India in India will be a big challenge: Glenn McGrath

Former Australian paceman Glenn McGrath shared his thoughts on the ongoing Olympics as he is going through a coaching stint at the MRF Pace Foundation. He said that the shortest version of the game, T20 cricket can be a part of the Olympics.

“Now you have Rugby Sevens in the Olympics, there is no reason why cricket should not be there. Perhaps you can have Twenty20 cricket. I liked it when cricket was played in the Commonwealth Games,” said the Australian legend.

Speaking about the forthcoming Australia’s tour of India, he admitted that it will be a tough task for the world champions as India is as strong as any in their home conditions. “India in India will be a big challenge. We will get wickets that will turn square.”

However, he said that the series win against West Indies doesn’t speak volumes about the abilities of the team. “India will face tougher opponents. But the combination of Kohli’s youthful exuberance and aggression and Kumble’s experience and the respect he has earned is promising for India,” he lamented.

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Glenn McGrath believes that pitches for day/night first-class matches need to have some grass in it, to prevent the ball from getting deteriorated quickly. “That’s been our experience in Australia,” he said.

Mitchell Starc is an attacking paceman: McGrath

Australia has surrendered the ongoing three-match Test series against Sri Lanka with the third match going on. He said that playing spin is about the mindset of the batsmen as they need to have game plans. “Playing spin in the sub-continent has been one of our concerns over the last few years. It’s not that we can’t play spin. It’s about our mindset going out there to play it. We have to be clear in our minds about our game-plan. Like when Mathew Hayden was here in 2001, him deciding to use the sweep effectively.”

Despite playing on slow turning tracks, Australian spearhead Mitchell Starc has been highly impressive, who has bagged 24 wickets in the series. “He is an attacking paceman. He pitches it up and gets the new ball to swing. When the ball gets older, he reverses it. And he’s got speed,” he concluded.