Glenn McGrath picks his favourite batter and baller of current lot; virat vs smith

Former Australian pacer Glenn McGrath is currently in India. Recently, he took part in a private session hosted by HCL Technologies during the World Economic Forum (WEF). The three-time World Cup winner expressed his views on plenty of things, including the current scenario of cricket.

McGrath was asked about the best players of the current generation. Among bowlers, the New South Wales-born player picked South Africa’s speedster Kagiso Rabada and India’s paceman Jasprit Bumrah. He also called himself a big fan of Rabada.

Bumrah is quite a unique bowler. He doesn’t have a long run-up like a lot of fast bowlers have. But he has got good pace, incredible control, and the right attitude. This South African bowler Rabada is an amazing bowler, I’m a big fan of his. I’m leaving Australian bowlers out of this list as I feel they all are great,” McGrath said as quoted by The Outlook.

Among batsmen, the 49-year-old named his compatriot Steve Smith and Indian captain Virat Kohli. McGrath rated Smith as an amazing batsman. He said that Smith is not a textbook batter, but he got a great hand and eye coordination.

Smith is a little bit unique; he is a little strange, he is not normal, but has got a great hand and eye coordination. Technically, he is not a textbook batsman, but the way he bats is amazing.”

McGrath called Kohli a ‘class player’. The former seamer even praised Kohli for his aggression on the field.

On the other hand, there is Kohli. He is a class player and is very technically correct. He is a little bit unusual and very aggressive on the filed, especially as an Indian captain, but he is a class player.”

Speaking about the great Australian team during his playing days, McGrath said attitude and self-belief was our team’s strength.

“We had Shane Warne, getting over 700 test wickets, which was absolutely incredible, and he had that self-belief to get his gameplan executed and land the ball exactly where he wanted.”

“We had so many big personalities in our team, but when they came together on the field, they executed as a team as a single unit. One thing which was great that we not only enjoyed our own success but enjoyed our teammate’s success as well.”

McGrath played 124 Tests, 250 ODIs for his nation. He took 563 wickets in the longest format of the game and 381 in the 50-over format.