Mumbai: Australian fast bowling legend Glenn McGrath believes India’s flamboyant batsman and Test skipper Virat Kohli is the right person to lead the team, adding that his aggressive approach both on and off the field is a positive sign as long as he is scoring runs.
“I think it is a positive. Because you want a leader who is strong, who wouldn’t take a backward step, who would lead by example. But you don’t want to go too far or go overboard crossing the line,” McGrath, who is on a three-city tour of India as a brand ambassador for Hardy’s, told IANS on Monday.
“I think Virat has held himself in good control at the moment. I like the way he has gone about it. He can back it up with runs with the bat. He is a class batsman as well.
“Being aggressive is one thing and not backing it up is another, but Virat can back it up. I think India are in good hands moving forward with him as a leader.”
The retired fast bowler, who claimed 563 wickets in 124 Tests and 381 scalps in 250 One Day Internationals (ODIs), took over as the coaching director of the MRF Pace Foundation in Chennai in 2012 from fellow Aussie pace bowling great Dennis Lillee.
Speaking on the current young Indian bowling line-up, comprising pacers Varun Aaron, Mohammad Shami, Mohit Sharma, Umesh Yadav and Ishwar Pandey, McGrath said he has been impressed and hopes they continue improving.
“I am impressed with the way they go about it. I always say skills take you so far, attitude will take you the rest of the way. The attitude of the boys there is second to none.
“Varun Aaron bowls close to 150kph, swings the new ball. I think Varun has got a a big future. Iswar Pandey is on the verge of making it into the team. He is doing good and other guys also are doing well,” the 45-year-old said.
With India searching for a new coach following the exit of Duncan Fletcher, McGrath said not all good cricketers make good coaches, adding that top teams should look for a coach from within their country.
“Coaching is about handling your players well, creating an environment where they can relax and play at their best. We have seen Darren Lehmann, who did a great job for Australia. When he came in, there were quite a bit of tensions in the team.
“He just allowed the boys to relax and go about the game. Players respect him and you need that mutual respect. A coach is mainly a man manager more than anything else.”
Speaking on whether India should look for a coach from within or overseas, he said: “Yes, this is an interesting one. I always felt Australia played better with an Australian coach. At the end of the day, it depends who is best for the job. If the current country doesn’t have quality and standard coach — like Zimbabwe and Bangladesh — [they] should bring overseas coaches. But top teams should look for a coach within their country.”
With a wide range of new shots coming up these days, especially in the shorter formats of the game, and bowlers getting a hammering from batsmen, the legendary fast bowler believes improvement in skills can help bowlers check the run flow.
“Skill level plays a big part. Getting the basics right, having control and variety. I think in T20, boys can come in and bowl six totally different balls. You don’t need to land them very well, you can get away with it. But if you have control, you can be very successful.
“We have seen examples like Mitchell Starc recently in the World Cup and also Lasith Malinga bowling yorkers, which these two bowlers deliver very well and no one else can. I think other bowlers don’t attempt bowling yorkers as they are not good enough to bowl perfect yorkers and are taken for runs,” McGrath said.
Speaking about his on-field rivalry with India’s batting legend Sachin Tendulkar, he said: “It was always a good challenge. I loved bowling to Sachin. You can know how good you are after bowling to these class players. I got him out a couple of times and made it hard for him, other times he scored big hundreds.”
With the Ashes series coming up this summer, McGrath believes Australia have a good chance of beating England again.
“Australia are playing some pretty good cricket. I am predicting Australia will do very well and win the series.”
On the prolonged controversy in English cricket surrounding sacked batsman Kevin Pietersen, he added: “It’s a dilemma. KP is a class player. There has been a lot of friction between him and the team and the England board.
“A player of his quality would make it tougher for Australia. If he is not playing, it makes it easier for Australia.”
