Allan Border sledges Glenn McGrath in ‘true Australian style’, leaves Sanjay Manjrekar, and Harsha Bhogle in splits
India vs Australia first Test: Border, while heaping praise on Green, decided to have a cheeky dig at McGrath by saying that Green is probably 10 kmph quicker than what McGrath was when he first started playing first-class cricket.
A legendary cricketer sledging another one is a rare sight in cricket, it perhaps becomes the rarest when the legends concerned are Australians. Cricket fans were treated to the same when former Australian captain Allan Border sledged Glenn McGrath in the pre-match of the India vs Australia day-night Test in Adelaide.
McGrath was asking Border’s opinion about all-rounder Cameron Green, who made his Test debut for Australia on Thursday. Border, while heaping praise on Green, decided to have a cheeky dig at McGrath by saying that Green is probably 10 kmph quicker than what McGrath was when he first started playing first-class cricket.
India vs Australia 1st Test Day 1 live score
“He’s an exciting young talent. What I like about him is that he as backed his potential with performance. He’s been scoring lots of runs in Sheffield Shield,” Border said on Sony Sports Network.
“Lot of people have said that he’s the best they’ve seen since Ricky Ponting. You went to the academy with Ponting, so you know what a quality youngster he was and turned out to be one of the greats of the game. So if Green is anywhere near that then we have found a really good cricketer then you throw in the fact he’s around 6 foot 6 and bowls a heavy ball. He’s probably around 10 ks quicker than you pidgy! (McGrath’s nickname), bowls around 140. So he’s a real deal, don’t worry about that,” added Border.
“That is a proper sledge,” said Harsha Bhogle, the host of the show as he and the panellists Sanjay Manjrekar, and McGrath himself broke into laughter.
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McGrath was a real sport and was quick to narrate how Border had a lot to say when he first started playing the Sheffield Shield for New South Wales.
Meanwhile, Prithvi Shaw’s poor technique was once again exposed but the experienced Cheteshwar Pujara’s perseverance kept India afloat at 41 for 2 in the opening session of the first day/night Test against Australia on Thursday.
Pujara (17 batting, 88 balls) safely negotiated the testing first session after Shaw (0 in 2 balls) was bowled off the game’s second ball by Mitchell Starc.
His opening partner Mayank Agarwal (17 off 40 balls) did the hard work in the first hour but then got an in-dipper from Pat Cummins that cut back sharply to breach through his defences.
Giving Pujara company was skipper Virat Kohli (5 batting, 22 balls) when dinner break was taken at the completion of 25 overs.