Gautam Gambhir recalled his time at the Australian cricket academy where every player, pacer or batsman, wanted to become like Shane Warne. The former Indian opener paid his tribute to the ‘Spin King’ days after he died of natural causes at the Thai resort island of Samui. 

Thailand Police on Monday said that an autopsy conducted on the body of  Warne has concluded that he died of natural causes. However, the cause of death has not been confirmed yet. 

Also read: When sledging Shane Warne left Andrew Strauss humiliated

Gambhir, who once revealed that Warne was one of the players he enjoyed sledging, said that the leg-spinner was the ‘typical Australian’ every player wanted to be. 

“I remember when I went to the Australian cricket academy, I was 18-year-old. BCCI used to send three players every year for the Border-Gavaskar scholarship. So, when we went to the academy in Adelaide, there was not even a single player who didn’t want to become like Shane Warne. Everyone wanted to be like Shane Warne,” the former Kolkata Knight Riders captain said on Star Sports. 

Also read: Life is so unpredictable and fickle: Kohli pays tribute to Warne

Gambhir further added that out of the Australian greats like McGrath, Ponting, Hayden and so many more, Warne inspired youngsters the most. 

“There were other great (Australian) players like Glenn McGrath, Ricky Ponting, Matthew Hayden. But, if you asked them what did they want to become from those 40 players, everybody used to say Shane Warne. Such was the impact of that player (Shane Warne). Even the fast bowlers and the batters wanted to become Shane Warne. He was just that typical Australian everyone wanted to be,” he added.

Also read: Shane Warne lived more in his life than most would do in 20: Glenn McGrath

Warne represented Australia for 15 years took 708 Test wickets – the second-most of all time behind only Muttiah Muralitharan. He was a member of Australia’s World Cup win in 1999, and five Ashes-winning sides between 1993 and 2003.