Ravichandran Ashwin on Tuesday described late Shane Warne as the flag-bearer of spin bowling. Speaking on his YouTube channel, the Indian spinner revealed his favourite Warne delivery. 

Ashwin, recently, surpassed India legend Kapil Dev to become India’s second-highest wicket-taker in Test cricket. The 35-year-old has 436 scalps against his name in the format. 

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Hailig Warne for redefining bowling and bringing spin as an attacking commodity in world cricket, Ashwin said that the spin wizard was an extra-ordinary human being and he lived his life to the fullest. 

Shane Warne died of natural causes at the age of 52 in Thailand on Friday. 

“I see Warne as a flag-bearer for carrying the spin aspect of bowling on the front in the world cricketing map. The top three wicket-takers in the world are spinners in Muttiah Muralitharan, Shane Warne and Anil Kumble,” Ashwin said on his Youtube channel.

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“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.”

Warne finished his Test career with 708 wickets in 145 games. In his 194 ODI appearances, he snared 293 scalps.

“Shane Warne was a colourful character, he redefined bowling, he has taken more than 1000 international wickets, not many can achieve this rare feat.”

Warne had bowled the ‘ball of the century’ when he deceived Mike Gatting with a delivery that landed on the leg stump and turned viciously to clip his off bail.

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However, that isn’t Ashwin’s favourite Warne delivery.

“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 2005 Ashes,” Ashwin said.

“He almost single-handedly fought for Australia in that series. He was a maestro. He was an extra-ordinary human being and he lived his life to the fullest,” he added.