Australian fast bowling great Glenn McGrath described former teammate and late leg-spinner Shane Warne as the “ultimate competitor.”
“It has been a pretty tough year. We got through two years of COVID-19, and then I lost three really close friends... Rod Marsh, Warnie and Symonds. It has been tough,” McGrath said during a panel discussion on Role of High-Performance Centres in Achieving Excellence in Sports at Sportstar’s South Sports Conclave here.
The session was moderated by The Hindu ’s Sports Editor K.C. Vijaya Kumar.
“Warnie was one of the most amazing guys I’ve ever met. He was a normal bloke like the rest of us, but lived an extraordinary life. Off the field, he got himself into a little bit of trouble. But on the field, he was the ultimate competitor. He loved the challenge that you got from bowling to the best batters.”
McGrath recalled Sachin Tendulkar’s controversial “shoulder before wicket” dismissal at the Adelaide Oval in December 1999.
“Trying to remember that one (chuckles),” McGrath said. “I have had a few chats with Sachin about this one. It was an attempted bouncer that didn’t bounce, and he went to duck under it. Sachin is not very tall. So, when he ducked it hit him on the shoulder. But from where I was looking, I could see the stumps and I thought that was out. Sachin still thinks it was going over the stumps by a good foot.”
Former India bowling coach Bharat Arun revealed how Mohammed Shami emerged as one of India’s top fast bowlers.
After a stellar series in South Africa in 2018, Shami failed a fitness test and was left out of the one-off Test against Afghanistan and the A-tour of England.
“I remember an incident when Shami was going through personal problems. We were about to go on the A-tour of England. Shami had failed a fitness test.
“He walked up to Ravi (Shastri) and me, saying he was very angry with life and wanted to give up the sport,” Arun said.
“We sat him down and told him that anger was the best thing that can happen to a fast bowler. We told him that if he channelises his anger and uses it to get fitter, he could do wonders.
“We sent him to the NCA where he trained exceptionally hard. I remember him calling me in England and saying ‘now I am as strong as a horse, and I am ready to take on the world’. The rest is history.”
If Sachin was standing normally, it would have hit him on the pad. So, I still think that was out.
McGrath, on the shoulder before wicket dismissal
