Brisbane, Dec 03: The mighty Australians may have tried every conceivable tactic including sledging to unsettle Sachin Tendulkar but ace spinner Shane Warne has confessed nothing has worked so far in their favour against the little genius. Describing Tendulkar as the "best batsman by some distance", Warne said all the Australians can do against the Indian maestro is to have a "bowling plan and execute it as best as you can".
"Over the years we have tried all manner of ways to unsettle him. First we sledged him but that did not work. So we tried the silent treatment and that didn't work either.”
"So all you can do is to have a bowling plan and execute it as best as you can," Warne told reporters here.
The ace leg-spinner, serving a 12-month ban for drug abuse, believes that the Australians would certainly try out a few tricks against Tendulkar in the coming four-test series.
"I think (Jason) Gillespie is most likely to test him because of his ability to hit the seam," he said.
Warne, hugely successful against all teams except India, was at the receiving end of Tendulkar's fury during his last two tours of India in 1998 and 2000. Tendulkar repeatedly stepped out to the Australian spin legend who has said the Indian batsman gave him "nightmares".
Bureau Report