Sachin Tendulkar, the Indian cricketing legend, recently spoke about his on-field rivalries with Australian greats Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne. He also had a few words about the questionable calls made by former international umpire Steve Bucknor during his career.
During a Reddit Ask Me Anything session, Tendulkar gave fans a look back at his career and his thoughts on the current state of cricket. When asked if he ever played a risky shot to disrupt a bowler’s rhythm or test their reaction, Tendulkar recalled an instance against McGrath in Nairobi in 2000. He said he had played many risky shots to break the bowler’s rhythm.
The moment Tendulkar referred to was the quarterfinal match of the ICC Champions Trophy in 2000 against Australia, who were the world champions at that time. McGrath hadn’t taken a wicket in the tournament till that game and was trying to dominate the Indian opening pair, Sourav Ganguly and Tendulkar. Tendulkar responded with an aggressive attack, hitting McGrath for two fours and three sixes in his 38 runs off 37 balls. Sachin’s quickfire opening stand of 66 runs set the stage for Yuvraj Singh, who was making his debut, to play a memorable innings of 84 runs off 80 balls. Yuvraj’s innings helped India reach 265/9 in 50 overs. McGrath ended up wicketless, conceding 61 runs in nine overs. India then bowled out Australia for 245 and made it to the semifinal. But India lost to New Zealand in the final where Chris Cairns scored a century.
Tendulkar also spoke about how he used to play sweep shots against the great Warne. He said he developed his technique independently. He said he had a different stance for Warne depending on whether he was bowling over or around the wicket.
This shows Tendulkar’s control and mastery over Warne, a spinner who could turn and bounce the ball. In seven matches against each other, Warne never got Tendulkar out. Sachin scored 123 runs off 172 balls against Warne with a strike rate of above 71, which included 16 fours and one six. Tendulkar had a great record against Australia in all formats of the game, scoring 6,707 runs in 110 matches and 144 innings at an average of 49.68. He had 20 centuries and 31 fifties, with a highest score of 241*.
When asked about umpire Bucknor, whose decisions had often been a source of frustration for Tendulkar, Sachin said when he is batting, give him boxing gloves to wear, so he can’t raise his finger!
Tendulkar holds the record for most runs in international cricket, 34,357 runs and 100 centuries in 664 international games. He is the only cricketer to have scored a century of centuries in international cricket. Tendulkar was also a part of the Indian team that won the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup.
