Tendulkar pens touching note on Warne's death anniversary

Saturday marks the first anniversary of Australia spin great Shane Warne's death. Warne died on March 4, 2022 of a heart attack while holidaying in Thailand, sparking stunned reaction from within and beyond the cricket world. As fans and former teammates and colleagues came to terms with the news, a deluge of tributes came for the legendary former bowler.

India batting great Sachin Tendulkar is among those who have spoken extensively about his memories with Warne in the months since and on Saturday, the 49-year-old shared a touching note for his former rival on his Twitter handle. 

"We have had some memorable battles on the field & shared equally memorable moments off it. I miss you not only as a great cricketer but also as a great friend. I am sure you are making heaven a more charming place than it ever was with your sense of humour and charisma, Warnie!" said Tendulkar in his tweet.

Playing for India, while Tendulkar created a name for himself as one of the greatest batters of all-time with numerous records to his name, Australia spin wizard Warne got himself recognised as a world-class spinner who baffled the best with his unplayable deliveries. The leg-spinner holds for being the second-highest wicket-taker in Tests (708), with only behind Sri Lanka's Muttiah Muralitharan ahead of him with 800 wickets.

Reminiscing his duels with Warne, Tendulkar had once shared, "It was always a challenge to play him. Even if he was not having a good day and bowling the last over, you knew Warnie was up to something. Warnie just won't let you bat peacefully."

Tendulkar had recently recalled a rather hilarious incident with Warne at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit 2022. "I had invited Warnie over, said come to my place and we will have a nice meal. I checked if he is fine with Indian food and he said, 'Yeah, yeah! Don't worry'. I asked him if he is fine with spicy food and he said, avoid too much spicy stuff. I told the chef and he prepared accordingly," said Tendulkar

"I invited my manager as well and here we are, sitting on a table, I am serving everyone. Warnie is eating a little bit and then looking around. I asked him, how is the food are you okay with it? Is it too spicy for you? He said oh, no it's delicious. Suddenly my manager looks at Warnie and asks what happened, because he was going on nudging him. Warnie said, take some food from me because it is too spicy and I can't tell Sachin.

"Eventually, we were in the kitchen. I had only heard stories about Warnie's baked beans and stuff. But that was the reality, he was into sausages, baked beans and all those kind of things. We ended up ordering a pizza for him. He didn't want to hurt my feelings and kind of handled that well despite the food. He was never comfortable with Indian food is what I discovered that evening," said Tendulkar.