With the threat of in-form off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin looming large, Australia captain Michael Clarke summoned Shane Warne to the team's nets session on Wednesday, ahead of their ICC World Cup semi-final against India at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
The spin legend not only provided inputs to Australia’s spinners, but also turned the clock back during an hour at the nets during which he was able to bamboozle some of the best batsmen with his artistry.
Clad in black sleeveless jacket and dark grey tracks, Warne arrived unnoticed, went inside the main stadium, walked straight towards Clarke and spoke to the skipper for a good 20 minutes.
In between, he also assisted fielding coach Mike Young, who was giving high catching practice to the fielders.
Once the fielding drills were over, Warne walked alongside Clarke to the adjacent net area. He stood at the umpire's position when Clarke was batting.
He gave some instructions to a left-arm spinner who was bowling in the nets. Once Clarke got his eye in, Warne started to roll his arm over. After some warm-up deliveries, the legendary spinner was at work.
There were a couple of googlies that forced Clarke on the backfoot; he just about managed to keep it away.
Both Clarke and Warne were engaged in deep discussion after the session as they left the venue.
In between deliveries, there was a wry smile as fans started gathering and cheering Warne.
The "C'mon Warnie," shouts were back and, to everyone's disbelief, most of them were Indian fans; more precisely, Warne fans!
The best part of his bowling was when James Faulkner faced him. After a few normal deliveries, there was a sharp leg-break and Faulkner could only manage to edge it towards first slip.
The smile was back and the next was a 'zooter' (Australian lingo for flipper) that Faulkner completely misjudged. There were claps all around.
Then there was another wrong one from the master and, this time, Faulkner was beaten lock, stock and barrel.
After that he also bowled to Shane Watson and Aaron Finch while sharing a word or two with left-arm spinner Xavier Doherty.
It must be recalled that Warne had similarly dropped in at South Africa’s nets session during the World T20 in Bangladesh last year and spent considerable time with leg-spinner Imran Tahir.
Call it ironical, it was a semi-final and South Africa's opponent was India.
For record, India handsomely beat South Africa in that game.
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