Shane Warne leaves a legacy that no one could and would ever match

The cricketing fraternity were absolutely shattered when they got to hear Shane Warne, one of cricket's all-time greats, died of a suspected heart attack at the age of 52.

Warne, who was named as one of Wisden's Five Cricketers of the Century, claimed 708 Test wickets in 145 matches in a 15-year long illustrious career for Australia between 1992 and 2007, and was also a World Cup winner in 1999. He had an underwhelming debut against India in 1991/92, where he had conceded 150 runs for a solitary wicket. However, he became an improved bowler with time, and later finished his cricket career as the second-highest wicket-taker in Test cricket, after Muttiah Muralitharan.

Let us have a look at how Warne had fetched throughout his career:

- After making debut against India in 1991/92, Warne played for Australia in 145 Tests and 194 ODIs before he decided to retire.

- Warne ended his international career with 708 Test wickets and 293 ODI wickets, at an average of 25.41 and 25.73 respectively.

- Warne still remains the second-highest wicket-taker in Test cricket, after Sri Lankan legend Muttiah Muralitharan

- Besides being a genuine match-winner with the ball, Warne was also an handy batter lower down the order. In fact, he had 13 half-centuries (12 in Tests and 1 in ODIs) in the international circuit, and was out on 99 in the final Test match.

- Warne led Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the inaugural season of the Indian Premier League (IPL), in 2008, and led them to win the title.

- Interestingly, Warne never led Australia.

- After retiring from professional cricket, Warne started working as a cricket expert, and worked with various broadcasters.

 - He has third-most Player-of-the-Match awards in Tests, being adjudged for 17 times.

- Warne still holds the record of most runs across formats in the international career without notching up a hundred.

- Warne is the fifth-fastest to bag 250 ODI scalps.

- Warne had bowled 51, 347 deliveries across formats in his career, which is the third-most balls bowled by a single individual.

Only time will tell whether one could match Warne’s numbers in the future. But it would be surely a mammoth task to target, especially when the batters have started dominating more than the bowlers in modern-day cricket.