Legendary Spinner Shane Warne’s Demise Is A Devastating Loss

​Australian cricket legend Shane Warne passed away on Friday at the age of 52, due to a “suspected heart attack”. Reactions poured in from the cricket fraternity as the entire world mourned the demise of a true legend of the sport. Shane Warne, a World Cup winner in 1999, was considered one of the best spinners to have played the game. 

Leg Spin:

Leg spin is one of the toughest bowling skills to master. One needs to be consistent, with very little margin for error. It took a great batsman like Sachin Tendulkar, to unravel Warne, and take his bowling apart. Some of Warne’s deliveries were so lethal that they swung in a long way, from way outside leg stump, to knock off the middle and off stump, coming around the batsman’s legs. Totally bamboozling! The expression on the puzzled batsman’s face used to be comic. In short, great art by itself. Naturally, such art has few equals.

Warne’s Legacy In Cricket is Hard to Forget:

​​Shane Warne is a name we think of when world-class spin bowling comes to mind. The first player to break the 600 and 700 wicket barrier in Test cricket, part of the side that won the 1999 World Cup and played an instrumental role in Australian bowling dominating in their glory years, Warne’s legacy in cricket is hard to forget. His life on and off the field has been exuberating, be it with controversies or some of the notorious stunts that he has pulled. ​

Tribute Pour In From Cricket Fraternity:

​Achievements:

Shane Warne was named one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year in the 1994 Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack. He was the Wisden Leading Cricketer in the World in 1997 (Notional Winner). He was named Wisden Leading Cricketer in the World for the year 2004 in the 2005 Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack. In 2000, he was selected by a panel of cricket experts as one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Century, the only specialist bowler selected in the quintet and the only one still playing at the time. He is also a cricket commentator and a professional poker player.

Warne played his first Test match in 1992 and took over 1000 international wickets (in Tests and One-Day Internationals), second to this milestone after Sri Lanka’s Muttiah Muralitharan. Warne’s 708 Test wickets was the record for the most wickets taken by any bowler in Test cricket, until it was also broken by Muralitharan on 3 December 2007. A useful lower-order batsman, Warne is also the only player to have scored 3000+ Test runs without a career century and he holds the record for most Test runs without a century (3154).

He also bought very prestigious trophies and championships for his country. His strategy and plans were totally different when compared to all other captains whereas Ricky Pointing used to take some advice from him. 

Death:

Warne died in his villa in Koh Samui, Thailand, today on 4 March 2022 due to a suspected heart attack. His death came on the same day as fellow Australian cricket icon Rod Marsh, to whom Warne paid tribute in a tweet a few hours prior to his own death.​