When Glenn McGrath turned a Mumbai elevator ride into a punchline

The elevator hummed as though it had been entrusted with ancient secrets when it began its 17-storey descent.

Inside, the writer, holed up at the Taj Mahal Palace for the evening’s Sportstar Aces Awards, found himself gripped by these man-made chonky marvels of metal, mirrors, and wires once again.

Thirty years on, the fascination of the suburban kid hadn’t faded, albeit the curiosity bordered on the philosophical rather than the scientific these days.

There’s a polite nod, forced smiles, and a few averted eyes; a handful of lifetimes stood inches apart within. For that one fleeting moment, they all shared gravity and direction. Until the doors laboriously parted for these strangers to spill unto different canons and the elevator to reclaim its silent anonymity.

The chain of thoughts snapped as the lift made another pitstop. The floor didn’t register as the tall frame of an Australian gentleman filled the entrance. The smile was familiar, the kind that had haunted many a batter even in sleep.

A polite greeting later, we decided to embrace the silence once again.

But the next stop tore through the quiet. As one of the two men waiting outside attempted to enter, the other held him back mid-reprimand, as the argument embarrassingly unfolded in front of a few awkward witnesses. The lift door, meanwhile, continued to be held hostage by the outstretched arm of an occupant.

A few seconds had elapsed before the tall Australian standing next to the writer leaned forward ever so slightly, his voice calm yet firm.

“Hey mate, if you don’t mind… we are in a bit of a hurry.”

The man outside paused and looked at our hero properly for the first time. There was a flicker of recognition—the sense he had seen that face somewhere before—but before the thought could complete itself, the doors had begun to slide shut.

“Yeah, too slow, mate. Too slow,” said Glenn McGrath, the Australian pace great who was later that evening honoured with the International Icon Award at the ceremony downstairs.

Thankfully, the irony wasn’t lost on the ‘room’ as the onlookers burst into laughter.

Published on Mar 17, 2026