The veteran Indian off-spinner R Ashwin paid a rich tribute to Shane Warne, stating that the late Australian legend redefined bowling and brought spin bowing an attacking option in world cricket. Notably, Warne took his last breath last week at the age of just 52 years and the autopsy conducted by Thai police revealed natural causes.
In the latest video on his Youtube channel, R Ashwin said, “I see Warne as a flag-bearer for carrying the spin aspect of bowling on the front of the world cricketing map. The top three wicket-takers in the world are spinners Muttiah Muralitharan, Shane Warne and Anil Kumble. He was an interesting character. So many Australian legends had so many nice things to say about him. I still can’t accept the fact that life is so fickle. We cannot predict what can happen.”
Shane Warne had bowled the ‘ball of the century’ when he deceived Mike Gatting at Old Trafford with a delivery that landed on the leg stump and, as the Englishman tried to defend, turned viciously to clip his off bail. However, that isn’t Ashwin’s favorite Warne delivery.
Talking about the same, R Ashwin said, “Shane Warne brought spin as an attacking commodity to this cricketing world. Everyone will talk about Warne’s delivery to Mike Gatting, but my favourite is Warne’s delivery to Andrew Strauss in the 2005 Ashes. He almost single-handedly fought for Australia in that series. He was a maestro. He was an extraordinary human being and he lived his life to the fullest.”
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The seasoned off-spinner also spoke about how a traumatic childhood accident, breaking both legs, helped Warne master one of the most difficult crafts in the game.
Talking about the incident, R Ashwin said, “I was talking to Rahul Dravid who was extremely sad. For a spinner, your shoulder and upper half of the body have to be extremely strong because you have to use many rotations to spin the ball. Because for a spinner to master your craft, you should keep bowling in the nets. More so, if you are a leg-spinner. He had strong shoulders and that was his massive advantage.”
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It is a known incident that, as a child, Shane Warne suffered two broken legs when another child jumped from a height and landed on his back. With both legs swathed in plaster casts, the bowling legend had to push himself around in a cart, developing extraordinary strength in his upper body.
R Ashwin said, “So, they used to bully him and it seems he broke both his legs while playing. He couldn’t walk and was on bed rest. For 3-4 weeks, he walked or rather floated using his bare hands and those made his shoulders strong and there was no looking back. That’s what he told Rahul Bhai. We all face obstacles in life, but look how Warne converted it as his success formula.”
