Shane Warne passes away at 52: Cricket world shattered by spin legend's demise

Bengaluru, March 4: Cricketing world was left shattered following the news of legendary Australian spinner Shane Warne's death on Friday (March 4).

Warne, who posted a tribute to late Rod Marsh earlier in the day, died at the age of 52 of a suspected heart attack as reported by Fox Cricket.

"Shane was found unresponsive in his villa and despite the best efforts of medical staff, he could not be revived,"a statement on the Fox website said. "The family requests privacy at this time and will provide further details in due course," it added.

Warne was one of the best leg-spinners to have embraced the game. Warne scalped 708 wickets in his illustrious career which spanned for 145 Test matches.

Warne played 194 One Day Internationals for Australia in which he scalped 293 wickets. The right-hander was also handy with the bat as he scored 3154 runs in his Test career. He amassed 1018 runs in the 50-overs format.

The leg-spinner was known for his guile bowling and took a total of 1001 wickets. He became the first-ever bowler to scale the peak of 1000 international wickets. The Aussie great was also the first captain to lift the IPL trophy.

The news of his death has stunned the cricketing world and some took to social media to express their grief and shock.

Indian icon Sachin Tendulkar, a very close friend of Warne, said he was "shocked, stunned and misearble" with the news of the Australia legend's sudden passing.

"Shocked, stunned & miserable...Will miss you Warnie. There was never a dull moment with you around, on or off the field. Will always treasure our on field duels & off field banter. You always had a special place for India & Indians had a special place for you. Gone too young!"

Virat Kohli, who has often earned praise from Warne, also expressed shock at the news.

"Life is so fickle and unpredictable. I cannot process the passing of this great of our sport and also a person I got to know off the field. RIP #goat. Greatest to turn the cricket ball," posted Kohli.

West Indies great Brian Lara also took to social media to pay tribute to the greatest sportsman of all time.

"Heartbroken And speechless at the moment. I literally don't know how to sum up this situation. My friend is gone!! We have lost one of the Greatest Sportsmen of all time!! My condolences goes out to his family. RIP Warnie!! You will be missed," Lara tweeted.

Here is some more reaction from the cricket fraternity on Social Media: