Competing Against Shane Warne Among Career Highlights, Says Rahul Dravid

Team India head coach Rahul Dravid on Saturday paid tribute to Shane Warne after the Australian spin great died at the age of 52.

Team India head coach Rahul Dravid on Saturday paid tribute to Shane Warne after the Australian spin great died at the age of 52. The iconic spinner succumbed in Thailand following a suspected heart attack. Earlier on Friday, Rodney Marsh had also died. Dravid also condoled the unfortunate demise of Australian legendary wicketkeeper Rodney Marsh and spin great Shane Warne, calling it a deep loss. “Really sad day for the game of cricket to lose to legends in two days the people who I think truly made the game what it is, who truly loved the game. It is indeed a deep loss. Our thoughts are with the family and all their friends. May their souls rest in peace. I did not know Rod that well met him a few times but obviously grew up watching lots of Rodney Marsh and hearing a lot about him,” said Rahul Dravid in a video on BCCI’s Twitter account.

“I had the privilege and really I think an honour to be able to compete and play against Shane Warne. But more importantly the privilege of getting to know him personally and playing with him alongside as a colleague. I think that probably will be one of the highlights of my cricketing career. Just to get to know him a lot will be spoken about him as a great cricketer and we all know about that.

“I think what will remain for me will be the memories of the friendship, of the time that we spent together off the field and just the ability to connect this is great about Shane Warne even you did not meet him very often he could make it feel like this was personal. It feels like a really personal loss, you know it’s something that really hurts. It’s sad and I think that as long as the game is being played, I think someone like Shane Warne and Rodney Marsh will always be remembered,” he added.

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 1,000 international wickets.

Marsh aggregated 3,633 runs in Test cricket including three centuries. In 92 ODIs, he scored 1,225 runs, took 120 catches and effected four stumpings.