I back Australia to do well in India: Glenn McGrath

The formidable and invincible Australian cricket team is long gone. After dominating world cricket for a decade, the retirements of the likes of Steve Waugh, Glenn McGrath, Brett Lee, Shane Warne, Ricky Ponting and Adam Gilchrist created a huge void that Australia couldn’t replace. Losses to South Africa (where they lost the ODIs 5-0), Sri Lanka and then to the Proteas at home sent the Aussies to a lowest point in their cricketing history.

However, with some changes, Australia bounced back to beat Pakistan at home. And with the tour to India next month to play four Test matches, a young Australian team stares at another tough assignment. A revamped Australian team would need to play out of their skin to register a Test win in India, after 13 years. (Australia last won a Test in India at Nagpur in 2004).

Bowling legend Glenn McGrath hoped that Australia would be a better team when they tour India and backed them to perform well. In an interaction, on the sidelines of a training session at the MRF Pace Foundation, the former fast bowler advocated the use of the sweep shot against the spinners and opened up on a variety of topics.

I will always back Australia. It has been a long time since they last won a Test in India. The boys are up against it. They haven’t played well in the past on turning tracks but I think, they have got young guys come into the team who have a different attitude. The fresh legs, lifting the old boys, are doing good. The challenge is there for them but it will be tough. 

We have always struggled against spin here. We haven’t worked out how to play spin for a long time. Sometimes we go too hard, or too defensive. I have said for a long time; a good example is like (Matthew) Hayden. He wasn’t the best player of spin but he learnt to play sweep incredibly well. He went on to be of the best sweep shot executors and did very well. The guys who play the sweep will do well here. That is the best way to combat spin in India. Chasing 300 on a final day in India is tough. I would use four bowlers who can take 20 wickets and that would mean happy days. Playing four bowlers gives us an option to strengthen the batting order. You can score 500 runs, but we have to take 20 wickets to win Test matches.

In the past, the Australian fast bowlers have done well here too. I believe teams still have to play to their strengths. Someone who can generate a good reverse swing will be dangerous, someone like Mitchell Starc. The way he bowled in Sri Lanka was amazing. Australia would need him at the top of his game. We also have (Josh) Hazlewood. He is bowling well, he is confident and once he can get the ball to reverse, hopefully he can take some wickets with the new ball too. When Starc gets it right, it doesn’t matter what is the wicket is like, he takes wickets because of the lengths he bowls. Personally, I have enjoyed bowling here. As a fast bowler, India is the toughest place to bowl. I know there would always be turners than quick bouncy wickets. We know what to expect. No surprises. Australia needs a way to combat and to perform in these conditions.

I think it is the way he plays. If it is there to hit, he hits it. A century in Melbourne got his confidence up and the way he played in Sydney was incredible. Pakistan helped him by bowling short and wide to start with, gave him 11 easy runs and then he was away. If he gets off to a flier, he is hard to stop. The young guys (in the team) are having a positive influence and that combined with Warner’s and (Steve) Smith’s form looks good for Australia now.

Most players in the team have had some amount of experience playing in the sub-continent. That holds them in good stead. We have someone like (Peter) Handscomb. He is averaging 99.75. He is a good player of spin. Usman (Khawaja) is a quality player against spin too. Hopefully they can be in good form for the Indian tour.

Starc is lethal when he bowls in the high 150s. I think in Brisbane, on a slow wicket, the pink ball got soft and he took a wicket with the short ball and surprised the Pakistan batsman. On a flat wicket, the bowler has to run in and bowl hard and the bouncer is always effective. Sometimes it can be effective on a slow wicket too when you bend your back more and surprise the batsman more. The bouncer is still a weapon on any wicket.

We had set team then. We had players with a lot of experience in the sub-continent. When we played here in 2001, Laxman and (Rahul) Dravid ensured we didn’t win that series. We have had that experience (of playing here) before. We had tasted little bit of success before. We knew how to handle these conditions. That is what it all boils down to — experience.

I guess the conditions will be same. They would hope to try and emulate what England did in 2001. (England prepared for the 2001 India tour in Dubai and won the series). Dubai is hot and the playing conditions are tough. It will be a matter of getting acclimatized to the conditions. I am keeping my fingers crossed to hope how it worked for England.

I wasn’t vocal about rotation. I think, when I look at the Australian summer, I feel Starc and Hazlewood were underdone. It took Starc two or three Test matches to get into his stride. You need players at their peak from first Test. Players would want to play every Test match. Being a fast bowler is tough. You have to find a happy balance. I wouldn’t have been happy to be rested anyday.

It plays a very important role. In the last tour of Sri Lanka, Steve Smith lost about six or seven tosses in a row. It doesn’t make a bigger difference back home but in the sub-continent, if you win toss and bat first it is a huge advantage. An ideal scenario would be to win the toss and bat first, score 600 and knock them over 400. Set them a target of 450 and bowl them out for under 300 in the fourth innings.

Cricket Australia didn’t seek any help, yet. The team has been here before; the coaches have been here before. We have guys like Ricky Ponting and Justin Langer with the team. These guys have been here and done business. They have played and they have experience.

Australia should play like how England played in the first Test and not like in the last four. It is tough. We spoke a lot about bowlers and spin but India have been producing batsman after batsman. They can now bat down to number eight and that is ridiculous. You should be able score runs and take 20 wickets too. Teams have to score a lot in the 1st innings. Batting 4th is the hardest part of the game here.

I am not a fan of DRS. The more I see, the less fan I become. It isn’t used the way it has to be used to. It is sometimes killing the moment. When you get a big wicket, the celebration the emotions and then the DRS kills it. I like the idea of umpires gives you out, you are out. They are human too. They are doing the best job. We have quality umpires. We have to take the good with the bad, Even DRS isn’t perfect.  

From what I have seen, when teams play at home, they are good; When they travel, they are bad. India have tours to West Indies, Sri Lanka and South Africa next. I think South Africa will be the key. They have a good bowling attack and they bowl well in their conditions. India have struggled in the past when the wicket is pacy. The wickets in Australia are belters now whereas in South Africa they carry through well. If India can beat South Africa, England and Australia away from home, they would be the best team in the world.