yeah he really did. he kind of symbolized grit and determination to a generation of cricket lovers, pretty much like allan border before him.
sachin played mcgrath and warne together in 1999-00, 2001-02 and in 2004-5. he was the man of the series in the first one. scored a century and two cracking fifties in the second one. was struggling with a career altering injury during the last one. so it is unfair to say he didnt play well against the best australian attacks. in fact, he was top notch in the first two series. the fact that india lost the first one 3-0, laxman scored 281 to overshadow everthing else during the second one and sachin's personal best turns out to be the 97-98 series (which didn't feature mcgrath) gives the illusion that he didn't play the best aussie attacks well. it is untrue. also, since we are discussing 90s, reid, mcdermott, hughes and warne in 91-92 series was a kick ass attack, except the newbie shane. sachin did well against them too.
his performance against SA, on the other hand, is below par especially in india.