Brad Hogg, the Australian spinner only dismissed legendary Indian former batsman Sachin Tendulkar once in international cricket but there was no lack of excitement every time the two came face to face with each other. Brad Hogg dismissed Sachin Tendulkar during an ODI between India and Australia in Hyderabad in 2007.
After the match, Brad Hogg revealed how he went up to Sachin Tendulkar asking him to sign the ball, and the former batsman wrote ‘Never again, mate’ on the ball.
Brad Hogg Reveals Adam Gilchrist And Ricky Ponting Asked Him To Bowl Wrong Ones To Leg Stump To Dismiss Sachin Tendulkar
As it turned out later, Brad Hogg never could dismiss Sachin Tendulkar again and perhaps the dismissal triggered Sachin Tendulkar to go after the former chinaman bowler every time he faced him thereon. One such battle took place in the Melbourne Test match – the Boxing Day Test in the same year. With India batting in the first innings, a well-set Sachin Tendulkar took the attack to Brad Hogg hitting him for two fours and a six in the 39th over to go with a four a couple of overs ago.
Talking about the experience of bowling to Sachin Tendulkar, Brad Hogg explained how he was a bit under the pump and how captain Ricky Ponting and wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist tried to devise a plan to get Sachin Tendulkar out.
“I think it was a tactic from India as well because I knew there was no Shane Warne or Stuart MacGill. If you’re going to look at a weak link from that particular team, especially in the bowling department, it was going to be me. And that put a little bit of pressure on me,” Hogg told Harmison on the latter’s show ‘Test of Time’ on YouTube.
“There was a moment when Gilchrist and Ponting actually came up and asked me to bowl wrong ones to him. They said what if we keep bowling the wrong ones to leg stump and try to use the minimal footmark outside and try and bamboozle to tie him up. I said ‘look… I’m not comfortable with that. I want to keep bowling my leggies. To bowl wrong ones all the time ball after the ball is quite difficult'”.
Brad Hogg opened up about India’s tour of Australia in 2007 and how he felt a bit under the pump during the Test series in the absence of Shane Warne and Stuart MacGill. Brad Hogg is a former Australia international who played 7 Tests and 123 One-Day Internationals.
A chinaman bowler, he made a mark in ODIs as he was a part of Australia’s World Cup-winning sides in 2003 and 2007. Having announced his international retirement in 2008, he made a stunning comeback in 2012 at the age of 40 and played the ICC World T20 in Sri Lanka.
Brad Hogg Reveals After Sachin Tendulkar Signed He Would Never Again Be Dismissed By The Spinner, It Turned Into Harsh Reality
Brad Hogg added that while the idea was tempting, he was more comfortable bowling the traditional leg breaks, and lauded the greatness of Sachin Tendulkar.
“So I pulled out of that and I just tried to bowl a little bit quicker and tighter and hoped that I could tie the run rate down but he was a test… Sachin Tendulkar. I only got him out once in my career. I got him to sign it. ‘Never happening again’… and it never did. He made sure in that Test series that it was never going to happen again and he just wanted to show his authority,” Hogg added.
“I think that’s what separates the great batsmen from the not-so-great at Test level. They know when there’s the opportunity when to pounce on the weakness of the opposition and I tried to take that risk and that was something I had to stand up to. I did not get his wicket but I felt that I pulled the contest back in our favour.”
Despite their numerous on-field encounters, Brad Hogg has dismissed Indian batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar just once in his career.
In his stellar career that spanned over two decades, Sachin Tendulkar scored 100 centuries across Tests and ODIs — a record that still stands. In 463 ODIs, Tendulkar scored 18,426 runs, including 49 tons, and in Tests, he tallied 15,921, including 51 centuries. On the other hand, Brad Hogg played 7 Tests, 123 ODIs, and 15 T20Is, in which he scalped 17, 157, and 7 wickets respectively, between 1996 and 2014.