Shane Warne passes away hours after posting tribute to Rod Marsh

Bengaluru, March 4: Legendary Australian leg-spinner Shane Warne passed away hours after paying tribute to Rod Marsh on social media.

74-year-old Marsh, an Australian cricket great and the wicketkeeper who formed a prolific wicket-taking partnership with pace bowler Dennis Lillee, died a week after suffering a heart on Friday (March 4) morning.

Following the news of Marsh's death, Warne took to twitter to pay tribute to the Australian legend.

"Sad to hear the news that Rod Marsh has passed. He was a legend of our great game & an inspiration to so many young boys & girls. Rod cared deeply about cricket & gave so much-especially to Australia & England players. Sending lots & lots of love to Ros & the family. RIP mate," Warne wrote on Twitter.

That happened to be the spin great's last tweet as later on Friday (March 4), a report from Fox Cricket stated Warne had passed away.

The report said Warne's management released a brief statement that Australian spin legend passed away in Thailand and the reason could be a suspected heart attack.

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

While it may not be linked, some folk on the internet feel Warne's death may have something to do with his "Operation Shred" tweet, which he posted on February 28.

"Operation shred has started (10 days in) & the goal by July is to get back to this shape from a few years ago ! Let's go 💪🏻👏🏻 #heathy #fitness #feelgoodfriday" Warne had posted.

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 took 293 wickets.

Warne was also the first ever captain to lift the Indian Premier League (IPL) trophy in the inaugural edition with Rajasthan Royals.