A cricketer who lived showing his open wounds and all has left us suddenly.
Australia cricket legend Shane Warne has passed away of a suspected attack in Thailand. He was just 52, a tragic age to die.
Warne is widely regarded as one of the greatest bowlers to have played the game, having retired as Test cricket’s second most prolific wicket-taker. His life, too, was as insane as his career.
Warne’s management company in a brief statement released on Friday confirmed that he passed away in Koh Samui, Thailand, of a suspected heart attack.
“Shane was found unresponsive in his villa and despite the best efforts of medical staff, he could not be revived,” Warne’s management have confirmed in a statement.
Warne played 145 Tests and 194 ODIs between 1992 and 2007 and took a combined 1001 wickets during his storied international career.Warne was the member of Australia’s 1999 ODI World Cup winning squad and also played starring roles in the team’s five Ashes title wins between 1993 and 2003.
But stats don’t account for how magical he was when he played the game. The ball to Mike Gatting during the Old Trafford test in 1993 will always be considered a work of art. His ball to Andrew Strauss during the 2005 Ashes at Edgbaston, too, was a thing of beauty.
His controversies too enhance In 94-95, he took a bribe from a bookmaker called “John”, along with Mark Waugh in return for pitch and weather information. The ACB covered it up. In 98, he was found out and he was jeered when he came out to bat. He, Waugh and the board were criticised by the media but Warne’s troubles didn’t end there. Cricket Australia had called back Warne in the middle of the team’s World Cup campaign after he tested positive for a diuretic, a drug that was given to him by his mother for weight loss.
Shane Warne later said about this, “Cricket Australia make the decision to send me home, so I have to address the team, which was really hard because as I said I’m anti-drugs, I don’t do them, never touched them,” Warne told Mark Howard in an interview for Fox Cricket.
“Apologising to them just on the eve of the World Cup was I felt so bad to unsettle their groove because we were all on the journey to try win that World Cup. I broke down (in tears) in front of the team. It was tough.”
Warne was consequently banned for a year by the board after he returned home.
His drinking binges and affairs post divorce were regular sights on sleazy tabloids like the Sun. His relationship with actress and socialite Elizabeth Hurley was especially, made for the British press. Their pictures were splashed across the tabloids for quite a few years. Their relationship became a subject of voyeur and lurid interest for the press.
He remained a popular figure post his retirement in 2007, forging a successful broadcasting career as commentator and expert too. As an expert, whenever he used to talk about spin bowling, it was like hearing a master talking about his art in great detail. No one could talk about the intricacies of spin like he did.
This career, too, was filled with its share of controversies. His so called “bias” against fast bowler Mitchell Starc has been called out again and again on the internet. Many have derided his very ” matey” approach to commentary, and put him up as an example of the “denigration” of Australian commentary since Richie Benaud. In 2013, Warne was fined $4,500 and banned for one match for using obscene language, making inappropriate physical contact with a player or official (Marlon Samuels) and showing serious dissent at an umpire’s decision during a BBL match. His comments about Marnus Labuschagne, too, got castigated on the net. He retired but the controversies did not.
Post retirement, Warne famously guided Rajasthan Royals to a fairy-tale title win in the inaugural season of Indian Premier League in 2008 as their captain and coach. He is the protagonist of that tale, discovering unknown players who we haven’t heard of ever again like Asondkar but he also found a little gem called Ravindra Jadeja who turned out to be a match winner in IPL and in international cricket.
Cricket is considered a gentleman’s game. Was Shane Warne a gentlemen? No but he was the Maradona figure of cricket. Someone who had his demons but whose talent transcended everything. He was derided by many but equally loved too. Cricket will miss him and his colourful life. We can just hope that he will watch cricket from up above with a smile and a beer in his hand.
