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"Virat Kohli And Ajinkya Rahane Needed To...": Glenn McGrath On India's WTC Final Defeat


This article was originally published in NDTV.com

"Sometimes it can happen", was what fast bowling legend Glenn McGrath said on Monday about India's capitulation in the World Test Championship final against Australia in London. India suffered a crushing 209-run defeat to Australia on the fifth day of the summit clash at the Oval on Sunday. "Sometimes, it can happen like that. Yeah, conditions in England are a lot different to what Indian cricket has been playing in. Sometimes that happens that way, it's called that bit of dressing room pressure," McGrath, who is Director of Coaching at MRF Pace Foundation, told reporters here.

"Both teams haven't played a lot of Test cricket lately but that's the way it goes. You get on a bit of a roll going into that last day, Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane needed to put on a big partnership. You lose an early wicket, that can happen. It's a one-off Test match. I wouldn't be too concerned." Asked about the controversial catch by Cameroon Green to dismiss Shubman Gill, he said, "I think most of those catches are out. We find ways to give it not out which I like to go the other way. So, I was happy with it.

"And if it was India taking that catch, I would have been happy too. I'm not just saying from an Australian perspective but the way it goes." Queried about Pat Cummins' captaincy, McGrath said, "I think 280 on last day with seven wickets in hand, it sounds gettable. But there's a lot more pressure, one wicket can change it, so from a bowling perspective you just you know if you get enough balls in the right area you're going to create at least seven chances if not more.


"So, captaincy, it's just doing the basics well. I think Pat Cummins did a great job. I'm sure he used his senior players well, and I know when he's bowling he hands the captaincy over to Steve Smith. The senior players worked well and you have to say credit to them." He said Scott Boland, who came in as a replacement for the injured Josh Hazelwood, would be very effective in England.

"The dilemma the Australian selectors have is which bowlers are going to bowl in the Test matches. So, it's a good problem to have. But Scott Boland, the areas he bowls, I think he's going to be very effective in England." McGrath, who is known to make predictions ahead of the Ashes series, said it's going to be a great contest between Australia and England.