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Cricket Australia has announced that the Great Southern Stand at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) will be renamed after Shane Warne in a permanent tribute to the 'Spin King' who passed away on Friday (March 4th).
Speaking about this, Daniel Andrews, the Premier of Victoria said,
"I’ve just informed the Warne family that the Government will rename the Great Southern Stand at the MCG - the place he took his hat trick and 700th wicket - to honor Shane and his contribution to the game. The S.K. Warne Stand will be a permanent tribute to an amazing Victorian."
Shane Warne 'The Magician' is no more
Legendary Australian spinner Shane Warne breathed his last on Friday in Thailand at the age of 52 due to a suspected heart attack. The entire cricketing fraternity is in a state of shock and disbelief over the passing away of one of the finest cricketers of all time.
Tributes keep pouring in for Shane Warne, who took a whopping 708 wickets in Test cricket apart from the 293 ODI wickets in a career spanning 15 years from 1992-2007.
The second bowler to take 500 Test wickets etched his name in the history books by becoming the first ever to reach the 600 and 700 wickets mark. His 600th Test wicket came up during one of the most memorable Test series of all time - the 2005 Ashes in England.
Having dominated the prestigious five-match series with his all-round performance, Warne, who took 40 wickets apart from scoring 249 runs, was adjudged Player of the Series along with Andrew Flintoff.
His 700th Test wicket came up in front of his home crowd in Melbourne during the 2006-07 Ashes, which hosts Australia won 5-0. Post his international retirement, Shane Warne, the leader, inspired Rajasthan Royals to the Indian Premier League title during the inaugural edition back in 2008.
While not many gave the Jaipur-based franchise the chance to go all the way before the start of season one, the 1999 ICC Cricket World Cup winner led from the front, thereby becoming the first ever skipper to win the IPL crown. Shane Warne's sudden demise has left a big void, with the cricketing world losing one of its finest performers of all time. Rest in Peace, Warnie!
