Shane Warne funeral: WATCH Nasser Hussain pays heartfelt tribute with Rudyard Kipling’s ‘If’

Former England captain Nasser Hussain paid a beautiful tribute to the late spin great Shane Warne through his rendition of English poet Rudyard Kipling’s ‘If’. The emotions for his late rival could be felt through his voice as he recited the poem as documented by the global governing body of cricket — the ICC — in a twitter video. 

The video, collectively, shares Warne’s best moments on the cricket field besides highlighting his setbacks which in the process makes him ‘the man’ we know today as also portrayed through Kipling’s words. 

Hussian recited: “If you can keep your head when all about you Are losing theirs and blaming it on you; If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, But make allowance for their doubting too; If you can wait and not be tired by waiting, Or, being lied about, don’t deal in lies, Or, being hated, don’t give way to hating, And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream—and not make dreams your master; If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim; If you can meet with triumph and disaster And treat those two impostors just the same; If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools, Or watch the things you gave your life to broken, And stoop and build ’em up with wornout tools;

“If you can make one heap of all your winnings And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss, And lose, and start again at your beginnings And never breathe a word about your loss; If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew To serve your turn long after they are gone, And so hold on when there is nothing in you Except the Will which says to them: “Hold on”;

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue, Or walk with kings—nor lose the common touch; If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you; If all men count with you, but none too much; If you can fill the unforgiving minute With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run— Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it, And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!” 

READ MORE: Shane Warne news: Clarke, McGrath attend private funeral in Melbourne

Shane Warne funeral: Family, friends and fans gather to bid farewell

Family, friends and fans gathered together to bid farewell to late Shane Warne at his state memorial service held at his beloved Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on Wednesday. His ex-wife Simone Callahan and three children — Brooke, 24, Jackson, 22 and Summer, 20 — dressed in black took a large coach to reach the MCG. 

Jackson, in fact, was seen carrying a slab of lemon lime vodka cruisers into the coach for funeral guests. Well-known Australians Molly Meldrum and Mick Gatto were also in attendance. 

The spin great left behind an ever-lasting memory in the minds of the cricketing fraternity and beyond. He passed away on March 4 due to a suspected heart attack at the Thai resort island of Koh Samui. Autopsy results confirmed the death was due to natural causes with no signs of foul play.