On February 9, 1970, a metronome was born. Glenn McGrath, the tall and lanky pacer from New South Wales epitomised line and length bowling and having the skills to make the ball do just enough. He did not have the pace of a Jeff Thompson or Brett Lee, but he had unnerving accuracy and immense patience and this made him one of the most successful bowlers of the game.
One of the true challengers as a bowler was to bowl to Sachin Tendulkar!! It was an honor to play against him.— Glenn McGrath (@glennmcgrath11) November 14, 2013
He ended his career with a total of 563 scalps in 119 Test matches and is by far, one of the best pacers to grace the game. There was no batter who was not troubled by the great pacer and he dominated India’s batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar as well. He dismissed the right-hander 13 times in international cricket – 6 times in Tests and on seven occasions in ODIs.
When McGrath got the better of Sachin Tendulkar
The very first time Glenn McGrath dismissed Sachin Tendulkar was back in the 1999 Cricket World Cup game where he sent him packing for a duck. He dealt another big blow to India four years later in the 2003 world cup final when he dismissed Sachin for four.
There were controversial moments between the duo as well. During the 1999 Border-Gavaskar trophy, McGrath dug in a bouncer that did not rise enough after pitching. Sachin ducked, but he copped a blow on the shoulder and the Australians went up in appeal. To everyone’s surprise, umpire Daryl Harper raised the finger and Sachin had to trudge back to the pavilion.
Speaking at an event a few years later, McGrath said it was always good to play against Sachin Tendulkar. “I got him out a few times and he hit some good hundreds against us. So it was like 50-50 between us,” McGrath said. In 2013, he tweeted saying that it was an honor to play against Tendulkar.
The rivalry between India and Australia always makes for compelling viewing and one of the main reasons behind the same was the intense battles between Sachin Tendulkar and Glenn McGrath.
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