End of an era.

Mike Gatting on that (Ball of the Century) ball
"I suppose I can say that 'I was there' at the moment he first indicated his potential to the wider world. There or thereabouts, anyway. Thanks to him, there are many more leg-spinners in the game. We may not see his like again."

Indeed, the greatest bowler cricket has ever seen has called it a day. Shane Warne was just not a leg spinner, he was one of the best entertainers. He was in the news for all the good and bad reasons. One could spend hours talking about his achievements on the fields and also about his wrong doings off the field. His action was poetic and the turn was vicious. He had a great variety and like Sachin Tendulkar said "One has to be awake all the time to face Warne". It is very difficult to take him for granted and assume what was going to come next.

Of all the records that was set, I thought Walsh's 519 was the most difficult to break. But Warne broke the record and ended with 708 wickets, which included some great wickets like the one of Mike Gatting and many others of similar genre. Though one cannot classify him as a complete all-rounder, he was a great first slip and a very decent lower order batsmen. All these qualities made him the deserving No. 4 in the Wisden's top 50 players that has ever played the game. Though I havent seen that much of Sir. Gary Sobers and Sir. Don Bradman, I rate Warne way ahead of all of them and would even go on to say Shane Warne is the best player to have played the game of cricket. It is going to be difficult to see a player with abundant talent, great charm and one that had an aura around him never walk on the field again. It is not only a void to Australian cricket but also to the sport in general which will miss one of its most enigmatic personalities.