As far as Glenn McGrath is concerned, Sachin Tendulkar was out that day. Even though the rest of the world thinks differently. The date was December 13, 1999 and the venue was the Adelaide Oval. India, in pursuit of 396 to win, fell by the wayside in their second innings with Tendulkar falling lbw to McGrath on the penultimate day of the Test match. The ball was short and hit Tendulkar on the shoulder, and umpire Daryl Harper raised his finger in the blink of an eye, to the utter dismay of Indian fans.
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Many have since given their verdict on the dismissal, and an overwhelming majority thinks Tendulkar was not out, including Pakistan legend Wasim Akram. But 27 years on, McGrath is adamant. At an event hosted by Sportstar, the former Aussie pacer not for a moment hesitated and asserted Tendulkar was out for sure.
If stubbornness had a name!
“Sachin had just come to the crease, I think he faced four balls. And I thought it was time to give him a bouncer. I ran in, bolted short, Sachin saw that it was short, and he ducked under it. The problem for Sachin was that the ball didn’t bounce, it shot low, and it hit him in the shoulder.
“From where I was looking, I saw Sachin squat down. I could see the bails over the top of his head. So I thought that ball’s clearly hitting the stumps. And it’s, I think it was Daryl Harper. It was an Australian umpire, Daryl Harper, who actually gave it out, and Sachin and I have been discussing that dismissal for a long time,” he said.
He added, “He thinks it was clearly going over the stumps by a good foot and a half. I still think the ball was tapering off and going to hit the stumps. And 18 months ago, I got the opportunity to do a TV commercial with Sachin here in India.
“And the whole part of the TV commercial is Sachin thinks I need to get my eyes checked because obviously that was clearly not out. No, it was having a bit of fun and, yeah, I still think that was out. Sachin still thinks it was clearly not out, and I think we’ll continue to have that discussion.”
India were whitewashed 3-0 in the Test series at a time when many thought skipper Tendulkar was at the height of his powers.
