Battle with Glenn McGrath to Steve Bucknor’s Umpiring: Sachin Tendulkar Opens Up in Reddit AMA Session

Sachin Tendulkar’s Reddit AMA covered his iconic battles, memorable knocks, and controversial umpiring. He spoke about his aggressive play vs McGrath, predicted Joe Root’s captaincy, and explained Dhoni's batting higher in the 2011 World Cup final.

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Sachin Tendulkar's Reddit Q&A Session

Former India captain and batting legend Sachin Tendulkar captivated the fans by taking down memory lane from his illustrious playing days, iconic battles, and memorable knocks and performances during the Question and Answers session on Reddit on Monday, August 25. Tendulkar was roped in as the brand ambassador of Reddit India in June this year.

As Tendulkar engaged with fans, the batting legend made certain revelations about his on-field moments and battles, thoughts on his opponents, and controversial umpiring moments throughout his career.

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Counterattack against Glenn McGrath in the 2000 Champions Trophy

Sachin Tendulkar was asked about deliberately playing risky shots in his career. The former India batting legend recalled taking the Australia pace bowling legend to the cleaners in the 2000 Champions Trophy quarterfinal in Nairobi.

“On many occasions, I have played risky shots to break the bowler's rhythm. The one that comes to my mind is against McGrath at Nairobi in 2000,” the 51-year-old said.

Sachin Tendulkar was at his aggressive best against Glenn McGrath as he launched a flurry of attacking strokes by stepping out of the crease, smashing two sixes and three fours in his quickfire innings of 38 off 37 balls before Brett Lee dismissed him. McGrath went wicketless as he conceded 61 runs at an economy rate of 6.77 in his spell of nine overs.

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Predicting Joe Root’s future

One of the interesting questions for Sachin Tendulkar was Joe Root becoming the new second leading run-getter in Tests, and his only behind him with 15921 runs in 200 matches. The batting legend recalled telling his Indian teammates that Root would be the ‘Future Captain of England’.

“To have gone past 13,000 Test runs is a remarkable achievement, and he is still going strong. When I saw him for the first time in Nagpur in 2012 during his debut Test, I told my teammates that they were watching the future captain of England. What impressed me most was the way he was able to assess the wicket and how he rotated the strike. I knew at that very moment that he would be a big player," Tendulkar said. 

Root kicked off his Test debut with 72 off 229 balls in the first innings before scoring 20 off 56 balls in the second innings. In his Test career, Joe Root has amassed 13543 runs, including 39 centuries and 66 fifties, at an average of 51.29 in 158 matches.

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MS Dhoni Batting Higher Up the Order in the 2011 World Cup Final

Sachin Tendulkar revealed the reason behind MS Dhoni batting ahead of Yuvraj Singh in the 2011 ODI World Cup Final at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. t

‘There were two reasons: the left-right batting combination would’ve upset the two off-spinners, also Muralitharan had played for CSK and MS had played him in the nets,” Tendulkar responded to the user’s query in Reddit Q&A

MS Dhoni walked in to bat when India were 3/114 after Virat Kohli’s dismissal and played an unbeaten match-winning knock of 91 off 79 balls, including hitting a winning six to take the team past the finish line. The 2011 World Cup was Tendulkar’s last appearance in the tournament.

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Steve Bucknor’s umpiring

A user did not hesitate to ask Sachin Tendulkar about former umpire Steve Bucknor, who controversially gave the batting legend out on several occasions. However, Tendulkar responded to the query with wit.

“When I am batting, give him boxing gloves to wear (so he can't raise his finger),” Tendulkar joked

Steve Bucknor was considered one of the most controversial umpires of his era, with several of his decisions going against India, which was evident from the Australia Test series in 2007/08. His umpiring decisions against Sachin Tendulkar often put him in the spotlight and drew massive criticism from fans and experts alike.

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Rule change in cricket

One of the questions asked by a Reddit user to Sachin Tendulkar was which rule he would like to change in cricket. The batting legend did not hesitate to echo the criticism of the fans: Umpire’s Call in DRS. He believes that technology should decide the outcome for consistency and fairness in DRS.

“I would change the DRS rule on Umpire’s call. Players have chosen to go upstairs because they were unhappy with the on-field umpire’s call. Hence there should be no option to go back to that call. Just like how players have bad patches, umpires, too have bad patches. Technology even when inaccurate will be consistently inaccurate," Tendulkar said.

Umpire’s Call in DRS occurs when the technology shows that the ball-tracking system is marginally chipping the bail of the stumps or impact zone, so the on-field umpire’s original decision stands, even if technology indicates a possible dismissal.

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Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli's legacy

A user recalled Sachin Tendulkar's prediction that Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma would carry forward his legacy and asked the legend about players who would take it forward. Tendulkar stated that Indian cricket is in safe hands and there are many contenders to take the duo's legacy forward. 

“Yes! Virat and Rohit have made India proud on many occasions. Indian Cricket is in good hands, and they played well in England. There are many contenders to take the legacy forward.” Tendulkar said. 

Rohit and Kohli have been pillars of India's batting for over a decade and a half, and the duo retired from Tests and T20Is within a span of a year.