India captain Virat Kohli has garnered more experience after his nightmarish tour of England in 2014 but Australia great Glenn McGrath cautioned that an in-form James Anderson could make things tougher for the Indian captain this time around too.
“Kohli is a more experienced player now. Quality player, no doubt about that. But English conditions are very tough,” the pace ace said. “When you have got a bowler like James Anderson, who is bowling well now, it is going to be hard work. Kohli is a quality player so I am looking forward to that contest,” McGrath said.
McGrath also said that the rest of the batsmen need to pull their weight even if Kohli fails again. “You always want your best batsman performing. However, it also gives another batsmen a chance to put his hand up and there are still some quality batsmen there, some quality players there. If India are really depending on one player, they have got it wrong...”, he added.
The three-time World Cup winner is confident that India pacers Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah will make a mark. When asked who among Indian pacers could do the job in England, McGrath said, “Bhuvi and Bumrah. They have got pretty good control. That’s what you need, especially in England. The dukes ball has a pronounced seam. If you get the ball in the right areas consistently, then you are going to do well. The ball will do a little bit, so yeah.. they will do well.”
Adaptability is the key, said one of Australia’s finest fast bowler. “I think a lot of it depends on how the players adapt. You got to adapt a lot quicker these days. During my time, we used to get a couple of tour matches. They will have to adjust and adapt quicker. Obviously, there aren’t enough tour matches to really get used to the conditions. They will just have to rely on past experience,” McGrath said.
