Was disappointed Varun Aaron was not in World Cup squad: McGrath

Impressed by Varun Aarons speed Australian legend Glenn McGrath today said he was disappointed at the fast bowlers omission from Indias World Cup squad and predicted that the pacer will be around on the international scene for a long timeAccording to the New South Welshman who finished his career with a staggering 563 wickets in 124 Tests at just 2164 per victim both Aaron whom the Australian had tutored for a while and Umesh Yadav should always be part of the Indian team as they can both bowl in excess of 150 kphVarun AaronI was a little bit disappointed that Varun Aaron did not make the World Cup squad He can bowl at good pace swings the ball nicely I think he will be around for a long time McGrath told PTI in an interviewI will put Aaron and Yadav in the same team two guys who can bowl at 150kph If you got consistency with that pace you can do some damage I thought Yadav had a fair series He seemed to play better when they got to the World Cup said McGrath who is here as brand ambassador of Australias Hardys Wines for their Indian distributors Sula SelectionsWhen pointed out the two bowlers were a little bit inaccurate at times McGrath said the solution lay not in asking them to cut down in pace but to work harder during net practice for gaining the necessary accuracyInaccuracy is just one of those things I hate seeing guys bowl slower to get a little bit more control Obviously you need control and thats how you build pressure and get wickets But if you are slowing down to get that control I am not a big fan I would rather see the guys do a lot more work in the nets to get that control target bowlingI would like to see bowlers do a little bit more work in the nets target practice building up that consistency You saw what Mitchell Johnson did for Australia He was bowling upwards of 150k and did not lose any pace but he got that control Soon as he got control with that pace he became lethal he notedEven with the exponential growth of T20 cricket which has changed crickets landscape with batsmen uncorking quite a few innovative shots McGrath who was part of three of Australias victorious World Cup squads feels bowlers can still exercise controls by bowling good yorkersSince the advent of T20 cricket batting has improved with new innovative shots while the bowlers skill level has gone down slightly because they dont have that consistency I still think if you can bowl consistent yorkersyou can be successfulYou have seen Mitchell Starc of Australia in the World Cup and how well he bowled those yorkers and was the player of the tournament Sri Lankas Lasith Malinga is another guy who bowls very good yorkers and is successful at T20 and in the shorter versions of the gameYou do need variety and you do need to hit the 34th lengths and bowl good yorkers You cant just bowl top of off and just keep it there said McGrath who picked up 381 wickets from 250 ODIs at a miserly average of 2202If you can bowl good yorkers outside the off stump it limits the scoring options Its a lot tough for the bowlers in limited overs cricket but if they got the skill levels they can do well he addedThe tall expacer was impressed with the way the Indian squad that failed to win any game in the preceding triseries in Australia bounced back to enter the semi finals in the World CupTo be honest India impressed me as well apart from champions Australia and runnersup New Zealand Leading into the tournament they were struggling a bit and did not do well in the one day tournamentBut come the World Cup they seemed to lift themselves They got off to a good win against Pakistan in the first game Played very well in semi finals against Australia but seemed to have conceded too many runs Could not chase them down he saidMcGrath who first visited India to train at the MRF Pace Foundation in Chennai under Dennis Lilliee in 1992 thought the Indian fast bowlers did a good job in the mega event after a dismal show in the tri seriesThey did a very good job They did not bowl well in the one day series but they lifted themselves soon and bowled good lines took early wickets and put pressure on the opposition which they were not doing earlier They looked good as a bowling unit in the World Cup he remarkedMcGrath felt that Australia after a string of poor results in past World T20 championships in sharp contrast to their brilliant run of four World Cup title wins in the last five editions would do well when India hosts it in 2016I think with the IPL here in India the Indians have really taken it on board They know how to play the game Australia have Big Bash League and a lot of Australians play in IPLI like to think we will see Australia do better in the next T20 World Cup Look at England They are not involved in IPL at all really The more you play the more you get used to itThe Big Bash League is doing great things for our young guys coming through Next T20 WC you will see a different Ausn side but the subcontinent sides especially India will still be very strong While saying Indian maestro Sachin Tendulkar and WestIndian great Brian Lara are two of the best he had bowled to McGrath added Rahul Dravids name to the list by saying the Bengaluru stalwart at times does not get the dues he deservesDay in and day out you have to say they Tendulkar and Lara were two of the best players that I have bowled against They are two of the greatest players of all time its hard to separate them The fact that Sachin played for 24 years is just incredible he was so mentally strong and technically correctAnother guy that deserves a lot more credit than probably what he does get is Rahul Dravid Hes a quality player If you had to have someone batting for your life in those three you want him to go in there Hes definitely up there McGrath gushedMcGrath 45 was of the opinion that his former captain Ricky Ponting was his pick for playing the short ball Ricky is definitely up there too the way he played the short ball I dont think anyone played that as well as Ricky did He was in my team so I did not bowl to him too often barring occasionally when he played for Tasmania and I played for New South WalesThough he praised Virender Sehwag for his audacious strokeplay McGrath said the Delhi dasher was not in the same league as the others he had mentioned Sehwag is an exciting player people like to come to watch him If he bats for a while hes going to score runs is it not I tried to use that aggression against him Hes a quality player quick in scoring but I dont think hes in the same category as Lara and Tendulkar said the former Australia pace spearheadMcGrath is now connected with the MRF Pace Academy as its director and talked about his experience when he trained there under the great Lillee and honed his skills saying the lot of young fast bowlers and spinners from his country who are to visit Chennai soon would benefit from their stintI enjoyed coming over here in 1992 and working with Dennis Lillee It gave me a lot and helped me when I came over here next time A few of the Indian boys do come over to Australia too There is good connection between the two countriesI am also the cricket ambassador for Hardys wines I am over here Mumbai for four days then am going to my role at MRF Pace Foundation in Chennai I spend a minimum of six weeks in India My wife loves it I have spent a lot of time over last 20 odd years on an average once a year he added