Pace bowling great Glenn McGrath, considered a past master at sledging, on Sunday said Sachin Tendulkar could easily hold his own when it came to verbal duels in the heat of a cricketing battle.
The lanky Australian said he had many memorable confrontations with the Mumbai batsman with the honours shared almost on an equal basis.
"I have been said to have a go at batsmen but Sachin can give as good as he gets," the New South Wales paceman said in New Delhi.
The two giants of the game crossed swords during the recent triseries in Malaysia and McGrath beat Tendulkar a few times before the batsman stepped out to hit him over the ropes.
McGrath said that proving himself against the best batsmen in the world was a challenge he particularly enjoyed.
"Bowling to the likes of Sachin and Brian Lara is a way to test myself against the strongest opposition I can get," the champion bowler, who has 332 scalps in 225 one-day internationals, said.
McGrath claimed he had managed to hold his own against the two best batsmen of his generation.
"I have won a fair share of my battles against Sachin and Lara. I think the score reads 55 per cent in my favour," the Australian paceman, who names the premier batsman in the opposition as his target before every series, said.
McGrath had been away from international cricket for a long time due to his wife Jane's illness, but claimed that he never doubted that he would be able to make an impressive return to the side.
"I have never felt better physically. The outing in Kuala Lumpur was very useful for me," he said.
"I know my body better now and feel in very good bowling rhythm."
McGrath said that along with the job of one of the main bowlers in the team, he had a vital mentoring role for the young pacemen in the Australian set-up.
"I hope I can pass some of my knowledge and experience to the younger guys and learn something from them myself."
