'One simple number sums up my relationship with Shane': Clarke reveals story behind Warne handing him shirt number 23

Michael Clarke said no one understood him and allowed him to be completely himself like Shane Warne.

Former Australia captain Michael Clarke underlined number "23" to sum up his special relationship with legendary Shane Warne, who passed away on Saturday after suffering a heart attack in Thailand. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players to play the sport, Warne reinvented the art of leg-spin and went on to become the first bowler to reach 700 Test wickets.

Shane Warne and Michael Clarke (Getty Images)

Warne, an influential player who lived life king size, finished his international career with 708 Test wickets and a further 293 in the ODI format, placing him second in the list of all-time international wicket-takers behind his great friend and rival Muttiah Muralitharan, who has got 1,347 scalps to his name.

Warne also captained Australia in 11 ODIs where he led the team to ten wins. Clarke, who captained Australia in their World Cup-winning campaign in 2015, recalled getting the number 23 jersey, which was previously worn by Warne. Clarke said no one understood him and allowed him to be completely himself like Warne.

Clarke also revealed that the late spin icon himself came up to pass him the shirt number. "Cricket has always been a game of numbers and one simple number sums up my relationship with Shane Warne - 23," Clarke wrote in a column for 'The Daily Telegraph'.

"...it was not a done thing in cricket for a shirt number to be handed down. But all that changed when Warnie came up to me and told me he wanted me to take on his No. 23 that he wore in one-day cricket. I am forever grateful for that and I will hang onto that honour for the rest of my life. For me, that simple act of handing me his number embodies the fact that he is the person who supported me more than anyone else," Clarke remembered.

Clarke's emergence at the biggest level coincided with Warne's last phase but the two former a special connect. Clarke also likened Warne to basketball legend Michael Jordan, saying the Aussie legend would do "anything" for the people he loved.

"Everyone is rightly talking about the legend that Warnie was. If he's not the greatest ever Australian cricketer, then he is equal to Sir Donald Bradman. He is – as his No. 23 said – the Michael Jordan of cricket."

"But all that stuff is secondary to the friend he became to me and so many others around the game. Shane Keith Warne was loyal to the bone and would do anything for the people that he loved."