Knew I was in the presence of greatness: Adam Gilchrist

Bengaluru: They have butted heads numerous times and shared jokes on the field standing on either side of the wicket at the striker’s end, but for Adam Gilchrist, one of Australia’s most celebrated cricketers, watching Sachin Tendulkar in action was absolute pleasure.

For a man who wears the ruthless and the sensitive side of the gentleman’s game with equal ease, Gilchrist has only fond memories of the Little Master.

“Certainly on the field there have been many number of innings where there has been a unique situation where the opponent is belting you everywhere but it is quite a pleasure to watch and Sachin is a player who could do that,” reveals Gilchrist.

“You knew you are in the presence of greatness.”

While they have played numerous matches against each other at a time when Australian cricket was at its pinnacle and India was taking its baby steps towards becoming the force that they are now and Tendulkar was the poster boy of Indian cricket, one innings in particular is etched in the Aussie’s memory.

“The 1999 Boxing Day Test, when he scored a hundred when the rest of the order was falling around in difficult conditions,” Gilchrist reminisced.

“That was a sign to me that this guy is truly class. That moment on the field, just being out there in a foreign country in a team that traditionally has had issues overseas, for him to stand up and show what a champion he was, was a big moment,” said the Australian great, one day shy of his 42nd birthday.

Having walked through the same door that Tendulkar is set walk into after his 200th Test beginning on Thursday, the former New South Wales batsman was sure of the fact that Tendulkar would have little trouble easing into life, post cricket.

“Sachin will have plenty of opportunities post his cricket career. He is a MP now, so he has little bit of that to concentrate on. I think he will move
comfortably into life post cricket,” said the former opener.

“There will be huge de-mands on his time from certain directions. He has handled that exceptionally well throughout his career and I expect him to do the same post his cricket,” added Gilchrist.

The former wicketkeeper, in the city as an ambassador for the University of Wollongong, announced Hyderabad’s Mohd Shuja Khan as the winner of India’s first Bradman scholarship to study at the university.