McGrath hails Warne as the ‘ultimate competitor’

Australian fast bowling great Glenn McGrath described former teammate and late leg-spinner Shane Warne as the “ultimate competitor.”

Warne, one of cricket’s all-time greats, died of a suspected heart attack at the age of 52 in Thailand in March.

“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. Off the field, he loved poker as well because it was a one-on-one battle.”

Warne, who was named one of Wisden’s Five Cricketers of the Century, claimed 708 Test wickets in a 15-year career for Australia between 1992 and 2007 and was also an ODI World Cup winner in 1999.

McGrath also recalled an interesting anecdote from the fourth Test against England in Melbourne in 2006. “I remember we had just announced our retirements after the 2006-07 series. It was a multi-day Test at the MCG,” McGrath said.

“That was Shane’s home ground. Capacity crowd. 95000 people. Warnie was on 699 Test wickets. He was bowling to Andrew Strauss, the England captain. I remember fielding at mid-on, and he came over to me and said, “I am just going to keep it tight for an over or so. Then next over, I am going to toss one up. Strauss is going to slog sweep, and I will bowl him through the gate.” I said, “Seems like a pretty good plan to me, Shane.”

“Warnie just knew the game so well. And so, he set Strauss up. I don’t know if Straussie was listening to us, but he didn’t try to slog sweep. He tried to whip it over midwicket. And the ball dropped, turned, and Warne bowled him through the gate. He was running around. The crowd went up in celebration. 700 Test wickets.”

Absolutely incredible. But that was Shaney. He could execute what he wanted. An amazing guy to have at the other end. I want to thank him for a few of my wickets. He always said he would thank me for one or two of his wickets. To lose him at such a young age of 52… it has been a pretty horrible year.”

Warne was publicly farewelled at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, home to many of his greatest sports moments, on March 30. “Anybody who saw the memorial for him at the MCG, I think that changed a lot of people’s minds,” McGrath said. “They didn’t realise what he did behind the scenes. But it wasn’t publicised what he gave back to the community. The humility that he had was, to me, a true character of a great person. I have still not come to terms with it.”

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. The ball landed on the middle of the pitch, and Tendulkar, thinking it was a bouncer, ducked side-on, getting really low in front of the stumps. But the ball did not rise enough and thudded into Tendulkar’s left arm below the armpit. McGrath appealed and umpire Daryl Harper gave Tendulkar out.

“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. I could see the bails over the top, and I thought that was out. If he was standing normally, it would have hit him on the pad. So, I still think that was out. Sachin still thinks it was going over the stumps by a good foot.”

Australia won the Test by 285 runs.

Former India bowling coach Bharat Arun revealed how Mohammed Shami emerged as one of India’s top fast bowlers.

Shami was coming off a stellar Test series in South Africa in 2018, where he was India’s highest wicket-taker with 15 wickets in three matches. at an average of 17.06. His five for 28 in the second innings of the third and final Test helped India script a historic 63-run win over the Proteas. However, after failing the fitness test,

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. His physical fitness was at the lowest ebb. 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, where he was for a month. trained exceptionally hard. , like a maniac bull. 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.”

Shami was included in the squad for the tour of England after clearing the fitness test and was back among the wickets, picking 16 wickets in five Tests at 38.87.

He is now part of an Indian pace attack that’s arguably the best in the world.