Ricky Ponting, the former Australian captain, was visibly moved by the sudden death of his close friend and teammate Shane Warne, who died at the age of 52. Warne died of a suspected heart attack on March 4 during a holiday visit to a hotel in Thailand, and the entire cricketing fraternity was stunned by the news.
Warne is regarded as one of the game’s all-time greats and is widely regarded as the best leg-spinner of all time. He was the first bowler in Test cricket history to take 700 wickets, and he has more than 1000 international wickets for Australia, which is an incredible achievement for any cricketer.
Ricky Ponting reveals three words he regrets not saying to Warne
Ponting revealed how the shocking news has affected him and what he would have told Warne if he had one last conversation with the legend in an interview with former cricketer Isa Guha.
“I would say just how much I love him. I didn’t say that to him and I wish I did. I woke up nice and early I was getting the kids ready to go to netball and Rianna (Ponting’s wife) looked at her phone and told me the news about Warney,” Ponting said.
He said that he was speechless in shock and that his mind wandered back to the years he had spent in the Australian dressing room with Warne. He concluded that Warne’s untimely death had been difficult to accept.
“I grabbed the phone out of her hand to look at it and I couldn’t believe it and it is still the same now. It was so raw to me I couldn’t really speak and every time I thought about him and our experiences and our journey together and I just got short for words. Even today I have had the TV on watching the tributes, but every time I hear his voice I have to turn it off. It’s been a tough couple of days, but it makes us a bit more aware of things I probably need to pay more attention to and there is stuff there for all of us to learn.” he added.
