‘India underutilised Yadav on last Oz tour’
The Indian pacers at the MRF Pace Academy dished out bouncers to budding Australian batsmen and the latter returned the compliment with some powerful strokes when the ball was slightly off target. And on both those occasions one heard a whisper ‘well done’ from former Australia bowling coach Craig McDermott, who is in the city alongside compatriot Glenn McGrath to help out youngsters from the two countries.
McDermott, who was the mastermind behind the Australian bowling unit that handed out a 4-0 drubbing to India Down Under in 2012, had high regard for the ever-improving Indian fast bowler Umesh Yadav. “Yadav can bowl pretty well. He is pacy.
“The Indians probably underutilised him when they last toured Australia. He touched 150kmph on a few occasions. One must understand that bowling isn’t just about sheer pace. A minimum of movement in the air or off the pitch at 135-140kmph can do the job,” said McDermott, who had 291 scalps from 71 Test matches.
As most foreign bowlers have said it in the past, bowling in sub-continental conditions is a difficult art to master.
McDermott was someone who had cracked the puzzle. His 5/44 against Pakistan in the semi-final at Lahore was instrumental to Australia’s entry to the 1987 World Cup final.
He ended up with 18 wickets in that tournament.
McDermott’s success on these tracks makes him eminently qualified to talk about the art of deriving something from the sub-continent.
“We had a discussion about it today. It’s about educating these young fast bowlers on how to create something out of nothing. Use of the crease and an odd-bouncer might help. Instead of merely running up and bowling, one has to think as a bowler,” the Aussie said.
Calling himself a strict man and sort of a teacher from the old school, McDermott highlighted the importance of discipline on and off the field for a team’s success.
“Off the field stuff is very important to us. Be it dress code or punctuality, I look at everything. At times players can drift away. These days there is a lot of media attention.
“One can upload some videos on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube..(laughs). One must be at his best behaviour. Any deviations mean players have to face the penalty,” added McDermott.
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