Mark Waugh at Beyond Barriers V, the annual international meet of St. Xavier’s College Alumni Association, in Melbourne

Mark Waugh wove magic with his charm at the afternoon session of Beyond Boundaries V, the annual international meet of St. Xavier’s College Alumni Association, in Melbourne, on Saturday. The stylish bat-turned-selector posed for photos with alumni members, signed autographs and at the end of a 45-minute session had the audience clapping, laughing and nodding... in awe. Snippets.

Indian food: I do like Indian food but I don’t like it too hot. I always order the mild Indian curry when I go out to eat at Indian restaurants. My wife (Kim) likes Indian food as well. I think Butter Chicken is my favourite and then Lamb Roganjosh.

His Hindi: The only words I know are chalo chalo. It’s not very aggressive, is it? I also know jaldi jaldi. There are a few other words I had learnt but I can’t repeat them here!

India, Test vs limited overs: You are good in Test cricket in India but you haven’t yet proved it in Australia, so.... But I think your One Day side is quite a good side, so yes you have a chance of winning the World Cup but I don’t think you can win the Test series in Australia.

Glenn McGrath’s prediction of a 4-0 washout: No matter which side we play he always predicts a 4-0, 5-0, 3-0 to Australia. In England two years ago I think he said we would win 5-0 and we lost 3-2 so don’t listen to Glenn McGrath! I am not going to say 4-0 because I may pick up the papers in Calcutta tomorrow and see ‘Australian selector Mark Waugh says Australia is going to win 4-0’. I think Australia will be hard to beat and hopefully India will be competitive. I think you probably need to find a world-class spinner and a world-class fast bowler. That’s all, only two. Batting’s okay.

How he remembers Sourav: Oh, Steven (Waugh) thinks he is quite annoying but I’ve never had a problem with him. Because Ganguly would make Steven wait out in the middle for the coin toss, he’d always be doing his hair or something. He does his hair, doesn’t he? He is quite fastidious about how he looks, isn’t he? I think he just did it... because he was captain and I think it was a little bit annoying for Steven, he thought it was a little bit disrespectful that Sourav Ganguly was not there on time to do the toss. But he is Indian and no Indian is on time, they are always late. But I think Sourav Ganguly is respected as a player, now he is a good commentator. But I thought he played the game in the right spirit. He was a very attacking batsman and quite an attacking captain, which was good to see.

Locker room jokes shared with buddy Shane Warne: Oh, I think they are all X-rated. Shane was a great bowler but he was a different sort of character. We would sit down for lunch and we would all have the healthy salads and sandwiches, Shane Warne would get some white bread, put this much butter on it, put some hot chips, put tomato sauce and that’s what he would have for lunch.... It was good to have him around because he would take all the attention away from me. If you got down at the airport in Calcutta everyone would go towards Shane Warne and you are quite free to walk through. It was good to have him in the team for that reason.... Shane did not get out of his room much, he always had activities in his room. He liked his room service. (Laughs)

The Australia-India Test match at the Eden Gardens: Which one? I have forgotten (laughs). I think we were fed some dodgy carrots at lunch time and we felt sick and lost all our energy... that’s what happened. And then we couldn’t get a wicket. But that particular series, I think was the best series I’ve ever played in terms of the standard of cricket. That particular Test match in Calcutta we thought we would win with a couple of days to spare, play golf and relax. But when we sent them back to bat, it was very hot and then Laxman and Dravid had that superb innings. The guys were just in total control and I think it was the longest period of time I’ve played for Australia that we didn’t get a wicket. I mean you could have felt sorry for us and given us one wicket. We ended up losing the Test.... It was a great series even though we lost. The way the games were played, they were entertaining, there were so many good players on both sides. And it was great for cricket. It is good to give you guys a win, you know we beat you so many times.

