Published 20:44 IST, February 28th 2020
McGrath makes shocking claims about receiving 'death threats' after picking Sachin's scalp
In a recent interview with a leading news daily, McGrath opened up about Tendulkar's controversial wicket that led Australia to victory in the Adelaide Test
Sachin Tendulkar's rivalry with Glenn McGrath is often remembered as one of the most memorable ones as it gave cricket fans several moments to cherish. Widely regarded as the best players to have played the game, McGrath and Tendulkar starred in several matches to take their team over the line.
Both of them often locked horns in pursuit of a win and one such game was the Adelaide Test of 1999, when McGrath got the better of Sachin Tendulkar as he got him out for a duck but the lbw decision was severely criticised by many, including Tendulkar, who opined that the ball was missing the wickets by a mile.
'Cricket Australia received death threats for me'
In a recent interview with a leading news daily, McGrath opened up about the controversial wicket that led Australia to victory in the Adelaide Test. McGrath revealed that he received death threats over Sachin's wicket and his family had to get extra security in Sydney because Cricket Australia had also received death threats for the speedster. Terming the wicket as an 'unusual freak dismissal' McGrath said that even though Sachin still feels that the ball was clearing the stumps by a ball and half, since there was no DRS then, so when the umpires gave out that was it. Even Sachin Tendulkar was fumed at the umpire's decision. Here is a video of the wicket:
Taking an account of the incident, McGrath said that when Sachin had come in, I tried to unsettle him with a bounce since he hadn't scored yet. Furthermore, he added, the ball didn't bounce much and it hit Sachin on the shoulder as he ducked. McGrath remembered that he could see the bails over Tendulkar's head from where he was looking and it looked out and he still believes that it was out.
'It would've missed the stumps comfortably'
Tendulkar in his book - 'Playing it My Way', wrote that he thought that the ball would have missed the stumps comfortably as it was on the rise. However, India went on to lose the Adelaide Test by 285 runs. Sachin Tendulkar who was captaining the Indian side back then had scored 61 in the first innings and got out on a duck in the second innings. Eventually, India went on to lose the three-match Test series by 3-0.
Updated 20:48 IST, February 28th 2020