India vs Australia: Glenn McGrath feels Australia has an edge over India. The former Australian pacer talks about India vs Australia series. India vs Australia: Glenn McGrath feels Australia has an edge over India.
The former Australian pacer, Glenn McGrath speaks in support of Australia ahead of India vs Australia. McGrath feels Australia has a slight edge over India because of left arm Pacer Mitchell Stark. India will be buoyed with the series win against Australia back in 2018-19.
“Bowlers will have a job to do in the test series. Mohd. Shami has great control and can swing the ball on both sides, Umesh has got raw pace. Bumrah is just class. He has great mental strength. His second and third spells are as quick as the first one. You have guys who, if on fire, are tough to beat but on the par, you have Josh Hazlewood, he can hit the right areas with the ball,” McGrath to the select media in an interaction organized by Sony.
“Pat Cummins is no 1 bowler in the world right now. He gets slightly different angles because of the way he runs in. Then they have, Mitchell Starc, the left arm lethal pacer. When he gets right, he can easily pick four or five at a go. He has got that X-Factor. If Both the teams are bowling on with top performances, I will rate Australia slightly higher because of the left-arm pacer.”
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McGrath on Cheteswar Pujara:
India’s win against Australia back in 2018-19 was because of the valiant efforts from Pujara. Cheteshwar scoring 571, including 3 centuries made it easy for Team India. However, this time he will have to put in some extra efforts.
“Pujara is one of the two players in Indian Test squads who is not featured in any cricket match since March, thanks to Covid-19. Cheteshwar Pujara lastly played in the Ranji Trophy final in March. He is out of the game for almost 10 months, although he is practicing with the state team Saurashtra in nets.”
“McGrath feels he has to work harder for his runs to make a big impact due to lack of match time and not batting long.”
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“The last time he was successful to compile runs was that he occupied the crease for long. He is not the kind of batsman who feels pressure for not scoring runs. The modern-day cricketers want to convert the next over for a big if one over gets maiden. Pujara does not have that mindset, which helped him last time.“
McGrath on Australian Pitches:
The changing pitches is not a problem anymore for the current lineup, unlike in the past where they had to adjust to the pace and the bounce from the Australian Pitches. The surfaces have changed its character over the year.
“In the early days, Indian batsmen were not used to the pace and bounce from the pitches. But these now have become more flatter. I would not say they was real fear but the inexperienced bounce and pace troubled them. I don’t think Australian pitches have the same pace and bounce. But they are still quicker than what they get in India.”
“The first test will be interesting, as India has never experienced the Day and Night test game in Australia. With the sun setting, it will start favoring pacers. It is about a time when you are bowling and batting. Virat will have to make an impact in the first game itself, he won’t be plying more of them because of paternity leave.”
“As far as other batsmen are concerned, Rohit Sharma is a quality player. He has not shown anything big in overseas Test cricket but in absence of Virat he will definitely step up. You can not depend on one player, especially in the longest format of the game. You have Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, KL Rahul, and many more, they have a quality lineup,” he concluded.
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