India in good hands, says McGrath

CHENNAI: As Indian cricket embarks on a new journey under Anil Kumble as head coach, legendary Australian pacer Glenn McGrath feels the BCCI’s decision to hand over the reins to the Bengaluru man is perfect. “I think Indian cricket is in good hands now,” said McGrath, who is here to coach the trainees of MRF Pace Foundation. According to the Aussie, Kumble’s fighting qualities would rub off on the young team.

“He has been a fighter. Though I haven’t seen him as a coach, I feel he will approach coaching with the same attitude. You have to be a good man manager to deal with the board as well as the players. I am sure he will do a good job,” he added. In the recent past, India had always preferred either batsmen or all-rounders as head coach and Kumble’s entry has bucked the trend. McGrath has always been advocating bigger roles for bowlers. “I think the bowlers, especially the pacers, have the smartest head in the sport,” said McGrath.

The 46-year-old expects Indian bowlers to feel at home in the West Indies. “The wickets in the Caribbean are a little different from what they used to be. They are more like Indian pitches. So the Indians should know how to bowl there. However, the West Indies could still surprise the tourists by producing strips with a bit of life in them,” said McGrath. McGrath said the biggest challenge for young bowlers in India is not to get complacent after landing lucrative IPL contracts.

“Not just in India, it happens in Australia as well because of the Big Bash contacts. No doubt, it takes a lot of hard work to get in there. But what they don’t realise is that they have to work twice as hard to stay there. “A good example is the journey of Bengal pacer Veer Pratap Singh. He had his share of success stories as well as testing time. Now, he is eager to make a comeback. I have been super impressed with the way he is bowling now,” he said.

Though the pink ball experiment at last year’s historic Adelaide Test was deemed a success, McGrath said they have got a bit of work to do to get things right in day/night Test. “It gives too much of an advantage to the bowlers once dusk comes on. A few other issues remain to be ironed out there,” he added. While many feel that T20 may devour Test cricket in the future, McGrath said the slam bang version feeds on longer format. “Look at the big names in T20; they have all been big names in Test. Some of the best batsmen in the world at the moment — AB de Villiers, Joe Roots and Virat Kohli — are quality Test cricketers. They have a sound technique to excel in the traditional format and only because of that they perform well in T20s,” he said.