India is probably the toughest place in the world to be a fast bowler, says Glenn Mcgrath
Glenn McGrath believes that India is the toughest place for a pacer to be - on top of the stressful demands that they already face. The Australian also commended India’s pace spearhead Umesh Yadav on his maturity, stating how his experience helps him maintain consistency and avoid injuries.
The former Australian international is currently in Mumbai, where he is conducting a two-day Coaching Programme for Mumbai Cricket Association for their Ranji, where he will instruct the Under 23 and Under 19 categories of fast bowlers.
“Express bowlers are very rare and I'm always on the look-out for one. India is probably the toughest place in the world to be a fast bowler, but that plays a part. But as I said (bowling) 150 plus (kmph) is rare," he said.
Instructing the fast bowlers, McGrath said, “A fast bowler needs an off season. If you keep bowling whole year without an off season, sooner or later injuries are going to creep in, you got to have a break to put that strength and fitness back in.”
The World Cup winner, who has taken a whopping 563 Test wickets in his career for the Kangaroos, also stressed on the rarity of a real fast bowler now. He has been of the opinion that fast bowling in cricket hasn’t changed much since the fearsome West Indian attack of the 1970s.
"Everyone wants to bowl fast, I wanted to bowl fast, but no one is express. To be express is a unique thing. It's not that many bowlers can be 140-150 kmph quicker. It is something very unique. It is a raw talent, you can't teach that."
The Australian bowling legend is all praise for India’s fast bowler Umesh Yadav applauding the 29-year-old’s mature understanding of workload management. Being pace bowler automatically mean pushing oneself to more injuries, and the onus remains on them to understand their body better, explained McGrath.
Speaking to the media, the 47-year-old, said, “Umesh Yadav is bowling really well at the moment, he is up matched after match… he is a little bit older than what was a couple of years ago, he is also a lot more experienced and he knows, (or) he should know, how to prepare himself, how to recover."
Since making his debut in Tests back in 2011 against West Indies, Yadav has scalped 88 wickets in 31 matches. In the ODIs, the right-arm fast bowler has an impressive 98 wickets in 70 games. He is currently with the Men in Blue on their Sri Lanka Tour, where he would hope to increase his tally.
