Warnie is the greatest bowler to have walked on this planet: KP

Sydney, Dec 24 (UNI) Tributes keep pouring in for Shane Warne following his decision to retire after the Ashes and the latest to salute the champion leg-spinner is his best friend Kevin Pietersen, who has described the Aussie veteran as 'the greatest bowler who ever walked on this planet'.

''He is the greatest bowler who ever walked on this planet. Shane has been a major influence on my career. He's one of the reasons I moved from Notts to Hampshire. He's been through the lot -- sex, drugs and rock 'n roll. I am not sure I could have coped with all that and continued to perform as he has done,'' Pietersen told 'The News of the World'.

However, the heated exchange between the two during the first Ashes Test at Brisbane had almost ended the friendship. Pietersen said he had decided never to talk to Warne after the verbal war but things normalised after the duo had a chat at the end of the match.

''I thought I'd never talk to him again! I thought he was an arrogant Australian idiot of a cricketer,'' he recalled.

''It wasn't an act. It was real. I was furious at the way he was behaving. I was taken aback and confused as to how anyone could behave like that to a mate. The Ashes battle of 2005 was never like that.

''As far as I was concerned, the friendship was off. But, of course, that lasted only a couple of days. We chatted at the end of the Test and got over it,'' Pietersen added.

And after his anger had subsided, the England middle-order bat was lavish in his praise of the veteran, who will play his last two Tests in Melbourne and Sydney.

''Shane went through a lot last summer with his marriage break-up. Yet, when he crosses that white line, he turns into a cricket genius. Nothing distracts him and nothing affects him,'' he added.

Pietersen said knowing Warne well, he could understand the pain the Aussie went through during his divorce with Simone. The England player praised Warne for not letting the personal turmoil in his life affect his on-field performance.

''Splitting with Simone must have made those summer months in England last year so tough yet he took 40 wickets and scored nearly 300 runs. He's a champion who plays his cricket hard and will do anything to win. He's a nice guy, very generous, helpful, intelligent and street-wise,'' Pitersen said.

''When he needs to escape the pressures, Shane gets in one of his big, fast cars and heads for the Great Ocean Road and plays his music very, very loud. That's freedom for him. He's got a magnificent cricket brain. You can see that when he skippers Hampshire,'' he added.

Pietersen claimed that Warne was the best competition he came across in his career so far and it would be some time before cricket finds it's next legend in the spin bowling.

''He never stops. Shane seriously expects to get a wicket with every delivery. He makes a grunt or a moan, some sort of noise every ball. Every time there's an lbw shout, he turns to the umpire begging and pleading,'' he said.

''There's no escape when he is fielding, either, because he's usually at first slip giving the batsman heaps. It's non-stop probing with verbals -- mental disintegration.

He has often confessed he goes over the top but he's great to watch.

Shane has put cricket back on the sporting map big-time and millions of pounds coming into the game are down to him.

''Warney is box office -- that is what every cricketer should aspire to be,'' he added.

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