CHENNAI: Even as debates over whether or not Jasprit Bumrah should have played the fifth and final Test against England continues, former Australia pacer Glenn McGrath felt that the player knows how much workload they can take and should manage accordingly.
McGrath as Director of the MRF Pace Foundation, along with chief coach M Senthilnathan is in the city to coach budding cricketers from India. When asked about Bumrah playing just three of the five Tests, Mcgrath said, "Oh, it's a tough one, isn't it? We saw in Australia where he was, you know, when he played, it was tight. It was a close game. You know, he's a match winner. There's no doubt about that. You want him to play as often as he can. But, unfortunately, in Australia, fourth Test, he had played back-to-back, then in the fifth and then there were injury concerns. So, yeah, it's a tough one. A lot of it depends on the captain, on the hierarchy, as well as probably more so on him, what he feels he can do.
"A player knows best how much work load that he can manage. Bumrah is a quality bowler, he knows his body well and must be playing as per the workload that he can manage," he added.
Meanwhile, the Australian reserved high praise for Mohammed Siraj who has played all five games and stepped up in the absence of Bumrah in Edgbaston. "He's (Siraj) been around for a while now. He's got the experience. He's done well. He should be confident from the fact that in the second Test where Bumrah didn't play, India won. The way they bowled, led by Siraj, was good, so he'll enjoy it. I'm looking forward to seeing how India bowl in those conditions. Prasidh Krishna gets another chance. Hopefully he bowls the right areas and right length. Hopefully he'll do well," he said. Siraj took three wickets on Friday while Prasidh rose to the occasion, taking four wickets as England were reduced to 242/8 in 48 overs before rain intervened.
Karun Nair who made a comeback into the XI for the fifth Test, scored a crucial fifty, helping India get to 224. McGrath felt Nair had the technique to thrive which came in handy at The Oval. "If the ball's doing plenty and you play, you can't follow it, you can't move, what have you. So, you know, in these conditions, if you're playing well, maybe you have your name on it. So, you just have to try to adapt to the conditions, score the runs while you can. But going to Karun Nair he has got good technique (McGrath shows by moving his hand forward). To perform well in a Test match where the ball's moving around, you know, he got that 50 yesterday and sort of gave India a little bit of hope. Yeah, that'll do well for his confidence and show that in those situations, he can still do well,'' complimented the pace legend.