CHENNAI: To unveil the next pace sensation, MRF Pace Foundation organised the ‘Ace of Pace’ trials across the country. Reiterating its commitment towards nurturing fast bowling talent in India, the foundation held trials in four major cities — Kolkata, Mumbai, Delhi, and Chennai. Over 1,000 aspiring fast bowlers were shortlisted to showcase their pace and skill at the venues. From each city, the top 20 bowlers were handpicked to advance to the final round, held in Chennai on March 9.
The final round of trials was organised in the presence of the foundation’s director and former Australian fast bowler Glenn McGrath, Rahul Mammen, managing director, MRF Limited, and chief coach M Senthilnathan.
Three 20-year-old standout talents — Jaskaran Singh from Sri Ganga Nagar in Rajasthan; Mohd Izhar from Birpur in Bihar; and Muhammad Sarfraj from Ranchi in Jharkhand — were selected from among the many aspiring bowlers to train free of cost at the foundation. These bowlers will be enrolled in the academy to hone and develop their skills under the guidance of McGrath and Senthilnathan. Former Indian pacer Varun Aaron too was present at the trials.
McGrath was moved to see a huge pool of aspiring fast bowlers at the Pachaiyappa’s College grounds. He believed that India had a lot of talent and that needs to be harnessed to produce a battery of fast bowlers for the future. “I’d say I am very impressed by all of the bowlers out there...to think that they’re not really in the state systems and coming through playing underage cricket. It goes to show just the talent that’s out in India that hasn’t been discovered. So the way the ‘Ace of Pace’ is working, it’s open to anyone. The response that we got is unbelievable and like Rahul said, for them to travel all around India to come here to Chennai, this is incredible, something I am very proud of and yeah, there’s a lot of talent on show out there,” said McGrath. “To think (some of) these guys haven’t played underage cricket and still bowling up around high 130s and 140s speed is exceptional,” he added.
The Indian pace attack is doing well and there is hope among young cricketers in the country that if they bowl well, they too can play for India one day. This hope is one of the reasons that many youngsters want to be fast bowlers. “I think you always have to have the next generation of young bowlers coming through. If you have a look at the Australians, they are very similar. They have had the same bowling unit for a long time. You might get to the stage where you’ll have one or two or three of them retire at the same time and who’s going to come in and fill that void? So yeah, there’s plenty of, you know, Ranji Trophy, we’ve got the IPL, obviously the competitions around here, the passion for cricket in India is like nowhere else in the world. So it’s great to see the quality of these bowlers coming through that aren’t in the system yet,” opined McGrath.
He congratulated his one-time rival James Anderson who crossed 700 wickets in Test cricket. “That’s absolutely incredible. To think that not only 700 Test wickets is amazing, but 180 Test matches in itself, just the longevity, just his work ethic, his attitude, it’s fantastic. Just, shaping up day in and day out is incredible,” he said.
“He (Jimmy) has played about 21 years, and that in itself for a fast bowler is exceptional. He’s setting the bar, where no one else will achieve it. The fact that he’s still playing, now he’s 41, he still has the desire, the attitude that you know, to get up the motivation to, you know, to train, to put himself through the pain of fast bowling day in, day out is exceptional,’’ he added.