Australia spin legend Shane Warne dies aged 52

Australia cricketing legend Shane Warne, 52, has died of a suspected heart attack while staying in his private villa in Koh Samui, Thailand.

Warne, also known as ‘Warnie’, was one of the most influential cricketers of all time. The right-arm leg spinner enjoyed a 15-year career from 1992-2007 and took 708 Test wickets. He was also named ‘Wisden's Five Cricketers of the Century.’

"It is with great sadness we advise that Shane Keith Warne passed away of a suspected heart attack in Koh Samui, Thailand today, Friday 4th March," read a statement from his management firm.

Warne’s manager, Michael Cohen, also issued a statement, where he mentioned "Shane was found unresponsive in his villa and despite the best efforts of medical staff, he could not be revived.”

“The family requests privacy at this time and will provide further details in due course," Cohen continued.

Circumstances of Shane Warne’s death

As per Reuters, Thai Police stated, Warne was staying at his private villa with three other friends. It was only when Warne did not turn up for dinner that one of the friends went to enquire about him.

The friend tried CPR on him and also called the ambulance in the meantime. An emergency response unit showed up at Warne’s residence and tried CPR for another “10-20 minutes.” An ambulance from the Thai International Hospital also arrived but to no avail.

Shane Warne: Cricket career

In his 15-year career with Australia, Warne played 145 Test matches and took 708 wickets, only bested by Sri Lanka’s Muttiah Muralitharan’s record of 800 wickets.

Apart from his legendary leg-spins, Warne was also a reliable batsman, with a personal best innings of 99 runs.

Warne was just as effective in One-day cricket, with a record of 293 wickets from 194 ODI matches. Also, he won the man-of-the-match award in the 1999 World Cup final against Pakistan.

‘Warnie’ made his international Test cricket debut against India in January 1992 took only  one wicket, Ravi Shastri, at the expense of 150 runs at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

However, his career skyrocketed when he was selected in the Australian squad for their Ashes tour of England in 1993. He announced himself to the cricketing world with his first ball of the series to England’s Mike Gatting. Dubbed the ‘Ball of the Century,’ Warne stunned Gatting with a well-pitched delivery that took the offside bail with it.

Warne retired  from international cricket in 2007. After his international career, he was called on to play in the Indian Premier League in 2008, where he captained the Rajasthan Royals to victory in the first edition of the tournament.

Tributes pour in for Shane Warne

Warne is survived by three of his children. The devastating loss to the cricketing world prompted responses from every corner of the world.

“I’m truly lost for words here, this is extremely sad. An absolute legend and champion of our game has left us. RIP Shane Warne….still can’t believe it,” tweeted India’s captain, Rohit Sharma.

Indian cricketing legend Sachin Tendulkar also reacted to the news: “Shocked, stunned & miserable…Will miss you Warnie.”