Scottish veteran Ian McLean, who played against Tendulkar, bats for women’s cricket

Sachin Tendulkar hadn’t made his Test debut when Ian McLean played against him.

“He was one of Kailash Gattani’s boys and I played against them in Scotland,” McLean, a former Scotland Under-21 player. “Gattani, a former Ranji Trophy player for Rajasthan, used to bring young Indian cricketers to England and Scotland. We used to call them Kailash’s boys though the club’s official name was Star Cricket Club.”

Apart from Tendulkar, who would play the Test series against Pakistan some six months after that tour of the UK, Gattani had also brought players like Rahul Dravid and Vinod Kambli.

He remembers Tendulkar as a quiet young boy. “He stayed with my friend Jackie Knight, who was the Scotland wicketkeeper for five days,” says McLean. “He took Sachin to meet his father’s hero Budhi Kunderan. Sachin played against my club, Strathmore in Forfarshire. I think he scored 80, but I didn’t get to bowl against him.”

McLean, however, has taken the wickets of former Australian Test players Kim Hughes, Justin Langer and Adam Gilchrist. “I have also played against Indian players such as Aunshuman Gaikwad and Ashok Malhotra,” he says. “When I played for Scotland Under-21 against England, I was the leading run-scorer in the series, while Kim Barnett was their top-scorer.”

Impressed with de Silva

Among Gattani’s young stars, it was not an Indian that made the biggest impression. “It was Aravinda de Silva,” says McLean. “He was about 18 and looked already a fantastic player.”

McLean, now, though is more of a fan of Smriti Mandhana. He fell in love with women’s cricket and has been travelling the world to watch the female cricketers live on the grounds.

He has been watching the Women’s T20 World Cup in England and is delighted that Scotland is playing in it. “I had been to India to watch the WPL, where I was happy to see Scotland’s Sarah Bryce play for Delhi Capitals,” he says.

“And I had gone to the UAE for the last Women’s T20 World Cup. I enjoy watching players like Smriti and Shabnim Ismail, the fast bowler”.