Melbourne [Australia], March 4 (ANI): Legendary Australian spinner Shane Warne died on Friday. He was 52. Warne died of a suspected heart attack reported Fox Cricket. “Shane was found unresponsive in his villa and despite the best efforts of medical staff, he could not be revived,”a statement on the Fox website said.

Shane Warne was one of the best leg-spinners to have embraced the game. Warne scalped 708 wickets in his illustrious career which spanned for 145 Test matches. Warne played 194 One Day Internationals for Australia in which he scalped 293 wickets. The right-hander was also handy with the bat as he scored 3,154 runs in his Test career. He amassed 1,018 runs in the 50-overs format.
The leg-spinner was known for his guile bowling and took a total of 1001 wickets. He became the first-ever bowler to scale the peak of 1,000 international wickets.

Tributes pour in as ‘King of Spin’ Shane Warne dies aged 52

The cricketing world is in complete shock after hearing the news of Shane Warne‘s death from a heart attack at the age of 52 on Friday. The iconic leg-spinner passed away in Thailand of a suspected heart attack, his management company said in a statement to Fox Sports.

“Cannot believe it. One of the greatest spinners, the man who made spin cool, superstar Shane Warne is no more. Life is very fragile, but this is very difficult to fathom. My heartfelt condolences to his family, friends and fans all around the world,” tweeted former India cricketer Virender Sehwag.

The former England all-rounder Kevin Pietersen, who was a close friend of Warne’s, tweeted “F***’ when the news broke followed by a string of crying emojis and the hashtag #RIPKing.” “Just heard the devastating news about legendary Shane Warne passing away. No words to describe how shocked & sad i am. What a legend. What a man. What a cricketer,” former Pakistan bowler Shoaib Akhtar tweeted.

The current England all-rounder Ben Stokes posted: “Australian Legend. @rajasthanroyals Legend. Was an honour to know you and work with you. This man is a LEGEND. #theking”

Ex-England batsman Ian Bell wrote: “Surely not??? Utterly heartbreaking.”
Shane Warne was one of the best leg-spinners to have embraced the game and was fondly known as ‘King of Spin‘. Warne scalped 708 wickets in his illustrious career which spanned for 145 Test matches.
Warne played 194 One Day Internationals for Australia in which he scalped 293 wickets. The right-hander was also handy with the bat as he scored 3,154 runs in his Test career. He amassed 1,018 runs in the 50-overs format.

Shane Warne’s guile puzzled every batting order, earned him place among bowling greats

New Delhi [India], March 4 (ANI): The world of sports is still in shock at the demise of Shane Warne. The legendary Australian leg-spinner left a deep impact in international cricket at the highest levels with his ingenuity and determination. Warne dies at age of 52. He died of a suspected heart attack, reported Fox Cricket. “Shane was found unresponsive in his villa and despite the best efforts of medical staff, he could not be revived,” said a statement on the Fox website.

Considered one of the best spinners to grace the world of cricket, Warne’s legacy is unmatched. His presence was enough to send shivers down every batting order in the world. To get a glimpse of the talent he possessed, one just needs to look at his delivery that dismissed England batter Mike Gatting during the Ashes.

Warne’s first ball of the 1993-94 Ashes series has been written into the history books as the “Ball of the Century”. The ball turned from well outside leg stump to clip the off bail of Gatting’s stumps. Warne was one of the best leg-spinners to embrace the game. He scalped 708 wickets in his illustrious career which spanned 145 Test matches. He played 194 One Day Internationals for Australia in which he scalped 293 wickets.

Warne is regarded as one of the best tacticians who never got to captain his country. The right-hander was also handy with the bat as he scored 3,154 runs in his Test career. The leg-spinner was famous for his guile. He took a total of 1,001 wickets, becoming the first-ever bowler to scale the peak of 1,000 international wickets.

Warne made his Test debut in 1992. His tally of 708 Test wickets was the record for the most wickets taken by any bowler in Test cricket until it was broken by Sri Lanka off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan. Warne played domestic cricket for his home state of Victoria and he represented Hampshire in County cricket. He was the skipper of Hampshire for three seasons from 2005 to 2007. In 2000, he was also selected by a panel of cricket experts as one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Century.

