Cricket fans around the world mourn over the sudden death of Australian cricket legend and the greatest leg-spinner of all-time, Shane Warne. He died on March 4, Friday, at the age of 52. Warne’s management released a brief statement stating that he passed away in Thailand of a suspected heart attack.
“Shane was found unresponsive in his villa and despite the best efforts of medical staff, he could not be revived,” the statement reads. “The family requests privacy at this time and will provide further details in due course,” it further said. Warne was on a week-long holiday with three friends at the Samujana Villas resort, the start of a three-month lay-off after covering the 2021-22 Ashes series for Fox Sports. According to the Fox Cricket he died in Koh Samui, Thailand.
Warne’s condolence over Rod Marsh death
The news was the second devastating blow for Australian cricket in 24 hours as the fellow great, Rodney Marsh, also died the same day having suffered a major heart attack last week. The amazing thing in it is that just hours before his death was made public, Warne tweeted his sadness over the death of Marsh who was one of his cricket idols:
“Sad to hear the news that Rod Marsh has passed. He was a legend of our great game & an inspiration to so many young boys & girls. Rod cared deeply about cricket & gave so much-especially to Australia & England players. Sending lots & lots of love to Ros & the family. RIP mate❤️
— Shane Warne (@ShaneWarne) March 4, 2022”
Records
Shane Keith Warne, affectionately known as ‘Warnie’, was born on September 13, 1969, in Ferntree Gully, Victoria. He made his Test debut at the SCG (Sydney Cricket Ground) in 1992 against India, and his first Test wicket was Ravi Shastri. In the Ashes series in 1993, he produced what was called as the ‘ball of the century’ to break the wicket of English batsman Mike Gatting. It was a cracking leg break that spun from well outside leg to clip the off bail even as the batsman offered no stroke. This gained him international fame, and became something that people remember for ages.
Since 1992, playing 145 Tests for Australia, Warne picked up 708 wickets, and 293 scalps in 194 ODI appearances. He was the first bowler to reach 700 Test wickets before it was broken by Muttiah Muralidaran, and one of the two players who took 1,000 international wickets, alongside Murali. Warne has also bagged more Ashes wickets than any other bowler in history. In 2000, he was named as one of Wisden’s Five Cricketers of the Century for his unparalleled achievements in a 15-year career between 1992 and 2007 – the other four were Donald Bradman, Garfield Sobers, Jack Hobbs and Viv Richards.
Though once scored a frustrating 99 runs against England in a Test match, he is the current record holder of the most Test runs without a century.
Warne helped Australia win the World Cup in 1999 and took more wickets than any other bowler in Ashes cricket, the tally standing at 195. After a 12-month hiatus in 2003 for swallowing forbidden diuretics, he returned the cricket in 2004 and swept aside 26 Sri Lankan batsmen in three Tests. The following year he scalped a world record 96 victims, 40 out of those were Englishmen.
Apart from the most runs in a Test career without a hundred (3,154), he is the third most player-of-the-match awards (17), and fifth most ducks in Tests (34). He took a Test hat-trick, won the Man-of-the-Match prize in a World Cup final and was the subject of seven books. In his repertoire of bowling he had an assortment of leg-breaks, googlies, flippers, skidders, bouncers and his own “zooters”. Warne retired from Australia duty in 2007 following a 5-0 series win at home to arch-rivals England, and was probably the wiliest captain Australia never had. In 2007, Cricket Australia and Sri Lanka Cricket named the Test series between the two sides the Warne-Muralitharan Trophy in the duo’s honour.
Cricketers’ condolences
With the death news of the iconic cricketer, tributes poured in from across the world. Australian captain Pat Cummins, currently leading the team on a tour of Pakistan, said Warne was “a hero” to the current generation of cricketers.
“The loss that we are all trying to wrap our heads around is huge,” he said in a video message. “The game was never the same after Warnie emerged, and the game will never be the same after his passing.”
Former Australia team-mate Adam Gilchirst wrote on his twitter post: “Numb. The highlight of my cricketing career was to keep wicket to Warnie. Best seat in the house to watch the maestro at work.”
Sachin Tendulkar tweeted of his ex-rival: “Shocked, stunned & miserable... Will miss you Warnie. There was never a dull moment with you around. Will always treasure our on field duels & off field banter.”
Virat Kohli Twitter message is: “Life is so fickle and unpredictable. I cannot process the passing of this great of our sport and also a person I got to know off the field. RIP #goat. Greatest to turn the cricket ball.”
Chris Gayle said: “RIP LEGEND”, while Brian Lara tweeted: “And speechless at the moment. I literally don’t know how to sum up this situation. My friend is gone!! We have lost one of the Greatest Sportsmen of all time!! My condolences goes out to his family. RIP Warnie!! You will be missed.”
ICC condolences: “RIP Shane Warne 1969-2022. One of the greatest entertainers and match-winners our game has ever seen.”
Among others who condoled over Warne’s death were Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardhane, Muttiah Muralidaran, Rohit Sharma, Michel Vaughn and Kevin Peterson.
A colourful life
All of his skills were dipped in a jar of controversies that would make the occasional appearance in his career. But it never affected his on-field performances at all. In 1994, he was involved in bookies, and fined for providing information to a bookmaker. In 2003, he was entangled in a drug scandal - taking a banned diuretic, and suspended for 12 months which robbed him of a World Cup spot.
Once, he was caught smoking secretly after he had signed an anti-smoking campaign. And he dated several women, including celebrities such as British actress Liz Hurley. This affected his family life and ultimately, his wife Simone Callahan, with whom he had three children divorced from him. He trash-talked, infuriated and incensed different people at different times, but surprisingly the flaws did not diminish his aura, only burnished it.
Retirement
After his retirement, Warne involved himself with the lucrative Indian Premier League. He lead the Rajasthan Royals team to a title in the first edition of IPL, which proved the fact that he was an inspirational leader. He played a vital role with Rajasthan till 2013 and then took to television commentary. In 2018, he was appointed as Rajasthan Royals coach in the IPL.
As Indian Express mentioned Warne was 52 when he died, but in the eyes of the cricketing world, he would remain ever youthful, ever Mr Hollywood.
Source: Internet