Greg Chappell: He wasn’t too popular, was he? Do you let him through your customs now when he comes to India? He probably needs extra protection from the police! I don’t know what his record was as a coach and he got rid of Sourav Ganguly, your favourite player. I suppose you have to make a call as a coach to try and improve the team. I think in India you don’t tend to change that often, you don’t tend to drop players, especially old players. They are seen as almost untouchable or gods and sometimes that can be detrimental to the team. When you get older you do lose a little bit of your timing and your hand-eye coordination. In India there might have been one or two players who might have played too long, whereas in Australia if you show a bit of lapse in form they tend to chop you off and bring in the younger players. I don’t think young players get quite as much opportunity in India....

World Cup match in Mumbai in 2000: That was very sad for you guys but I remember that personally I batted really well and got 125 runs. It was hot and a big crowd. I was very happy with my batting obviously but to get Sachin Tendulkar out.... I guess I felt sorry for him. His mistake was that I was bowling off-spin and he was playing for the turn and then he got stumped. Actually I’ve got him out in a Test match too, you know.

Sachin Tendulkar: He was a great player, in fact, in my time I would rank him the best player I’ve played against, probably ahead of Brian Lara and maybe I would rank Viv Richards up there as well. But I think Sachin is the best player I’ve played against because I think the pressure he was under when he went out to bat for India, there were times when he was batting and when he got out half the crowd would go home. He was a great player and he had great technique and he was a fair cricketer too, I think. He played the game in the right spirit. He was an attacking player. When we played against him I would like to see him get a few runs.... But he used to get a lot more than that against us. For a little guy he used to hit the ball so hard.... He was an honest guy with great morals and I wouldn’t say a bad word against him.

Sledging Tendulkar: I don’t think I said anything to Sachin at all. I think the sledging side of it by the Australians was overhyped. Maybe the bowlers — Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath — but there is always some banter, as long as it doesn’t get too personal or too nasty, I don’t see a problem with it. You are out there for six hours, you got to talk a little bit, otherwise it would be so boring. And there were some Indian players who gave back as good as they got too.

I did not talk much to Sachin. He was pretty quiet actually. We didn’t sledge Sachin because he scored so many runs against us.

Sledging Ganguly: He was a bit of a prickly character, wasn’t he? He would actually bite back if you said something to him. That’s what we wanted, a reaction from the players.

Rahul Dravid: Personally I would rather watch Tendulkar bat, I like attacking players. But Rahul Dravid was a very good player. I wouldn’t put him in the same category as Tendulkar because he is not as destructive, but he is very reliable, he has got great technique and plays the game in the right spirit. I think India sometimes has a soft underbelly, but Dravid is tough.

Fights with brother Steve: I did have fights with him sometimes. He ran me out six times in one season. When I first played for Australia I took Steven’s spot, he was very unhappy with me for a long time and stopped giving me Christmas presents. Then in the backyard we used to play cricket and if he got out he would just stand there and say no, I’m not out. We had two younger brothers and the three of us would get rid of him somehow.

Missing out on IPL: I am very sad about not playing IPL. I have to blame mum and dad, I was born four years too early. I wouldn’t be sitting here I would be on a luxury cruiser in the middle of the Caribbean if I was playing the IPL. I would have loved to because I never played T20 cricket. Obviously the money side of it is ridiculous. I don’t know how they can afford it in India. There must be a lot of rich actresses and business tycoons in India. I think it is good for cricket.

The T20 effect on Test cricket: I think it does affect Test cricket and I think you have to be careful not to play too much of it. I don’t think it harms the actual technique, it gives you more shots as a batsman and a bowler more deliveries, but Test cricket is the No.1 game.

Xaverian Sourav Ganguly sent a question to Mark Waugh: How can the Indian side led by Dhoni beat Australia this summer?

I know Sourav Ganguly is from this institute so I don’t think I can say a bad word against him, or I won’t get out of this room alive! But there is a different style of captain there, M.S. Dhoni. Ganguly was an excellent captain, Dhoni is an excellent player but I am not sure about his captaincy. I think he lets the game meander a little too much at times, but he is a very good player. When India come out to Australia this summer they’ve got four Test matches, so I am afraid you are going to be very sad at the end of it, by Christmas time. But then you’ve got the World Cup to look forward to.