Bumrah should take a call on his workload: Glenn McGrath

Glenn McGrath, Australian pace bowling great, is happy India has produced a battery of fast bowlers. He defends India's tactics of using spin-oriented pitches for home matches. McGrath believes shoehorned schedules are taking a toll on fast bowlers, and suggests Jasprit Bumrah reduce his workload to increase longevity. On Ashes, he calls it an amazing series, and believes a drawn series was a fair result. He picks Australia, India, England, and Pakistan as his favourites for the ICC World Cup.

 From being a trainee to a chief coach, it has been an amazing journey at the MRF Pace Academy for Australian pace bowling great Glenn McGrath.

From being a trainee to becoming a chief coach, it has been an amazing journey at the MRF Pace Academy for Australian pace bowling great Glenn McGrath.

In Thiruvananthapuram to oversee the fast bowlers camp, Glenn McGrath is happy that India has produced a battery of fast bowlers over the years. “India is the toughest place to be in as a fast bowler. But if you succeed here you can be successful anywhere,” he said. The fast bowler also defended India’s tactics of using spin-oriented pitches for the home matches. “What makes India as we know are the conditions. They know how to bat and bowl well in these conditions. So if you prepare a bouncy track that is not India,” he said.

McGrath said the shoehorned schedules are taking a toll on fast bowlers who don’t find time to work on their fitness during off season. “There is lot of cricket played these days. It puts a strain on your body but you have to know how to recover and find time to put strength back on your body. Off-season training is very important. But these days, players aren’t finding enough time to take a break and work on their fitness. Guys like James Anderson, Stuart Broad and Courtney Walsh played for many years as they knew how to manage their bodies. I worked hard on my fitness and I had an easy action which made my comeback from Injury easier,” he said.

McGrath said Jasprit Bumrah should take a call to reduce his workload to increase his longevity in the game. “Bumrah is a quality bowler, isn’t he? He is exceptional and he is unique. The way he bowls, his run-up, his delivery stride are very unique. He has done incredibly well for India. His bowling stats prove that. But his bowling action and the way he goes about it does put a lot of stress on his body so he needs to stay strong. If he does that, he can play quite a few years for India. The current international schedule, the IPL and other T20 tournaments make it harder for fast bowlers like Bumrah to play in all three formats but some bowlers can do it. Obviously it (reducing his workload) is something Bumrah will have to think about”.

On Ashes, the Aussie legend said: “The Ashes was an amazing series. From the first game till the last, every session changed. No team really got on top apart from the fourth Test which was washed out. I thought the series was exceptional for Test cricket. Two teams went with totally different strategies. England with what they call ‘Bazball’ and Australia with little more conventional methods. Both had their place in the game. I am a great fan of ‘Bazball’ and it has taken the game to the next level, especially with the way the openers go about it. It was exciting and I enjoyed it. I don’t think Australia bowled badly in the series. They were picking up wickets despite going for runs. Cummins started well but his performance dropped as he had to captain the team also. Lyon’s absence was a blow. He was a champion bowler. In the end, the drawn series was a fair result.” he said on Ashes.

On his favourites for the ICC World Cup, McGrath said: It got to be a close tournament. I will pick four teams for the final. I will put Australia in that four and, obviously, India which will be playing at home. England is playing some exciting cricket at the moment and Pakistan too. Let us not write off New Zealand. They lift themselves in these tournaments. The India-Pakistan match on Oct. 14 is going to be an exciting contest.