‘A special sportsman, competitor and person’: Kevin Pietersen pays emotional tribute to Shane Warne

Warne died at the age of 52 in Thailand last week

Kevin Pietersen (left) was one of few batters to consistently get the better of Shane Warne (Getty Images)

Kevin Pietersen has paid tribute to the late Shane Warne, describing the Australian great as “a special sportsman, competitor & person”.

Warne died at the age of 52 after a suspected heart attack in Thailand last week.

The leg-spinner, widely considered one of the greatest cricketers of all-time, finished his Test career with 708 wickets, the second most of all-time.

Pietersen was one of few English batters to consistently get the better of Warne during the pair’s Ashes duels.

The pair were also Hampshire teammates for several seasons, and became close friends.

Paying tribute in an Instagram post, Pietersen wrote of Warne: “He played hard and I mean very hard, but he always congratulated you if you did something pretty special!

“Just a special sportsman, competitor and person! Love ya, Shaunie!”

Warne revealed in 2020 that he “never really sledged” Pietersen during the pair’s on-pitch battles having played alongside the batter at Hampshire.

The Australian even admitted to feeling a degree of pride after Pietersen compiled a magnificent Ashes-sealing 158 at the Oval in 2005.

“I never really sledged KP because I wanted him to do well,” Warne said on Sky Sports. “I saw him as one of my players at Hampshire so I wanted him to do well. I never really sledged him at all.

“I was one of KP’s leading voices. I said England would be silly not to pick KP, watching him bat. I remember coming out and saying, ‘Right, come on, England have got to pick Kevin Pietersen’.

“For me, I was proud because I’d seen KP, I was captain at Hampshire, I’d watched first-hand how good he was and how destructive he could be, and I was glad the world got to see that after a period of time how wonderful a batsman KP was and how good he made cricket to watch. It was a lot more entertaining when he was doing well.”

Warne’s MCG memorial is set to be held on 30 March.