Former Australian bowler Glenn McGrath is currently in the city as part of his regular visits to the MRF Pace Foundation which he heads. The pace bowling legend spoke on the upcoming World Cup, the quality of Indian pace bowlers and more. Excerpts:
Were you surprised at how well the Indian fast bowlers did in the Test series in Australia?
I wasn’t surprised at all. They are a quality lot and they were exceptional, no doubt about that. Ishant Sharma hadn’t done well in Australia after his first tour but he really bounced back. Bumrah was exceptional. I think they bowled well as a unit. They bowled well to left-handers, they had pace, control and consistency.
Is there any area in the Indian pace bowling that you feel is an area of concern?
In Australia, recently in the Test series, there was nothing. The challenge is now about keeping them fit and on the park. I am a massive fan of Bumrah. The way he goes about it, he is young, keen and has a great attitude. He has had an incredible start to his Test career. It’s now how you back that up in the second year once the players have seen you and I am looking forward to seeing that. With respect to Tests, the Indian pace attack is as good as any in world cricket.
Looking ahead to the World Cup, Bhuvneshwar is the swing bowler and he needs to perform well. Bumrah’s form in the one-day game has been exceptional. The yorkers he bowls at the death, with that pace, is something unique. If there is some swing along with the yorkers, he is going to be very dangerous.
How do you see the evolution of Virat Kohli both as a batsman and skipper?
He is a class player. By the end of his career, he will be held up alongside Brian Lara and Sachin Tendulkar. He is quite aggressive as a captain and player, getting his emotions in. Earlier, if he was playing well, he would be fine but if he was under the pump and struggling, he would get carried away. But that’s no more the case as he has matured a lot. He knows his game and has the respect of his opponents.
Your favourites for the World Cup?
I thought the top-two teams were India and England. Since then, England has had a tough time in the West Indies and India had a loss against Australia. So I think the competition is going to be a bit tighter. Australia’s confidence will go up and their chances (of going the distance) will be a bit more now than what it was at the start of the series.
There has been a lot of talk about workload, especially since this is the first time the IPL will be played before a World Cup. Your thoughts on that?
If you can’t get through two months without getting injured, then something is not right. I think the IPL will be good preparation, just for the mindset. The workload is not huge. It is a different intensity obviously because there are only four overs. But it is the travel and stuff. So the players just need to know how to recover well and if they can do that, they will be fine. You want your players to have some confidence and matches under their belt and don’t want them coming into the WC without having played for a month.
