India can’t afford to take England lightly: Glenn McGrath

CHENNAI: With the T20 World Cup entering its final stretch, legendary Australian fast bowler Glenn McGrath expects India and South Africa to lock horns in the final.

“The two teams that I would pick to be in the final are going to be South Africa and India. I think South Africa has been the best team of the tournament so far. South Africa are going to be tough to beat, but India, on their day, can do something pretty special,” McGrath, the director of coaching at the MRF Pace Foundation, said here on Monday.




McGrath believes South Africa are a formidable unit across departments and is impressed by the intent with which they’ve approached this format. “Some time back, they came out and said they were focusing on T20 cricket moving forward. They’ve good batters and good hitters. And, they have a very good bowling attack. There are no big gaps there.”

South Africa have New Zealand in front of them in the semis and the legendary paceman feels the Proteas will have the edge.

“New Zealand are a tough team when they play well, but there’s something about them when they face South Africa. South Africa always win convincingly, I don’t know why,” McGrath said.

Turning to the India-England game, McGrath cautioned Suryakumar & Co. against underestimating England despite their patchy campaign.

“England are a dangerous team. If they really click on the day, they can do anything. But I think in the tournament, they’ve been all over the place. They have been lucky...Nepal should have beaten them, Italy was a close game. So, they found ways to win. Maybe that’ll give them confidence that they’ve just peaked for the semifinal. I think if India go out there and play as they have this tournament, and England go out and play as they have this tournament, India should go through,” McGrath added.

‘Bumrah is a big-game player’

Earlier in the Super 8 opener, India were tactically outplayed by South Africa, who handed them a 76-run defeat and snapped their unbeaten streak in the tournament. McGrath felt India’s bowling attack will be crucial in the knockouts, singling out their leading pacer Jasprit Bumrah as a “big-game player” who thrives under pressure.

“First, it’ll be winning the toss and deciding what to do. I think India have a good bowling attack. So it depends on how the other guys work around them. Arshdeep Singh is doing incredibly well and Bumrah is quality. Arshdeep has been probably the pick of India’s bowlers at the moment.

“But I think Bumrah is a big-game player. Sometimes during the big games, these players lift their games. In just a normal game, not saying the focus is not there, but they really love those big moments, big games. But I’ve got total faith in Bumrah when it comes to big matches. I’m always a big fan of him.”

‘Disappointed but not surprised about Aus’s early exit’

Australia endured a dismal campaign at the World Cup, crashing out in the group stage after shock defeats to Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka. McGrath admitted he had harboured doubts about Australia’s prospects even before the tournament began.

“I had said I was concerned with Australia. I thought they might make the Super 8, but to be honest, I didn’t feel they would progress much further. A lot of things didn’t work well. You wonder about selections, missing important players and I thought the preparation could have been better. For Australia to get knocked out before the Super-8s and Zimbabwe going through, hopefully that hurts them. Disappointing, but not surprising,” he said.

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