During his playing days, fast bowling legend Glenn McGrath toured India quite a few times and akin to a lot of Australian greats, he was also loved and respected by the fans across the country.
After his international retirement in 2007, McGrath travelled to India for the IPL assignments for a few years and then took up the coaching job with MRF Pace Foundation academy in Chennai.
In a conversation with CSK YouTube channel, McGrath explained why the Aussies have a special connection with Chennai city.
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“Good city for the Aussies and the history of CSK and how well they've done, I think the combination and you know players want to come here,” McGrath said.
“Haydos [Matthew Hayden] and myself are really good mates and uh yeah he's done well and he absolutely loves it you know loved playing under Dhoni. I think that the respect that MS Dhoni has right around the world is another incentive to come here,” he continued.
He also spoke about Shane Watson and Michael Hussey, who have played a vital role in CSK’s success over the years.
McGrath, who considers the city as his second home, also revealed that he was not keen on becoming the coach of MRF Pace Foundation initially but Dennis Lilee persuaded him.
“When Dennis first asked me to come over here, my first thought was no I don't want to do any coaching it's not something I want to do, [but] he convinced me to come over and have a look 10 years ago or a bit more now. And I really enjoyed over that last 10 years; I've learnt a lot as well probably more about the technical side of the game and hopefully, I've imparted a bit of knowledge onto the boys as well,” he remarked.
Glenn McGrath is happy that several bowlers from the academy have gone on to play for India and in the IPL.
“About 24 boys have gone on and represented India during that time which I think is absolutely incredible and 29 of the boys played in the recent IPL and a couple of guys you mentioned there in Mukesh and Simrajit playing for CSK and doing very well makes me feel very proud too yeah.”
McGrath also recalled a couple of Test matches he was part of between India and Australia in Chennai.
“I've played a couple of games [in Chennai]. A test match I remember in 2001 got right down to the wire and India just got over the line with a couple of wickets to spare. 2004, that last day was set up I think India needed 200 odd. Viru [Virender Sehwag] was out there batting. Hadn't lost a wicket, it was going to be an amazing day and unfortunately, it rained so yeah some great memories.”
