Bowling to Tendulkar and Dravid was a Bit Nerve-Wracking - Shaun Tait

India is yet to win a Test series in Australia, but they have had a few fond memories, and one of them was their victory at the WACA in Perth by 72 runs back in January 2008. Meanwhile, Australian paceman, Shaun Tait reveals bowling to cricket’s maestros, Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid was nerve-wracking.

Meanwhile, it was the same four-match series which witnessed the infamous ‘Monkeygate’ scandal, involving Harbhajan Singh and Andrew Symonds. However, Shaun Tait didn’t have any good memories from the game in Perth. Though he was one of the premium pacers for the Australian side, he didn’t get a single wicket in 21 overs he had bowled in the game.

Furthermore, the then Aussie skipper, Ricky Ponting didn’t have much faith in Shaun Tait, as he just bowled eight overs in the second essay. However, the 35-year-old recently spoke about the difficulties of bowling two Indian greats – Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid.

“Didn’t turn up that well. That wasn’t a fun memory at all. There was a lot of build-up before the Test match. The talk that ‘the guy would bowl at 170kmph’ is not real. I just went through a bad time mentally and physically during that phase. I ended up stopping playing for a few months after that,” Shaun Tait quoted to Mumbai Mirror.

Tait later said despite having a bad game at the WACA, he bounced back against India in games played in future. The ex-Australian further added he wasn’t in the best mental space and thus faced the wrath.

“It took some time to get back. But I have had a few good games against India in limited overs cricket. Given the controversy before that Test, there was a lot riding on that game. I had a bit of an injury at that time, and mentally too I wasn’t in the right space. So for me, the whole thing is a bit of a blur. Bowling to guys like Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid was a bit nerve-wracking also,” he added.

However, Shaun Tait had played three Tests, 35 ODIs and 21 T20Is for Australia.