Glenn McGrath recalls fierce rivalry with Sachin Tendulkar
Glenn McGrath versus Sachin Tendulkar was a battle worth watching in the past because both were champions in their own abilities. Reliving the memories, McGrath spoke about the infamous LBW incident that happened in the Adelaide Test during India's tour of Australia in 1999.
Tendulkar was struck on his shoulder while ducking as the ball did not bounce much, and the umpire adjudged him out. While Tendulkar walked away in disbelief, McGrath was overjoyed and he still believes that the right decision was made.
McGrath was quoted as saying by TOI in a ceremony,
"Sachin was batting and I think he had still not scored many runs or was still on zero, having just come in. I bowled him a bouncer and Sachin is not the tallest guy going around."
"The bouncer will generally bounce and clear him quite easily, but that day when it bounced, it kept low and he ducked it and it hit him on his shoulder. And because he is not very tall, when he ducked it... from where I could see, I could see the bails over the top and it was hitting the middle stumps."
"So, I appealed and the umpire gave him out and he was not happy. So he walks off. Is it LBW? Probably, it should have been SBW or Shoulder Before Wicket."
Another incident that McGrath believes many Indians would never forgive him for was when he picked up the wicket of Tendulkar in the 2003 World Cup Final.
India chased a target in excess of 350 to win the World Cup which in itself was a herculian task in front of a stellar Australian bowling line-up. It only became worse as Tendulkar was caught and bowled by McGrath, sending the nation into grief.
McGrath stated,
"Sachin came for batting and the first three balls, I kept pretty tight and he didn't score any runs. The fourth ball, he went for a pull shot, hit me over to mid-off for four runs. The crowd was cheering and I'm sure people watching the match India must have been pretty happy too."
"The next ball was a very similar delivery, just bounced a little more, he went to play that pull shot again but he hit it straight up in the air and it came straight to my hands for a comfortable caught and bowled. I was pretty happy with that, but obviously Indian fans were not happy with that."
Although Mcgrath had his moments, he still believes that Tendulkar was a world-class player and the battles between them were always in good spirit.
He concluded by saying,
"I got him out a few times and he hit some good hundreds against us. So it was like 50-50 between us."