On 30th April, Rajasthan Royals (RR) will don the special jersey in a tribute to their former captain Shane Warne in their ninth fixture of the Indian Premier League 2022. Earlier this year, Warne passed away in Thailand due to a suspected heart attack. The Royals are said to have been wearing SW23 jerseys, due to 23 being the jersey number of the former Australian spinner.

Warne featured in a total of 55 IPL matches and scalped 57 wickets at an economy of 7.27. He was a part of the tournament from 2008 to 2011. The former Indian cricketer Wasim Jaffer discussed the greatness of Warne to help the Royals to secure a victory in the inaugural season of the tournament.

Jaffer recalled that the Royals lost their first fixture of the 2008 season against Delhi Daredevils badly and no hopes were pinned on them to do well in the tournament. He mentioned that the team had some low-key players, who didn’t have much experience in any form of cricket, and Shane Watson was also dropped from the Australian side at that time due to his bad form.

“In IPL 2008, to win the trophy with that team was terrific. I remember their first game when they were thrashed by Delhi Daredevils and the match was over in 15-16 overs. With this performance, it looked as if they were gonna finish in the last position. In the batting department, the team had Ravindra Jadeja (of 2008), Swapnil Asnodkar, and people didn’t know Yusuf Pathan. Mohammad Kaif didn’t have the pedigree as a T20 batter,” said Jaffer on Sky247.net presents ‘Not Just Cricket’ Show on CricTracker.

However, the team made a fighting comeback to secure nine victories in the next 11 league matches, and ultimately won the tournament. Jaffer added that Warne was a great captain and motivator, and the players who played alongside him still talk highly about him.

“Shane Watson was out of the Australian team, but they were unstoppable after this game and were the first one to qualify for the playof.