Bengaluru, Mar 9 : Ravichandran Ashwin on Wednesday said legendary Australian leg spinner Shane Warne was an absolute crowd puller. “If you see anybody that speaks cricket in a poetic manner they would say they would pay and watch Shane Warne bowl. And for me, I will pay and watch Anil bhai bowl, Shane Warne bowl and Murali bowl. But Shane Warne was an absolute crowd puller,” he told BCCI TV in an interaction. Ashwin also said Warne was a symbol of excellence and poster boy of spin. “Shane Warne was literally er boy of spin. I thought Shane Warne was a very enigmatic personality. Someone who was always magnetic,” he said. In an ode to Warne on Tuesday, Ashwin said Warne was a colourful character and there are not many who can take more than 1000 international wickets as he did. He saw Warne as a flag bearer for spin bowling as he brought this form of art as an attacking commodity. “Even when there was not much happening on the surface, he used to take wickets just with his sheer intimidating presence,” he said. Warne had passed away in a Thai restaurant while watching the Australia-Pakistan Test match a few days back. He has a record of bagging a whooping 708 wickets in 145 Test matches and 293 wickets in 194 ODIs. Warne was also a part of Australia’s World Cup-winning team in 1999 and grabbed the Player of the Match award in the title clash of the multi-team event against Pakistan. BDN SHK2056
