Australia legend Shane Warne passes away at 52

Australia spin wizard Shane Warne breathed his last on March 4, aged 52. The former cricketer, it is learnt, suffered a heart attack and passed away and was found “unresponsive” in his villa in Koh Samui, Thailand. While the details of his passing away are yet to be confirmed, Warne’s management issued a brief statement to confirm his demise.

“Shane was found unresponsive in his villa and despite the best efforts of medical staff, he could not be revived,” the statement read. “The family requests privacy at this time and will provide further details in due course.

Arguably one of the finest spinners of not just Australia but in the entire cricketing world, Warne represented his nation in 145 Tests and 194 ODIs in a career spanning over a decade and a half.

He is the second-highest wicket-taker of all time in Test cricket behind Sri Lanka’s Muttiah Muralitharan, with 708 wickets to his name at an average of 25.41, including 37 five-wicket hauls and 10 ten-fors. In the 50-over format, Warne claimed 293 wickets at 25.73, having made his debut against New Zealand in 1993, only a year after his Test debut against India in 1992.

Apart from international cricket, Warne was also a feature of domestic T20 Leagues including the Indian Premier League and the Big Bash League, where he represented the Melbourne Stars. He also led the Rajasthan Royals, his IPL team, to a title in the league’s inaugural edition in 2008. In his 55-match IPL career, the leg-spinner picked 57 wickets, whereas following his retirement, he joined the team in a coaching capacity. Warne was also a renowned commentator and television broadcaster, having been an active member of the industry in the last half a decade.

Meanwhile, the horrific news is the second in the day for Australia, who also lost another great servant on the same day in Rod Marsh, who passed away aged 74 following a cardiac arrest in the previous week.