Warne blames Steve Waugh’s decision for costing Australia the 2001 Kolkata Test

Warne believes Waugh’s selfishness cost Australia the Test and eventually the series. Oh, the Kolkata Test of 2001. Perhaps the greatest comeback story in Test cricket, the unforgettable partnership between Laxman and Dravid that left the famed Australian bowling line-up lost for ideas, the procession of Aussie wickets on the final day, and the collective euphoria of an Eden Gardens packed to the rafters and a cricket-frenzied nation descending into unprecedented elation. The Test match marked a new era in Indian cricket history, a team under Sourav Ganguly’s leadership and John Wright’s brains that would not bow down easily to even the record-breaking, world-dominant, Australian Test team which had won 16 Test matches in a row. Despite their innumerable records, the Australian team under Steve Waugh was held off by the heroic resistance of two men on day four - Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman - who resisted Australia’s dominance not letting them conquer the final frontier - India.

However, if Shane Warne’s words are to be believed, the greatest comeback story in the history of Test Cricket might never have happened had the Captain of the Australian team Steve Waugh paid heed to Warne’s words. Warne was apparently against Waugh’s decision of enforcing the Follow-on. “It was 45 degrees, we’d been out on the field for a long time, the wicket was going to get worse. I think at that time, I remember Steve Waugh coming out to us bowlers … [Jason] Gillespie, think [Glenn] McGrath, myself and I think [Michael] Kasprowicz was there,” Warne recalled. 

“And as we saw happened, seven down, eight down, nine down … he comes and… ‘How’re you feeling?’ and McGrath was like, ‘I’m a bit weary’. I was like, ‘Weary, let’s use that word’. Then we have Dizzy and Kaspa. Kaspa had only played a few games, a few overs, and he was a bit like, ‘Let’s go, skip, I’m ready to go!’ And I was like, ‘Come on, Kaspa’,” Warne said.

Warne believes that if Australia had decided to bat again, there would have been no way back into the game for India. , but Waugh decided otherwise. It was completely different conditions back then, and Steve Waugh was adamant that he wanted to win that record amount of Test matches in a row, I think it was 17. To me, it was the only way India could win that Test match. If we go and bat again, make the 200 – the lead was 450 [474] – they try to defend it, it’s a different game. So, yeah. I thought he got that wrong,” Warne opined.

However, Warne gave due credit to the Indian duo of Laxman and Dravid who kept the potent Aussie bowling line-up at bay and ground them down on a sunny Kolkata day.  “But they played beautifully, Laxman and Dravid. In my time of playing, [it was] as good an innings as there was. Laxman’s innings was beautiful, Dravid’s was too. Sometimes you’ve got to dig down and say, ‘Too good’.”

[Wisden inputs]