Shane Warne Recalls 'Breaking Down' In Dressing Room After 2003 World Cup Ban
Published - 10 May 2020, 04:26 PM | Updated - 23 Aug 2024, 12:28 AM
Spin legend Shane Warne was in the thick of thing during the 2003 World Cup. Cricket Australia (CA) had asked him to go home after testing positive for a banned diuretic drug in early 2003 in the middle of the tournament. Shane Warne was eventually banned for 12-month by his cricket board. It came as a major dent on his career and he had to inculcate plenty of criticism due to situation.
It was a tragic time for Warne. But he was not aware of consuming the drug. It is widely reported that Warne had consumed it after his mother gave it to him to lose weight. At that point neither Warne or his mother was aware of the banned substance used in the medicine.
Shane Warne: I felt so bad, I broke down in front of the team
Shane Warne was nursing a shoulder injury during that time. He was also waiting for the B reports, but after the board had advised him to head home, Warne broke down in front of his teammates at the dressing room during a conversation. He, then flew home obliging to the decision taken by the board.
Recalling the incident, Warne said, it was really hard to address his teammates before leaving. He apologised to them on the World Cup eve and felt unsettled to spoil the groove besides subsequently breaking down in the dressing room in front of his teammates.
“Cricket Australia make the decision to send me home, so I have to address the team, which was really hard because as I said I’m anti-drugs, I don’t do them, never touched them,” Warne told Mark Howard in an interview for Fox Cricket’s A Week With Warnie.
“Apologising to them just on the eve of the World Cup was … I felt so bad to unsettle their groove because we were all on the journey to try win that World Cup
“I broke down (in tears) in front of the team. It was tough,” he added.
Australia, however, went to clinch the 2003 World Cup.
