Former Indian cricketer-turned-politician Gautam Gambhir has paid tribute to Australian great Shane Warne as he recalled his time at the Australian cricket academy as an 18-year-old. Warne passed away of a suspected heart attack in Thailand at the age of 52.

He also recalled how every player at the academy, whether a fast bowler or batter, wanted to become like Warne.

Gambhir said on Star Sports: “I remember when I went to the Australian cricket academy, I was 18-year-old. BCCI used to send three players every year for the Border-Gavaskar scholarship. So, when we went to the academy in Adelaide, there was not even a single player who didn't want to become like Shane Warne. Everyone wanted to be like Shane Warne.”

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The former opener further said that Warne was a "typical Australian" and everyone wanted to be like him at the academy.

He said, “There were other great (Australian) players like Glenn McGrath, Ricky Ponting, Matthew Hayden. But, if you asked them what did they want to become from those 40 players, everybody used to say, Shane Warne. Such was the impact of that player (Shane Warne).”

Gambhir signed off by saying, “Even the fast bowlers and the batters wanted to become Shane Warne. He was just that typical Australian everyone wanted to be.”

Notably, Warne made his debut for Australia in 1992 during a Test in Sydney against India and remains the second-highest wicket-taker in the history of Test cricket with 708 wickets in 145 Tests.