NEW DELHI: Former Australia spinner Shane Warne, considered as one of the all-time greats of the game who redefined spin bowling, died on Friday of a suspected heart attack in Thailand. He was 52.
Warne's management released a brief statement that Warne passed away in Thailand and the reason could be a suspected heart attack.
An iconic name in international cricket, Warne, since making his debut in 1992, played 145 Tests for Australia, picking up 708 wickets. In his 194 ODI appearances, Warne had 293 scalps.
Here's a look at top 3 greatest Shane Warne moments:
The ball of the century
The Ball of the Century, also referred to as the Gatting Ball, was one of the biggest highlights of Shane Warne's international career. The Australian spin legend produced the delivery against England batter Mike Gatting on 4 June 1993 on the second day of the first Test of the 1993 Ashes series, at Old Trafford in Manchester.
It was Warne's first ball against England, in his first Ashes Test. It became recognised as being of considerable significance in not just the context of the match or series, but in cricket in general in that it signalled the revival of leg spin bowling.
1999 World Cup epic performance
At 48/0 chasing 214, South Africa in their World Cup semi-final match against Australia were well on the way to ending their World Cup hoodoo as a place in the final beckoned.
Australia needed a breakthrough and then entered Shane Warne. In the space of three overs he literally turned the game Australia's way, taking three wickets to wrestle the momentum back to Steve Waugh's men before the dramatic climax of arguably the greatest one-day international of all time.
Australia v England, Adelaide 2006
It was day five of the Australia-England Test in December 2006 and a draw seemed the only realistic outcome of the second Ashes Test.
England led in the first innings with nine wickets in hand, but an inspirational spell by Warne flipped the game on its head, paving the way for an unthinkable Australian victory.
Warne claimed four wickets on the final day as England were bundled out for 129 in their second innings. Australia won the match by 6 wickets.
