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Former Australia leg-spinner Shane Warne was never far away from controversies during his playing career. One of the greatest leg-spinners in the history of the game, Warne ended up with 708 wickets in his Test career. One of the most controversial moments in his career came back in 1994 when former Pakistan skipper Saleem Malik offered Warne a bribe to fix a match.
Warne recounted the incident in details in the documentary ‘Shane’ which premiered on Bookmyshow.com this weekend. Warne was in his Karachi hotel room alongside Australian teammate Tim May when he got a phone call.
It was Pakistan captain Malik, and he tells the Aussie leg-spinner: “I need to see you.”
The 1994 Test between Australia and Pakistan was on a knife’s edge on the evening of Day Four – the visitors needed a further seven wickets at Karachi’s National Stadium, while the hosts required another 160 runs for win.
“We’re feeling pretty confident that we’re going to knock over Pakistan,” Warne recounts in his upcoming documentary ‘Shane’. “I knock on the door, Saleem Malik answers the door. I sit down, and he goes, ‘Good match we’ve got going’.
“I went, ‘Yep, I think we should win tomorrow though’. He goes, ‘Well we can’t lose… you don’t understand what happens when we lose in Pakistan. Our houses will get burnt down, out family’s houses will get burnt down’.”
Warne then claims Malik offered himself and May $200,000 each to bowl wide of the stumps and try not to take any wickets on Day Five.
“I don’t really know what to say,” Warne says. “I just sort of sat there, stunned. And then I go, ‘F*** you, mate. We’re going to beat ya’.”
The documentary #Shane is a real, candid, thrilling peek into legendary Australian cricketer @ShaneWarne‘s life and career#ShaneWarne #documentary https://t.co/K8pjqjbUTk
— Zee News English (@ZeeNewsEnglish) January 11, 2022
Warne hasn’t spoken a word to Malik since. In 2000, Malik became the first player to be handed a life ban from all forms of cricket for match-fixing.
Warne and May then informed Australian Test captain Mark Taylor and national coach Bob Simpson, who told match referee John Reid. The Karachi Test ended dramatically, with Australian wicketkeeper Ian Healy missing a stumping that went through his legs for four byes, gifting Pakistan the winning runs.
Inzamam-ul-Haq and No. 11 Mushtaq Ahmed had combined for an unbeaten 57-run partnership to steer Pakistan towards a remarkable one-wicket triumph. “We’re standing at the ceremony at the end,” Warne recalled. “I’m looking at the Pakistan group, and Saleem Malik’s just sort of sitting there with this smug look on his face, like, ‘You should have taken the cash’.”
(The documentary ‘Shane’ is exclusively available on BookMyShow Stream from January 15th, 2022 for Indian fans)
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