India has got a lot of talent that needs to be unearthed: Glenn McGrath
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.