3 min readChennaiUpdated: Mar 2, 2026 10:02 PM IST
Australian fast bowling great Glenn McGrath has called on India to enjoy the pressure of playing the knockouts as the T20 World Cup enters the business end. India, having started as the firm favourites to win their second successive title, showed signs of hitting their peak in their last two Super 8 fixtures against Zimbabwe and, more importantly, against the West Indies on Sunday, which confirmed their spot in the semi-finals.
Like the yesteryear Australian teams, which entered the ICC tournaments as favourites and clinched successive world titles from 1999 to 2007, McGrath knows the pressure that comes with it. Speaking at the MRF Pace Foundation in Chennai on Monday, where he is the director, the 56-year-old said. “You enjoy it. You just bring it back to its simplest form. The team I played in, I just felt our danger period was getting to the final. Once we’re in the final, I thought the game was all over. I think the team they like pressure. They like challenges. They’re up for it,” McGrath said.
ALSO READ | T20 World Cup: How Ryan Rickelton and Roston Chase crashed in Jasprit Bumrah’s slow lane
The pacer, who was part of the Australian team that won three World Cups on the bounce in 1999, 2003 and 2007, said at times he would try to put pressure on his own teammates, fully aware they would rise to the challenge. “In the final, the big game, the best teams in the world, the best players, that’s where they perform. For me, the reason you went to a World Cup was to play in the final and win the final. All the matches leading up to it were just things you have to do to get there. It was one of those things you just focused on, you switched on and just enjoyed the pressure and lifted for that pressure.”
ALSO READ | Jasprit Bumrah’s 12th over – The turning point no scorecard will ever fully show
“The Australian team played better when the pressure was on. That’s why I always made these stupid predictions, because I thought it put more pressure on our players, and they performed better. The best players always perform in pressure situations,” McGrath, who signed off with the 2007 World Cup winners’ medal, said.
In that regard, McGrath opined that India pacer Jasprit Bumrah is made for big games and he would step up in pressure situations. “I think Jasprit is a big game player. Sometimes in the big games, these players lift from their normal game. Not saying the focus is not there, but they really love those big moments, big games. I’ve got total faith in Bumrah when it comes to big matches,” McGrath said.