He officially retired from all formats of cricket in July 2013. He had retired from international cricket in January 2007 at the end of Australia‘s 5-0 Ashes series victory over England. Warne had also courted controversy during his career and faced a ban from the sport in 2003 for testing positive for a prohibited substance. . Warne also faced charges of accepting money from bookmakers during Australia‘s tour of Pakistan.

A day before the start of the 2003 World Cup in South Africa, Warne was sent home after a drug test returned a positive result for a banned diuretic. In 1998, the Australian Cricket Board had revealed that three years earlier it had fined Warne and Mark Waugh “for accepting money from a bookmaker for giving information about pitch and weather conditions”.

Before the start of the 1999 World Cup, Warne was given a fine and a two-match suspension by the International Cricket Council for talking to a newspaper about Sri Lankan captain Arjuna Ranatunga. Warne had a huge fan following in India. He had played in the first four seasons of the Indian Premier League for the Rajasthan Royals and led his team to victory against the Chennai Super Kings in the final of the 2008 season.

Warne had a great friendship with the likes of Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly. In his recent documentary ‘Shane’, Tendulkar and Warne spoke about their mutual admiration. In 2013, Warne was inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame. (ANI)

Warne was once-in-a-century cricketer, his achievements will stand for all time: Cummins

Melbourne [Australia], March 5 (ANI): Australian cricket, along with the entire cricketing world, is in a state of shock at the loss of Shane Warne, a true cricketing genius, who died aged 52. Australia men’s Test captain Pat Cummins said: “On behalf of the entire playing group and support staff here in Pakistan, I want to express our shock and sadness over Shane’s sudden passing. We are all numbed by the news. Shane was a once-in-a-century cricketer and his achievements will stand for all time, but apart from the wickets he took and the games he helped Australia win, what he did was draw so many people to the sport.” “So many of us in the playing group grew up idolising him and fell in love with this great sport as a result, while many of our support staff either played with him or against him. It has been a terrible couple of days for Australian cricket with the passing of Rod Marsh and now Shane,” he added.

Shane Warne is one of the most influential cricketers in history. He almost single-handedly reinvented the art of leg-spin when he burst onto the international scene in the early 1990s, and by the time he retired from international cricket in 2007, he had become the first bowler to reach 700 Test wickets.
A central figure in Australia’s ICC Cricket World Cup triumph in 1999, when he was player of the match in both the semi-final and the final, Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack recognised Shane’s achievements by naming him as one of its Five Cricketers of the Twentieth Century.

Shane’s strength of character and enormous resilience saw him bounce back from career-threatening finger and shoulder injuries, and his stamina, his sheer will to win, and his self-belief were key factors in Australia’s great side of the late 1990s and early 2000s. Cricket Australia Chief Executive Officer Nick Hockley, in Pakistan for the first Test of the Benaud-Qadir Trophy series, said: “Shane was one of the most talented and charismatic cricketers we have ever witnessed. He loved cricket, had an extraordinarily astute understanding of the game and his influence and legacy will last for as long as it is played.”

“Wisden named him as one of the five cricketers of the twentieth century and he was rightly placed alongside the names of Bradman, Hobbs, Sobers and Vivian Richards. We are in a state of complete shock at his sudden passing and our thoughts are with his family, his many friends and the legion of fans from all over the world who loved and admired Warnie for his unbelievable bowling skills, his humour, warmth and engaging personality,” he added.

Shane finished his international career with 708 Test wickets and a further 293 in One-Day Internationals, placing him second in the list of all-time international wicket-takers behind his great friend and rival Muttiah Muralitharan of Sri Lanka (1347). Shane also captained Australia in 11 One-Day Internationals, winning 10 and losing just once. At the first-class level, he was a passionate Victorian and enjoyed a long association with English county Hampshire. And at the end of his playing career, he also had successful stints in the Indian Premier League, captaining the Rajasthan Royals to the inaugural title in 2008, and the Big Bash League in Australia with the Melbourne Stars.

After he hung up his bowling boots, Shane continued to offer so much to the sport as a coach and commentator. In 2021 he worked with the London Spirit in the inaugural edition of The Hundred in the United Kingdom, something he was set to reprise this year. He also worked as a broadcaster, and his forthright views and incredible insights gave viewers all over the world a deeper insight into the sport he loved. (ANI)