Shane Warne the legendary leg-spinner of all time and the 'King of Spin' would have turned 54 years old on this day. The sudden demise of Australian spin maestro Shane Warne at the age of 52 left the sporting world numbed with shock and grief on March 4, 2022.
He shattered several records in cricket and set his own, the legendary Australian leg-spinner was a fan favourite he passed away on March 4 after a heart attack while vacationing in Thailand. One of the most loved and followed cricketers in history. Here's some of the greatest deliveries by Warne.
Here's the video
Top 11 biggest spinning balls by the legendary Shane Warne 👑
— Extraa Cover (@ExtraaaCover) September 13, 2023
This clip is nothing but pure magic 🔥🔥
King of spin they said, rightly said 👑#HappyBirthdayShaneWarne #CricketTwitter #INDvPAK #AsiaCup2023 pic.twitter.com/OqmRajOd99
Shane Warne: an era of himself
Warne, who had taken just 31 wickets in 11 Test matches before playing his first Ashes in 1993, was preparing to deliver his first ball on English soil. Mike Gatting the experienced batter was facing the debutant for the first time who was bowled around his legs, leaving him shocked. This ball by Warne turned out to be the 'Ball of the Century'. The legendary leg-spinner ended up with four wickets in the first innings and four in the second, for a combined haul of 8 wickets and led the Aussies to win by 179 runs against their arch-rivals. Warne had become the first bowler to collect 700 Test wickets.
Warne finished his international career with 708 Test wickets and a further 293 in One-Day Internationals, placing him second on the list of all-time international wicket-takers. He finished behind Muttiah Muralitharan of Sri Lanka who picked up 1,347 wickets. He also captained Australia in 11 One-Day Internationals, winning 10 and losing just once.
The 53-year-old has the record of taking a total of 96 wickets in a year and he was the first bowler to do so. He has a record of scoring 1000 runs and taking 100 wickets in Tests. The 'King of Spin' also holds the record of scoring 4127 runs without any century. He had taken 5 wickets 38 times in his career. Of his 708 Test wickets, 195 wickets came against bitter-rivals England, making him the leading wicket-taker in Ashes history. Glenn McGrath holds second place with 157 wickets.