Glenn McGrath to train emerging Indian fast bowlers at MRF Pace Academy
The BCCI would be sending current and upcoming quick bowlers to the MRF academy in Chennai to work under former Australian pacer Glenn McGrath, as the BCCI has signed a five-year agreement with the MRF Pace Foundation.
One of the best training facilities in the world
The fast bowling legend was appointed as the director of the foundation in 2012, after he took the offer from another Australian fast bowling legend Dennis Lillee. The MRF academy has produced excellent fast bowlers for India in the past with the likes of Javagal Srinath, Irfan Pathan, Munaf Patel, Venkatesh Prasad, Zaheer Khan, RP Singh making their name there.
The Aussie fast bowler believes that the MRF academy which has the knack of grooming fast bowlers for the country has one of the best facilities in the world.
“It has been a wonderful couple of years for me at the MRF Pace Foundation. I now eagerly look forward to working with India's best at the foundation. Our facilities compare favourably with the best in the world and I am eagerly looking forward to this challenge." McGrath said.
The partnership to produce more quick bowlers for India
The bowlers would be chosen for two different categories – Elite and Probable. The elite category will comprise of bowlers chosen by the BCCI who will be trained in batches of ten over a period of over two weeks while on the other hand the probable list would include 20 upcoming quick bowlers chosen by national selectors.
The bowlers selected to train at the MRF academy include Varun Aaron, Ashok Dinda, Rahul Shukla, Ishwar Pandey and Anureet Singh.
The BCCI would be looking to seek Indian bowling talent from the academy in the future as the five-year agreement would help India discover potential quick bowlers.
BCCI secretary Sanjay Patel, after finalising the five-year partnership deal with the academy, said: “The BCCI is pleased to initiate this partnership with the MRF Pace Foundation, an institution where several outstanding pace bowlers have honed their skills over the past three decades. These individuals have done the country proud with their achievements in all forms of the game. We are confident that this partnership will help produce many more quick bowlers, who will bring glory to India in the years to come."