The passing of Australian legend Shane Warne on March 4 has stunned everyone. From fans to fellow cricketers, people across the cricketing fraternity are still shocked.

Warne died due to a suspected heart attack in Koh Samui, Thailand. He was found unresponsive in his Villa and despite the best efforts of medical staff, he could not be revived.

Since his passing, his teammates have been in complete dismay and are finding it difficult to digest the news.

One of them is Ricky Ponting, former Australian captain and Warne's closest friend. In an interview on 7 News, Ponting said he was shocked to hear the news and it still doesn't seem real to him. 

“I was shocked I think like probably the rest of the world. I mean I've got the messages when I woke up this morning. I went to bed last night knowing that I had to take my daughters for netball and then was confronted with what didn't seem quite real at that time and even now probably doesn't really seem like it's real either so I've had a few hours now to digest it all and think about how a part of my life he was and reflect on a lot of those memories through the years,” Ponting said as he fought tears. 

Ponting paid his tribute to Warne and hailed him as the best bowler he has played with or against during his decorated career. "Halfway through my career when we turned up to do coaching clinics and whatever else, every young kid in Australia wanted to be more than one of the bold leg spinners. He is going to go down as one of the all-time greats of the game if not one the greatest. I've never played with a more better and competitive bowler, someone who changed and revolutionised spin bowling back into," he added.

It must be noted that Warne in his illustrious 15-year-old career, bagged 1001 wickets. He is the second-highest wicket-taker in international cricket only behind Sri Lanka's Muttiah Muralitharan, who claimed 1347 wickets.