Sachin Tendulkar and Glenn McGrath have been involved in some tough battles over the years. Tendulkar may have won the battle a few times, with McGrath also getting a few over his illustrious rival. But when these two greats played for their respective sides, the quality of cricket was top notch.
Whenever Tendulkar stood at the batting crease to face McGrath, the entire nation held with baited breath, wanting Sachin to smash the speedster over the fence. The same was expected by the Indian fans during the 2003 World Cup final against Australia.
India were chasing a massive score of 360 to lift their second World Cup and a lot hung on on Sachin Tendulkar's performance. But, India suffered a big blow with McGrath taking Tendulkar's wicket early in the match, before Australia ran away to lift the title.
McGrath feels Indian cricket fans have not forgiven him for that dismissal.
"I had some great battles with Sachin. In fact, the Indians still haven't forgiven me for getting him out in the 2003 World Cup final," PTI quoted Glenn McGrath as saying.
Sachin Tendulkar had gone for an expansive pull shot, which ballooned high in the air and was caught by McGrath off his own bowling. With it, India's hopes of winning the title decreased tremendously.
"Sachin hit me for a four in the first over and the next ball, I dug it in short and he served up an easy caught and bowled to me," said McGrath.
Tendulkar always tried to keep himself away from controversies and sledging. But, the batting legend was involved in a few bit fo a sledging match with McGrath in their 2000 ICC Champions Trophy match against Australia.
In a book titled, SACH, Tendulkar talked about the altercation, suggesting that he even told McGrath he would hit him out of the ground, as a result of which McGrath started to go off his line and length, which is exactly what the Indian wanted.
Irrespective of the on-field battles that took shape in their careers, both cricketers have earned respect from the cricketing fraternity all around the world.
