I have enjoyed working with Indian bowlers, says Glenn McGrath

SportsCafe Desk

BySportsCafe Desk,SportsCafe Editor

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All time Australian great, Glenn McGrath, believes that India has a good number of good quality pace bowlers who can represent the country in the future. He also stated that he has always tried to make sure that these pacers play on the next level like Ranji Trophy, IPL, and Team India.

Glenn McGrath is a former Australian cricketer who played in all the three formats of the game for Australia with a successful 14-year career. The fast- medium pace bowler has been considered as one of the best bowlers of all time. McGrath is the director of the MRF pace academy, Chennai where he trains young fast pace bowlers in order to prepare them for the next levels of their cricketing career. In a two day program set up by the MRF pace foundation, McGrath spoke about a variety of topics to the Timesnews network.

The Australian legend stated that he has enjoyed working with the young talented bowlers of India while adding that he has been trying to prepare them for the “next level”. 

“I have enjoyed working with the young Indian bowlers. We try to make sure most of them go and play the next level, the Ranji Trophy, IPL or India ‘A’. We have got few of our (from MRF Pace Foundation) boys playing India ‘A’ at the moment. Khaleel Ahmed, Prasidh Krishna and Ankit Rajpoot are in India ‘A’. Ankit, I think he has got the potential to go on represent India and be a quality bowler for a long time. We have Basil Thampi who played IPL. There are lots of other guys ready to move up the next level,” McGrath said. 

Talking about the current Test match series between India and England, McGrath spoke about how bowling and taking wickets is a crucial part of winning a test game. He also provided slight insights on what he feels about both the team's performances.

“To win Test matches you have to take 20 wickets. India have shown recently that they are capable of taking 20 wickets. The pitch probably did a little bit, but it kept the game moving forward. Both teams missed opportunities. Kohli showed that if you apply yourself you can still score runs in those wickets,” McGrath stated.

McGrath has also talked about how playing on home soil and playing on foreign soil makes a difference.

“When Australia goes to England or India, we don’t do well. When England went to Australia, they lost 5-0. Whether it’s a scheduling issue where there is not much time to get used the conditions. They (touring teams) need to find ways to perform better when on tour,” McGrath quoted.

However, the Australian bowling legend had a lot to praise about the Indian skipper, Virat Kohli. According to McGrath, Kohli has been improving his on-field character and consistency as a player. McGrath said that the Indian skipper's out-of-the-way hard work and sheer determination to improve himself is what sets him apart from others.

“I tell these boys about Kohli, he works harder than anyone else. I was commentating during the Adelaide Test (2014). I used to head to the gym in the morning and I stayed in the same hotel as the Indian team and every morning, I would see Kohli getting a bit of work in as preparation for the day. I didn’t see any other players. That's why he is number one in the world. It takes hard work to get to that level, play Ranji trophy or IPL. But once you get there it takes twice as much work to stay there and look to move on,” McGrath concluded. 

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