Hitting back at Shane Warne, upon his comments, Steve Waugh said, he was just doing his job as a captain, when he dropped the leg-spinner for a Test in the West Indies, 17 years ago.

It is known that, a few days back, Warne criticized Waugh saying, he is the most selfish cricketer. He himself said that, the grudge was related to Waugh’s decision of dropping Warne from playing XI for the final Test, on a tour of the West Indies, 17 years ago.

Responding to it, Waugh issued a short statement through the social media, which read, “I’m not justifying his comments with an answer.”

Today he finally reopened up on the issue, explaining that, the decision to drop Warne
was tough, but part of his job as the captain.

“To be fair, not only Shane, any player I had to tell was dropped wasn’t easy,” Waugh said.

“It wasn’t easy telling Adam Dale he was dropped for a Test match or Greg Blewett. There were a number of players I had to tell they weren’t playing. As a captain, that is the hardest thing to do. But it’s also why you’re the captain, because people expect you to make the tough decisions for the benefit of the team. You have got to do that at times and you have got to be prepared not to be liked by everyone,” Waugh added.

Earlier in the week, Warne said that he was disappointed after Waugh dropped him, treating me as a scapegoat.
 
Responding to this, Waugh said, “I guess, the main thing as a captain and leader, as long as people respect your decision, that is all you can ask.”

“You have got to take a bit of a risk sometimes. It’s not always the obvious thing to do. Sometimes it can be gut feel, it can be based on facts…at the end of the day, you are a leader because people expect you to make a choice,” Waugh added.

Previously, Waugh has admitted that his decision to dump Warne, cost him his friendship with the spin king. But in his book “The Meaning Of Luck”, he said that, it helped shape and define him as a captain.

By Phani Ch