Shane Warne dies: 'It was an untold secret of Aussie team' - Kumble recalls heartwarming memory of facing Australia star

Former India leg-spinner Anil Kumble recalled playing against Shane Warne's Australia.

Published on: Mar 05, 2022 12:44 PM IST

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Shane Warne tragically passed away at the age of 52 from a suspected heart attack while on a holiday in Thailand. The former Australian leg-spinner was widely regarded as one of the greatest bowlers in the history of the game, taking 708 wickets in 145 matches throughout a magnificent international career. The cricket fraternity expressed its shock and grief following the passing away of the Aussie giant, and poured rich tributes to Warne.

Former India leg-spinner Anil Kumble, who was considered as one of the contemporaries to Warne and later shared a good friendship with the Aussie legend, also paid his tribute to the late cricketer on Saturday. In a special segment on Star Sports during the Day 2 of the India-Sri Lanka Test in Mohali, Kumble remembered facing Warne's Australia and revealed an “untold secret” of the side.

Also read: Shane Warne dies: Mike Gatting, victim of legend's famous 'ball of the century', pays tribute to cricket's 'number one'

“His greatness magnifies because he played really well against India. He wanted to do really well against us because we were good players of spin. There was this series in 1998 where everybody was speaking about 'Sachin vs Warne'. Warne got the better of him in the first innings, and then Sachin got the better of him in the second,” Kumble said.

“There was this secret, an untold secret about the Australian team, that they will not go after a cricketer if you are friends with Shane Warne. So when you went out to bat, and if you were friends with Warne, you didn't get any banter from the Aussies. So when I went to bat, Aussies didn't need to do any banter to unsettle me. That was Warnie, that was how he looked after his friends,” Kumble recalled as he paid tribute to the Aussie superstar.

Shane Warne was the first spinner to take 700 wickets in Test cricket and ended his career as the highest wicket-taker in the game, before he was eclipsed by Sri Lanka's Muttiah Muralitharan (800 wickets).