Pitches Have Made Bowlers' Job Difficult: Glenn McGrath

He no longer makes the infamous 5-0 Ashes predictions but would have hardly expected Australia to be 3-1 down in the ongoing Ashes series. Glenn McGrath is currently coaching a pack of youngsters in Chennai, while having an eye on the Ashes. NDTV caught up with the fast bowling legend for an exclusive chat. (Sachin Tendulkar Says Young Trainees Privileged to be Trained by McGrath)

What is the magic mantra you are giving to the kids at the MRF Pace Foundation? (Working at MRF Pace Academy A Learning Experience: McGrath)

I am not sure if there is any magic mantra I am giving him. I am just trying to pass on what helped me in good stead. To be a fast bowler you have to be tough, you have to be prepared to work hard, you got to be able to push through. Fair bit of pain also along they as well. So, that is all I tried to tell him. Work as hard as they can, to as much as they can and try to enjoy. But is is going to be tough.

How is it being with Sachin on the same side, for once?

Sachin is a good friend of mine. He's one of the greats of all time. He's an absolute legend. Here in India he's like a god isn't he? So, to have Sachin come along and work with the boys at the MRF Pace Foundation is just incredible. He came down and chatted to the boys and just to watch them all listening intently, they're all a little bit nervous, but I think the words he said will inspire them to raise the bar higher, motivate them to work even harder.

To spend a bit of time with Sachin is something pretty amazing and he was telling the boys from a batsman's perspective that how it was to face fast bowlers, what he was thinking, what he was looking to do.

To hear it from a bowler's perspective is one thing but to hear it from a batsman, it allows the bowlers to come up with special plans. They know what the batsman is looking to do. So, they can come up with areas to bowl where the batsmen doesn't want it. So, I think this morning the time the MRF boys spent with Sachin is priceless.

Is there ever a time that we might see five fast bowlers play for India or is the idea quixotic?

Well I think the day 5 fast bowlers play for India in India is a day I probably will never see, unless they start producing quick, bouncy wickets which I can't see happening either. So being a fast bowler in India is as tough as it gets. The conditions... the wickets are slow, not much bounce, higher temperatures, humidity. It works.

What I am asking is, do you see five Indian fast bowlers in a squad against an opposition like Australia, England or South Africa?

Of course they can. But there is no need to have 5 fast bowlers in your team. It sort of upsets the balance a bit. I think for a quality team, if you want to be number 1 in the World, you got to have a very good bowling attack and an aggressive fast bowling attack And I have always liked three quality fast bowlers and a spinner. May be an all rounder and if you have got that combination you are going well.

Do you see that India has a good talent pool in fast bowling now?

You look at the guys in the Indian team at the moment, they're doing well. Varun Aaron is a guy who can bowl very good pace, can swing the ball. And I think he'll just get better and better the more test cricket he plays. He is a guy that came through the MRF pace foundation here. The young guys that I am working with from here and also the BCCI had sent some elite players in my stints here.

I see plenty of quality. They are motivated, they are keen to learn, they are keen to work hard and I think there's some quality young bowlers here. It won't be long before they move to the next level and start playing for India. Two young guys in particular - Ankit Rajput and Ashwin Crist who have impressed me. So I think it won't be long before they move up to the next level.

Why are the Indian bowlers falling short of taking 20 wickets in Tests time and again?

I think a lot of it has to do with the conditions they play in day in day out. Like I said, to play in India, the wickets here, is as tough as possible. Probably the worst kind of wickets for a fast and they have to really work hard and find ways to get batsmen out. I think just the quality of wickets around the world are getting better to bat on.

Bowlers have to keep improving their skill level. I think the bowlers that India have are fine. They have got good experience. They are quality international players and the next level of players or specially fast bowlers coming through, I think will do a very good job.

Do you think India needs an academy for spinners too, apart from the pacers? And our batsmen haven't done particularly well against the spinners in Lanka.

Herath is a quality bowler there is no doubt about that. So, I just think that is the way it goes. It is a part of the game. Batsmen not only from India but from around the World need to be able to adjust to conditions in other countries. We have seen Australia recently not perform as well as we hoped they will in England. They are playing alright in this current Test match. But it is just the way it goes. Batsmen need to be prepared to work harder. When the T20 cricket has come in, they want to play their shots all the time, looked to be more aggressive.

Virat Kohli has been talking about playing an aggressive brand of cricket. Do you think he has the team to do so?

Yeah, he made that statement back in Australia too. I think that's the way he plays his game, that's the way he wants to play now that he's captain. I think he's got the team to do it. He's got quality batsmen - there's always quality batsmen in India. He's got a good pace attack.

When you've got guys that can bowl up around that 150kmph, like Varun Aaron can do, it allows you to do that, to be a little bit more aggressive. He's got the team, hopefully now they'll go out and start performing.

Talking about Australia's performance in the ongoing series... Before the series started, the cricket pundits said that this was Australia's best chance of winning it in England in 14 years. What really backfired?

I don't think it backfired. I just think that they didn't play well. The wickets over there were very English conditions and England are a tough team at home. Unfortunately Australia just did not adapt to the conditions. They went hard at the ball like they do in Australia when they batted and that went against them. We didn't bowl in the right areas when we bowled.

Unfortunately, Australia didn't adapt but I think they've seen now, playing this final test, the batsmen have looked a lot more in control but unfortunately the Ashes is over and Australia has lost, so. That's cricket. That's the way it goes.

Michael Clarke is calling time on his innings with Australia, would you cast him in the league of Australian greats?

Clarke has been a quality batsman from a long long time for Australia. He has done a great job as captain. I remember back then when he scored a 150 in his first Test at Bangalore and he has just gone on to score some big hundreds, double hundreds, triple hundreds. At his best he was as good as it gets. He will be remembered for a long time. He will be missed from the Australian team. But he has gone out on his own terms and that is the way Clarke is. He has finished on his own terms and good luck to him.