather than receiving it.

Warne hardly needed confirmation that he was one of the game’s
all-time legends. He retired from Test cricket in January 2007 as
the game’s leading wicket-taker – a mark that has since been
passed by Sri Lanka’s Muttiah Muralitharan – and was named by
Wisden in 2000 as one of the 20th century’s five leading players,
along with four Sirs: Jack Hobbs, Don Bradman, Garry Sobers
and Vivian Richards. But his captaincy credentials had been
tested all too rarely. In 11 one-day internationals as Australia’s
leader, he had presided over 10 wins, and he had helped turn
Hampshire from a bunch of amiable losers into one of the most
adventurous teams in English county cricket. Now he proved
that Australia’s loss was Rajasthan’s gain, cajoling and inspiring
a group of young Indians to heights they may never have known
they could reach, and getting the very best out of a seemingly
underwhelming list of overseas players. The only non-Indian
captain at the start of the tournament, he stood out in more
ways than one.

Warne’s own contribution transcended the captaincy, and
the 19 wickets he took with his aggressive brand of leg-spin,
still a force to be reckoned with after all these years, halted

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