'Aussies don't dwell on past'

Gaurav Kalra: You have made the point 'what we have achieved' and Adam (Gilchrist) also made that point after he got the man of the match award in the final. The word 'we' is used a lot. In fact Australia take a great amount of pride in it. For instance you have won a Test series every where in the world, won three World Cups and that gives you more pleasure as it is a team sport than say 1,000 international wickets.

Glenn McGrath: Exactly, it is right. The thing that I miss most is being out in the middle performing, playing with my teammates and the celebrations in the room afterwards. So that is the good thing about team sports. When you are out there playing you have got 10 other teammates out there who are striving to help you out and if it getting a bit tough and you are tired the last thing you want is to let them down. You want to go that extra yard for them. So it is a win-win situation on both sides.

Gaurav Kalra: Do you sense that other international teams don't play like this? Is there a focus on too much individual records in cricket?

Glenn McGrath: I am not sure. It depends on the individuals. I have worked with the Australian team in this current World Cup and the thing that I have really enjoyed is Shaun Tait coming on the scene and doing well. He ended with 23 World Cup wickets, which is a huge effort. To see the young guys come through and being successful gives me a lot of satisfaction.

Gaurav Kalra: Let me ask you about India now as we come from there. You have had a lot of battles against India in India, in Australia and also at neutral venues. Some of your finest cricket came against India. Was it something that you always looked to doing?

Glenn McGrath: Very much so. To me being a fast bowler and to see where you are in the big picture, what type of fast bowler you are is to perform against the best batsmen in the world. You have got Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman. Laxman’s played some pretty good series against us.

That is the true indication of what type of fast bowler, what type of team you are playing against the best guys in the world. I always enjoyed not only playing against India but playing in India as well because it offers something different from back home. The conditions are tough for the fast bowlers.

Gaurav Kalra: But in those tough conditions you have done well. What about Sachin Tendulkar? A lot of people ask about it as it is an enduring memory for anyone who has watched Glenn McGrath vs Sachin Tendulkar. It was fun for you as well?

Glenn McGrath: Yeah, I loved every minute of it. Hopefully Sachin enjoyed every now and then too. To me the two guys – Sachin Tendulkar and Brian Lara – are the standout players. Those two guys are the best batsmen in the world. That's the challenge that I enjoyed bowling to Sachin and hopefully getting him out or changing his gameplan or just tying him up. You tend to lift your game a bit when you are bowling to guys like that and I felt I did.

More Headlines from Interviews

• 'We're heading towards disaster by ignoring Tests'

• Harbhajan insists hard times are over

• Gambhir's real test begins in Sri Lanka

• I am playing better than ever: Ganguly

• Rubbish to say age is a factor in ODIs: Ganguly