McGrath recalls his duels with Tendulkar

Few bowlers embodied the edge of the India-Australia rivalry at the turn of the century quite like Glenn McGrath. His contests with Sachin Tendulkar were among the defining duels of that period, battles shaped as much by calculation and patience as by pace and precision.

One of the more curious episodes in that long rivalry unfolded during the 1999 Test at Adelaide Oval.

Tendulkar had only just arrived at the crease when McGrath decided to test him with the short ball. What followed became one of the stranger dismissals the two would produce across years of competition.

“I think Sachin had faced about four balls,” McGrath recalled in a freewheeling chat with Suresh Balakrishna, Chief Revenue Officer of The Hindu Group, and Sunil Gavaskar, who presented him with the International Icon award at the Sportstar Aces Awards in Taj Mahal Palace on Friday. “I thought it was time to give him a bouncer. He saw it was short and ducked, turning side-on and crouching low.”

The ball, however, did not behave as expected.

“The ball didn’t bounce as much as expected and hit him on the shoulder. From where I was standing I could see the bails over the top of his head. I thought the ball was hitting the stumps.”

Umpire Daryl Harper raised his finger.

Even now, McGrath says the debate around that moment has never quite ended.

“Sachin and I have discussed it for years. He reckons the ball was going over the stumps by a foot and a half. I thought it was hitting. Recently we did a TV commercial together and the whole point of it was that Sachin thinks I need to get my eyes checked. He still believes it wasn’t out.”

Australia would go on to win the Test comfortably, but the dismissal remains one of the more unusual footnotes in the long McGrath–Tendulkar contest.

If Adelaide carried a hint of oddity, the memory of the 2001 Test at Eden Gardens is one McGrath now recounts with a touch of humour.

“I don’t really remember that match,” he said, laughing.

At the time, the Australian side led by Steve Waugh appeared firmly in control. Having already won the first Test in Mumbai by 10 wickets, it enforced the follow-on after dominating the opening three days in Kolkata.

“Steve was a very aggressive captain. If you ask him today whether he’d change that call, he’d probably still enforce the follow-on,” McGrath said.

Australia expected the finish to arrive quickly.

“Going into day four we thought we’d get an early wicket and wrap things up. Unfortunately, the wicket didn’t come for us until about 24 hours later.”

What followed would become one of Test cricket’s greatest reversals, driven by the brilliance of VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid.

“It just shows the quality of players back then. I was fortunate to play against guys like Laxman, Dravid, and Sourav Ganguly.”

Laxman’s innings, in particular, left a deep impression on the Australian quick.

“Shane Warne was bowling into the rough and the ball was turning square. But VVS was in such amazing form. He’d see where the ball pitched and then hit it over mid-wicket. It was incredible.”

With time, even a defeat of that magnitude has settled into perspective.

“We can live with the fact that it took knocks of that special kind to beat us. We can live with that.”

Still, there is one memory that invariably resurfaces whenever McGrath finds himself in India.

“There’s another one that comes back every time I’m here,” he said with a smile. “People still haven’t forgiven me for the 2003 World Cup final.”

On that night in Johannesburg, McGrath’s early strikes helped Australia overwhelm India and secure the title, adding yet another sharp chapter to a rivalry that rarely lacked drama.