“That was a great help from him and a gesture from him” – Muttiah Muralitharan recalls Shane Warne’s aid to tsunami victims

Former Sri Lankan legend Muttiah Muralitharan has remembered late cricketer Shane Warne for helping after the devastating tsunami in 2004. The highest wicket-taker in Tests and ODIs also recalled how both players were neck-to-neck in the race for most wickets.

Following the wreckage caused by the tsunami in Sri Lanka in 2004, Warne flew to Sri Lanka and visited Galle, one of the worst-hit areas. At that time, the Victorian said the devastation on the island nation left him in agony, and he reportedly raised millions to help the affected victims.

Muralitharan revealed that Warne readily flew to Sri Lanka when they met during the tsunami match in Melbourne. The retired off-spinner lauded Warne for his contribution, and that his foundation was grateful for it.

“That was a great help from him and a gesture from him. When I met him for that Tsunami match in Melbourne, I asked whether he wanted to come to Sri Lanka and help. He took it very seriously, and he came and helped a lot, and our foundation was very happy to bring him. Galle was a ground that was close to his heart,” the 133-Test veteran said, as quoted by WAtoday.

The death of Warne, a 145-Test veteran, on Friday, reportedly due to a heart attack in his villa in Thailand, shocked the cricketing fraternity. The 52-year old’s 708 Test wickets at 25.41 are only second to Muralitharan’s 800, as he leaves behind a rich legacy.

“I was two or three years younger than him” – Muttiah Muralitharan

The Kandy-born said that as he was younger than Warne, he was always going to play a bit more than the Australian. However, the 49-year old believes Warne might have had more scalps if both played the same number of years. Muralitharan said:

“I was two or three years younger than him, so I was always going to play a little bit longer. and I always had that advantage. If he’d have played the same as me for both our careers, he would have got more wickets than me. I enjoyed that battle; our performance goes up because we’re thinking that ‘we want to beat his record.”

Hard to put this into words. I first met him when I was 15 at the Academy. He gave me my nickname.

We were teammates for more than a decade, riding all the highs and lows together.

Through it all he was someone you could always count on, someone who loved his family…

Hard to put this into words. I first met him when I was 15 at the Academy. He gave me my nickname.We were teammates for more than a decade, riding all the highs and lows together.Through it all he was someone you could always count on, someone who loved his family… https://t.co/KIvo7s9Ogp

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The likes of Ricky Ponting, Glenn McGrath, Adam Gilchrist and Matthew Hayden paid respects to their former teammate. The Southern Stand at the MCG will now be named after Warne.