Rahul Dravid: Glenn McGrath was the greatest bowler I have ever faced

Despite giving the Aussies a very hard time during his phenomenal career including the epic innings of 180 at the Eden Gardens in 2001 and the 233 at Adelaide Oval in 2003, Rahul Dravid is certain that Glenn McGrath was the toughest bowler he has ever faced. 

"They (Australia) were the best cricket team in my generation. Amongst them all, the greatest bowler that I played against, not only the greatest Australian bowler, but the greatest fast bowler (that) I played against has to be Glenn McGrath," Dravid told PTI, on Friday.

The former batsman, who was at the Link Lecture Series in Mumbai, spoke about his charismatic rival by saying, "He (McGrath) was absolutely (brilliant), no one challenged my knowledge of the off-stump as much as McGrath did. He was relentless and gave you nothing. A lot of times, whether he is bowling in first hour of the morning or late in the afternoon of in the evening, he (McGrath) was going to give you nothing, he was relentless (and the) accuracy.”

"He was not mean as he looked, but he could be very very mean with the cricket ball because he gave you nothing. He was one of those guys you, while batting, think how to score a run and where is the extra-run going to come from. He just had that level of accuracy and control,” Dravid explained the challenge of facing the legendary paceman.

"He had good pace, bounce but a good game sense as well. McGrath was probably the greatest fast bowler I played against," said the former India captain, who scored 2166 runs in 33 Tests against the Aussies.

Glenn McGrath spearheaded Australia's pace attack for the best part of his 14-year career taking 563 wickets in 124 Tests, with 51 of them being against India.