Kevin Pietersen pays an emotional tribute to Shane Warne, says he was a 'special sportsman, competitor & person'

Former England captain Kevin Pietersen paid an emotional tribute to late Australian cricketer Shane Warne and called him a "special sportsman, competitor and person."

Warne passed away on March 4 due to a suspected heart attack. He was 52. After the news about his sudden demise broke online, condolences and tributes have been pouring in from different corners of the world.

Pietersan took to his official Instagram account where he shared a throwback picture with Warne along with an emotional note.


“He played hard and I mean VERY hard, but he always congratulated you if you did something pretty special! Just a special sportsman, competitor & person! Love ya, Shaunie!” the 41-year-old wrote.

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Warne and Pietersen had a close bond even though the two shared a famous rivalry on the cricket field.

The Australian ace cricketer's death has left a void in the world as several prominent players from the sport world still find it hard to believe that he is gone. One such sportsperson is India off-spinner Ashwin Ravichandra, who also hailed the late legend for redefining bowling and bringing spin as an attacking commodity in cricket.

"I see Warne as a flag-bearer for carrying the spin aspect of bowling on the front in the world cricketing map. The top three wicket-takers in the world are spinners in Muttiah Muralitharan, Shane Warne and Anil Kumble," Ravichandra said on his Youtube channel.

Warne is regarded as the greatest spinner of all time and picked up 708 wickets with his leg-spin for Australia in 145 Tests. In his 194 ODI appearances, he snared 293 scalps.

According to reports, Thai police have concluded the 52-year-old died of natural causes while on holiday on the resort island of Koh Samui.