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McGrath:
Every Captain’s choice
By
Ruchika Khanna
Glenn
McGrath did what he is doing best at. Ripping the
oppositions batting line up apart. His spell of 6-17 in the
first innings and 4-10
was nothing short of breathtaking and to add to that
he took Lara’s wicket in both the innings as well. West
Indies which were sitting comfortably on 45-2 in the first
innings were doomed soon after that, as they crashed to 82
all out, with last 7 wickets falling for just 17 runs. And
the chief destroyer was but of course the big man McGrath,
who returned with the excellent figures of 6-17 in overs.
Ask him which wicket he thought was the most prized one and
he would reply without a wink, Brian Lara. He has dismissed
Lara 11 times in test matches and claims to have a mental
edge over the great batsman.
The
special thing about this magnificent fast bowler is his
ability to take the wicket of the best batsman in the
opposition team. Whether it was that beauty that got rid of
Lara in the 99’ World cup or the ripper from which he got
the little maestro Tendulkar out in the same tournament as
well. Even in
the one off test, which was held in Delhi in 1997, he
removed Tendulkar for a duck. Its this part of his bowling
which makes him truly magnificent. Add to that he is a
miser, when it comes to giving runs. His average is in the
top bracket and strike rate is also superb. He is just 8
short of 300 wickets, which would be perfectly symbolic of
his amazing talent. Not only in tests but in one dayers as
well, he has been very consistent and helped Australia in
winning matches.
His
approach to the stumps is simple as he has a smooth action
and a flowing run-up. He is tall, which gives him that extra
bit to get bounce of the pitch. His strength is his line and
length as he keeps probing on that off-stump. His line is so
immaculate that it tests the patience of the batsman and
makes him do something silly.
Like
all the Australians, he also takes pride in playing for his
country and is a great contributor. His presence in the team
is a big motivating factor. Australian team has never relied
on Individual brilliance and to have that kind of standing
in the team is absolutely incredible. After the emergence of
Brett Lee and Shoaib Akhtar, the media and public went
berserk about the pace sensations. McGrath on the other hand
just went about doing his job quietly and in no time he is
close to the 300-test wickets mark. Infact he is just 4
short. He has taken 183 wickets in 121 One-day
internationals.
He
is a magnificent bowler, someone the captain can always
count on at the time of crisis.
He has been a tremendous asset to his team and like
old wine; even he is getting better with age. One only hopes
that this trend continues so that we can enjoy the class and
talent of this man for a long time to come.
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Glenn
McGrath- 300 and many more to come
By
Ruchika Khanna
Call
him lethal;
call
him devastating, still it would not be enough to describe
the kind of excitement McGrath creates on the field with his
colossal talent and deadly bowling. He has been a tremendous
asset for the Australian team with consistent match winning
performances. Seldom has Australia found him wanting in his
effort, as his levels of performances have been phenomenal.
He sets such high standards for himself and for him to reach
higher than them, is the biggest task. His line and length
is so nagging that even the best of batsmen end up playing a
false stroke. This man doesn’t make many mistakes and to
take 300 wickets in 61 test matches is a tribute in itself
for the tireless effort that he has put in to help Australia
reach such amazing heights.
McGrath
has been the backbone of the Australian line up simply
because he revels under any condition, against any
opposition. The best part about him is that he relishes a
big challenge as he clearly says that he likes to bowl at
the opposition’s best batsmen. That speaks highly of his
caliber. He has taken Lara’s wickets thirteen times in
test matches, which is a great achievement and as he wanted,
his 300th victim was Lara. To add icing to the
cake, he went on to take a hat- trick, a feat not everybody
can achieve. He made history in more ways than one and at
the rate at which he is going, there will be many more such
achievements.
There
was a time, when he was struggling with his injuries and his
form as well, and anything could have happened. But the
strength of character is tested when the odds are against
you and those who are brave and determined, come back
strongly. Australia depends strongly on him because he gets
them early breakthroughs. He was largely instrumental in
Australia’s victory in the World Cup and their success in
test cricket. Even the emergence of Brett Lee did not change
his style. In fact, it inflicted a healthy competition
between these two and brought out the best in him. On one
hand, Lee was breaking the oppositions back with his sheer
pace and on the other, McGrath slowly but surely creating
havoc in the batsmen’s mind and winning matches for
Australia.
McGrath
has given a new meaning to pace bowling and has made test
cricket much more interesting. It’s thanks to bowlers like
him that test matches have started getting results. One can
only hope that he gets better with each passing match so
that we as an audience can marvel at this amazing talent.
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