Ravichandran Ashwin Shares Story Behind Shane Warne’s “Strong Shoulders”, As Told By Rahul Dravid

India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin said head coach Rahul Dravid was “extremely sad” after Shane Warne’s sudden demise. The legendary Australian cricketer died on March 4 due to a heart attack in Thailand. Warne’s death at the age of 52 sent shockwaves around the cricketing world. Ashwin said he had a chat with Dravid, who had shared the dressing room with Warne for three years in IPL franchise Rajasthan Royals after battling against each other for a long time in international cricket.

“I was talking to Rahul Dravid who was extremely sad. For a spinner, your shoulder and upper-half of the body has to be extremely strong because you have to use many rotations to spin the ball,” Ashwin said on his YouTube channel.

“Because for a spinner to master your craft, you should keep bowling in the nets. More so, if you are a leg-spinner. He had strong shoulders and that was his massive advantage,” he said.

The seasoned off-spinner then revealed a conversation between Dravid and Warne about the latter’s early stages of cricketing career.

“It seems Rahul bhai asked him, ‘How do you have such strong shoulders? What do you do?’ It is such a unique story. There is a sport called Aussies rules football.

“It is sport like rugby. It seems he wanted to play the sport but was not built for it since people who play it are tall and well-built blokes.”

It is a known incident that as a child, Warne had suffered two broken legs when another kid jumped from a height and landed on his back.

With both legs swathed in plaster casts, Warne had to push himself around in a cart, developing extraordinary strength in his upper body.

“So, they used to bully him and it seems he broke both his legs while playing. He couldn’t walk and was on bed rest. For 3-4 weeks he walked or rather floated using his bare hands and those made his shoulders strong and there was no looking back.

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“That’s what he has told Rahul bhai. We all face obstacles in life, but look how Warne converted it as his success formula,” Ashwin added.

(With PTI inputs)