CHENNAI: Former Australian fast bowler Glenn McGrath has tipped the fast bowlers to call the shots in the upcoming season of the Indian Premier League. McGrath, currently in the city to coach budding fast bowlers at the MRF Pace Foundation, believed it was too early to say which teams would reach the playoffs. He hoped that Indian spearhead Jasprit Bumrah, who missed the previous season due to a back injury, would fire for Mumbai Indians.
“I think if you look at his last two strides, he really powers into the crease,” McGrath explained. “So his momentum increases in his last two strides. That’s where he gets it (pace). I think he’s a little bit hyperextended in his elbow, so I think that all adds to it. But it’s the last two steps for Bumrah if you ask me,” he added on the secret of Bumrah’s success.
The World Cup winner also predicted his countrymen Mitchell Starc (Kolkata Knight Riders) and Pat Cummins (Sunrisers Hyderabad) who were bought for an unprecedented sum would deliver for their respective franchises. ‘’The way they view the money, it should be secondary. Go out there and perform your best.
So whether they got paid 100,000 or they got 4.5 million, I think they’ll go and approach it the exact same way. They go out there and do their best,” opined McGrath, insisting that the price tag will not affect the duo’s performance. “The money they’ve both received is incredible. But I think they’re both very experienced players. They know the game well and they’re going to go out and play as well as they can, like they’ve done in the past. So I don’t think that’ll (money) impact their performance,” he added.
McGrath, who represented Australia in more than 350 international games, explained how Australians approach the game. “It’s just the attitude of Australian sports people. They’re very competitive, they go out there, they back themselves, they want to perform on the big stage. You look at, was it the World cup recently?
Back in November when Australia won the final, Pat Cummins, the way he played through the tournament, and even recently he’s out there, his battings brought Australia home. So not only bowling, batting, so I think they enjoy performing on the big stage and they perform better in pressure games than they do in normal games. I think it’s the Australian mentality,” pointed out the pacer.
McGrath also has confidence in Virat Kohli and believes that despite a short break from international cricket the former India captain has it in him to deliver for RCB. All eyes will be on Virat Kohli when he takes on CSK at Chennai on Friday. So the big question is will he get straight away into his grove after the break or struggle? “Well, he’s (Virat) is a quality player, there’s no doubt about that.
So it depends on him personally. The break might have done him a world of good. He might come back, be really hungry and go out there and find his form straight away. But in the first few matches, if you get off to a good start, I’m sure he’ll be fine. If he struggles a bit, you never know. So he’s a quality player. he knows the process,’’ opined McGrath.