‘If Shah Rukh plays me onscreen, let’s do it!’
Former Australian cricketer and cricket commentator Shane Warne needs no introduction. He is someone who often made front page headlines with his bowling, and his life off the field gave spicy tabloid stories. So, when we mention that his life is a perfect script for a Bollywood film, he quips: “And Shah Rukh Khan’s gonna play me? If I like the script, and Shah Rukh says he’ll play me, let’s do it. You say Indian Bollywood film, right? So, Shah Rukh Khan’s the man. I like him.”
Is there an Indian female actor who he would like to clean bowl? “Ha ha... There’re so many beautiful Indian actresses. How to choose one? Priyanka Chopra is good. Deepika (Padukone)… Oooh, jeez. Deepika or Priyanka, one of the two will be my favourites. I would love to take them to a cricket match. Maybe the three of us can go together. It will be good fun!” he says.
Shane played his first-ever test match against India, and has a long relationship with this country. So, on his recent trip as brand
ambassador of Rajasthan Royals, ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL), he reflected on this relation with fondness: “I’ve been coming here since early ’90s; nearly 25 years. That’s a long time. I’ve seen India evolve from the early ’90s to now. Like in the hotels, the food is as good as anywhere in the world. It’s a great place to come and play. Great place to come and visit. My children have been here. I love it, too.”
Shane vouches for skills of the Indian cricket captain, Virat Kohli. “Virat is unbelievable,” he says, adding, that India is one of his favourites when it comes to the upcoming ICC Cricket World Cup 2019. “India and England have to be the favourites because they played great cricket over the last 12 months.
But if you look back, Australia
won four out of the last six World Cups. They’ve got (Steve) Smith and (David) Warner who are coming back, and are hungry and determined. So, I think Australia will win the World Cup this year,” he adds.