Third Death Anniversary Shane Warne: Shane Warne, one of the best spun bowlers in history, died of a heart attack when he was 52 and on holiday in Thailand. Exactly three years earlier today (March 4), the devastating event that devastated the cricket world occurred. Gracing the sport for close to fifteen years, Warne resurrected the art of spin with his unorthodox bowling.
Warne upset many world-class batters of his era and also helped to lead Australia to victory in the 1999 World Cup, whether with his googly or leg break.
Debuting internationally in 1992, the spin wizard played in a Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) Test against India at home. Accuracy was a major problem for Warner during the early years of his career. To preserve the line and reach the desired length, he had to reassess his wrist activity.
The mystic ball Warne used to bamboozle Mike Gatting in the 1993 Ashes on English ground is referred to as the “Ball of the Century. During a New Zealand trip in the same year, the Australian great made his first ODI.
A close look at the glorious career:
Shane Warne still holds the most wickets in the esteemed Ashes series. In 36 Test match against fierce opponent England he chose 195 scalps. Warne had his top scores of 5/82 and 34 wickets in six tests in his first Ashes series.
He was just as outstanding in white-ball cricket. Warne turned the tide of the semi-final against the West Indies in the 1996 World Cup with his four-for-36 performance. The much-heralded leg-spinner claimed 20 wickets in the tournament’s 1999 version, four of them from Pakistan in the final.
In Test cricket, Warne was the quickest bowler to pass both the 600 and 700-wicket milestones. In 145 games for Australia he wore the whites and took 708 wickets at an average of 25.41.
In ODIs he played 194 matches and took 293 wickets. Warne also demonstrated his batting ability many times. Aggregating 4,172 runs, he amassed 13 half-centuries across all formats.
Performance against team India:
Warne, though one of the top of his era, had poor marks against India. Against the sub-continental giants, his strike-rate of 91.2 and 64.9 in Tests and ODIs was lowest among all the countries he participated against. Warne got 43 Test wickets in 14 games versus India and 15 in 18 appearances in one-day internationals.
