Australian legend Shane Warne recalled a verbal spat with former England captain Nasser Hussain after he had dismissed the latter during an Australia vs England ODI match in February 1999. Warne himself is renowned for his sledging and verbal spats on the cricket field against rival batsman when the tables turned on him. But recalling an ODI match between England and Australia in 1999, Warne revealed how he was at the end of a brutal sledge from then England skipper Hussain. Warne, one of the greatest spinners of all-time was incidentally captaining Australia in that match in-place of regular captain Steve Waugh, who was out with an injury. Shane Warne Snubs Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni, Kuldeep Yadav from His India XI, Picks Sourav Ganguly As All-Time Best Captain.

The incident occurred at the Sydney Iconic Ground (SGC) in February 1999. Australia had batted first and had set England a target of 233. The visitors cruising home and required 35 runs with seven wickets in hand when Warne – the stand-in captain for that match – decided to bring himself to bowl against his opposite number. “I started getting into him saying, “I thought the only way we are going to win this game is if we take a wicket,” said Warne in a podcast with Sky Sports.

“Steve Waugh was injured, and I was vice-captain. Nasser was captain for England,” Warne explained. We were playing a one-dayer in Sydney, and England were cruising. It got to basically ten overs to go, and England needed around 50 to win with seven wickets in hand.

“I thought the only way we are going to win this game is if we take a wicket. So I’m going to bring myself and McGrath back, and I’m going to start sledging Nass to see if I can upset him, and then I’ll come on the other end straight away. I started getting into him saying ‘I know you’re going to stuff this up. I know you’re going to get out. Don’t let your team down this time.”

“So I come onto bowl, bowl the first couple, and suddenly you see Nass just run down. He wanted to hit me for 12 – not six – he wanted 12. But he missed and got out, stumped,” Warne added, “When I started having a go at Nass he turned to me and said, ‘Listen you fat p****, you’re not going to captain ever again so make the most of this one!”

In a shocking turn of events, England from almost winning the match at 198/4 bundled for 222 in middle-order collapse and went on to lose the game by 10 runs. Hussain though was top-scorer with 58 from 98 deliveries.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 04, 2020 11:16 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).