David Warner pledges to attend childhood hero Shane Warne's funeral at MCG; 'Definitely going to be extremely emotional'

Shane Warne will be buried at a private family funeral and a state memorial service will be held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on the evening of March 30.

One of the most influential cricketers in the history of the sport, Shane Warne passed away last week aged 52, leaving the world shell-shock. Warne, who was credited for reinventing the craft of leg-spin bowling, finished his international career with 708 Test wickets and a further 293 in One-day Internationals, placing him second in the list of all-time international wicket-takers behind Muttiah Muralitharan.

David Warner and Shane Warne (Getty Images)

A spin wizard who made the world fall in love with his bowling, Warne sparked an outpouring of grief from prominent names of the cricket fraternity. Tributes have been pouring in for the Australian great and opener David Warner is also planning to attend the state funeral of his childhood idol.

“It still hasn’t really sunk in. When we first found out, we thought it was a joke,” said Warner ahead of the second Test starting in Karachi from Saturday.

“I will be there, 100 per cent. It’s definitely going to be extremely emotional for everyone. There will be lots of people paying their respects. You just look at the tributes from around the world — he has touched millions and millions of people, and from different countries,” he added.

Warne will be buried at a private family funeral and a state memorial service will be held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on the evening of March 30. A private jet flew his body to his native Melbourne on Thursday after an eight-hour flight from Bangkok, six days after his death.

Warner recalled how he grew up idolising Warne. “As a kid, I had his poster up on the wall. I wanted to be like Shane," he said.

The Australian opener was seen entertaining the Rawalpindi crowd with some dance moves in the first Test, which resulted in a draw after only 14 wickets fell in five days. The strip earned a "below average" rating from the match referee as Australia's first Test in Pakistan after 24 years turned out to be a dull five-day affair dominated by the batters.

On adding some spark in the placid Test, Warner said, "We're entertainers as well," said Warner. "If I'm not playing in the middle where I'm batting, I like to engage with the fans."