Veteran Indian off-spinner R Ashwin paid a rich tribute to Australian spin wizard Shane Warne. He passed away on March 4 at the age of 52 due to an apparent heart attack in Thailand, and an autopsy has revealed that he died of natural causes.
Hailing Warne, a leg-spinner who made the world fall in love with his craft, Ashwin said that the late Australian legend redefined bowling and brought spin as an attacking commodity in world cricket.
Ashwin said on his YouTube channel: “I see Warne as a flag-bearer for carrying the spin aspect of bowling on the front in the world cricketing map. The top three wicket-takers in the world are spinners in Muttiah Muralitharan, Shane Warne, and Anil Kumble.”
He added, “He was an interesting character. So many Australian legends had so many nice things to say about him. I still can’t accept the fact that life is so fickle. We cannot predict what can happen.”
Meanwhile, Warne is regarded as the greatest spinner of all time. He picked up 708 wickets in 145 Tests while he snared 293 scalps in his 194 ODI appearances with his leg-spin for Australia. He also won the 1999 World Cup with Australia.
Ashwin said, “Shane Warne was a colorful character, he redefined bowling, he has taken more than 1000 international wickets, not many can achieve this rare feat.”
The veteran off-spinner also revealed his favorite Warne delivery. However, it wasn’t the "ball of the century" to dismiss Mike Gatting at Old Trafford in 1993 Ashes. He picked the ball which dismissed Andrew Strauss in 2005 Ashes.
Ashwin signed off by saying, “Shane Warne brought spin as an attacking commodity to this cricketing world. Everyone will talk about Warne’s delivery to Mike Gatting, but my favorite is Warne’s delivery to Andrew Strauss in 2005 Ashes.
He almost single-handedly fought for Australia in that series. He was a maestro. He was an extraordinary human being and he lived his life to the fullest.”
(With PTI Inputs)
