Terming Shane Warne's sudden death a 'personal loss', Indian batting great and current head coach Rahul Dravid, on Saturday, said the Australian spin legend will be remembered as long as the game is played.
Warne, who redefined the art of spin bowling to become one of the greatest in international cricket, died of a suspected heart attack in Thailand on Friday at the age of 52, leaving the cricket fraternity shell-shocked.
"I had the privilege and honour to play against Shane Warne. More importantly the great privilege of getting to know him personally and playing with him and alongside him as a colleague, I think that will probably be one of the highlights of my cricketing career," Dravid said in a video posted in the BCCI Twitter handle.
"Even if you didn't meet him very often, he would make it feel like this was personal. It really feels like a personal loss. It's something that really hurts; it's sad. As long as the game is being played, someone like Shane Warne and Rodney Marsh will always be remembered," added the head coach.
Warne passed on a day when Australian cricket was mourning the death of wicket-keeping legend Rodney Marsh.
"Really sad day for the game of cricket. To lose two legends in two days, people who truly made the game what it is and truly loved the game, is indeed a deep loss. Our thoughts are with both the families, their friends and may their souls rest in peace.
"I didn't know Rod that well, met him a few times. But grew up watching a lot of Rodney Marsh and hearing a lot about him," said Dravid.
The former India captain had been team-mates with Warne for the Rajasthan Royals in the 2011 IPL after facing off against each other in international cricket.
"Just to get to know him personally a lot and spoken about him as a great cricketer and rightly so; we all know a lot about that.
"I think for me what will remain just is the memories of the friendship, of the times we spent together off the field and just the ability to connect. I think that was what was great about Shane Warne," saidthe batting legend at the sidelines of the first Test between India and Sri Lanka.
An iconic name in international cricket, Warne, since making his debut in 1992, played 145 Tests for Australia, picking up 708 wickets with his leg-spin. In his 194 ODI appearances, Warne snared 293 scalps.
He immortalised himself with the 'ball of the century' in 1993 when as a 24-year-old, he deceived Mike Gatting at Old Trafford with a delivery that landed on the leg stump and, as the Englishman tried to defend, turned viciously to clip his off bail.
