A larger-than-life cricketer, Shane Keith Warne, passed away on March 4 from a suspected heart attack while on a holiday in Thailand. His sudden death led to an outpouring of tributes from all over the world making it to the front page of newspapers everywhere, from his native Australia to Malaysia, cementing his place as one of the most famous crickets to play the game.

Much has been said about his achievements and accolades, but his impact goes beyond statistics. He was a player for big occasions and among the few who never really gave up no matter what — even if he had to defend low totals. After an unimpressive start to his career, his stature as one of the finest to ever play the game grew. Everyone growing up in the ’90s wanted to get on the field and bowl that flipper. He entered the arena following an era defined by West Indian fast bowlers, with Abdul Qadir being the torch-bearer for leg spinners. The art was fading, as leg spinners were considered too expensive and less effective. Warne did what nobody else could do, and possibly nobody will ever replicate — he made leg-spin cool again. Suddenly, youngsters everywhere wanted to dye their hair blonde and bowl like him. He taught us how to bowl every delivery with intent. He believed he could take a wicket with every ball, and he projected that belief so strongly that all of us believed it too.

Everyone remembers the “ball of the century” to Englishman Mike Gatting, but not many know the fact it was his first delivery in a Test match in England. Over the years, he repeated that delivery against a number of other batsmen, as Andrew Strauss and Chanderpaul would testify, but cricket was never the same again since that ball in 1993.

Warne made his debut against India in 1992 in the fourth Test in Sydney. It was not a memorable outing as he finished with figures of 1 for 150 from India’s only innings. Over the years, India proved his kryptonite. He got 43 wickets against India at an average of 47. Against no other team did his average go up to 30. But he was instrumental in Australia’s Final Frontier series win against India in India in 2004, taking 14 wickets in 3 matches, one of which helped him become the leading wicket-taker in Test matches.

He went wicketless in the first innings of his second test but in the second innings, he introduced himself at the world stage. Chasing 181, Sri Lanka were 150/7 and on the verge of a debut win in Australia (still pending) when Warne wrapped up the tail and won the match for Australia, leading them to a series win. Later that year, he took 7 for 52 against the fading but still mighty West Indians winning the first of his 17 Man-of-the-Match awards. (Third-most in the history of Test cricket.)

Warne did something nobody else could do, and probably nobody will ever replicate — he made leg-spin cool again. Suddenly, the youngsters wanted to dye their hair blonde and bowl like him. He taught us how to bowl every delivery with intent. He believed he could take a wicket with every ball, and he projected that belief so strongly that all of us believed it too.

Then came the ball of the century and the start of Warne’s love affair with the English team, which fetched him 195 wickets over the next 14 years at an average of 23.25, only losing the Ashes once. His 2005 exploits in the famous Ashes series remain the best year any bowler has had in terms of wickets taken: he took 96 wickets in 15 matches at an average of 22.02. No other bowler has taken more than 90 in a calendar year.

Overall, he played 145 Tests for Australia and took 708 wickets — second most after Sri Lankan Muttiah Muralitharan. He was also a handy batsman. His 3,154 runs are the most by any batsman in Test matches without ever scoring a hundred. He did come agonizingly close with a 99 against New Zealand in 2001.

No leg spinner has been more instrumental in his country’s success in limited-overs cricket than him. He announced himself in ODIs with a 4 for 36 against West Indies in the semi-final of World Cup 1996 and gave Australia an improbable win leading them to the final. He repeated his heroics in 1999 when his 4 for 29 in that legendary semi-final against South Africa helped them tie the match and qualify for the final. In the final, his 4 for 33 against Pakistan led Australia to a comfortable victory clinching them their second World Cup title. He was player of the match in both games. He tested positive for a banned drug right before the start of Australia’s World Cup defence in 2003 and was suspended for a year. The ban effectively ended his ODI career, where he ended up with 293 wickets at 25.41 in 194 matches playing final of the both World Cups he played. He also led Australia in 11 ODIs (10 wins, 1 loss) but never Tests; however, he was the greatest captain Australia never had.

He was a forward thinker and a sharp reader of the game and led the rather non fancied Rajasthan Royals to the title in the first-ever IPL in 2008.

His off-field life was equally, if not more, happening. Controversy seemed to follow him everywhere. In 1998, he and Mark Waugh were fined for revealing pitch and weather information to an Indian bookmaker for money. He was stripped of Australia’s vice-captaincy over his history of indiscretions off the field. He had affairs, leaked videos and sent lewd text messages leading to the end of his marriage, but he survived all of it to be loved by fans till the very end. They accepted him for who he was; unapologetic, full of life, fun and a loyalist to the core.

At the end of the last century, he joined Sir Donald Bradman, Sir Jack Hobbs, Sir Garfield Sobers and Sir Vivian Richards as one of Wisden’s five cricketers of the century. Two things stand out here; first, he is the only one among the five who was primarily a bowler. Second, he was only roughly a decade into his career when he made it to the list. No wonder they called him not a once-in-a-generation cricketer but rather a once-in-all-time cricketer. There will never be another like him.

The writer is a digital communication professional currently working in the public health sector. He is the mastermind behind the platform, Sukhan and Mani’s Cricket Myths, and is passionate about telling stories that are changing narratives. In another life, he wrote comic books and animated videos