Javagal Srinath was the leader of the pack of India’s fast bowling during his career. During the late 1990s and early 2000s team India relied on Srinath heavily. During the latter stages, Srinath combined with Zaheer Khan and became a potent pair that won numerous matches for India. Former wicketkeeper Parthiv Patel recently said that keeping to both Srinath and Zaheer was a big challenge.
Srinath was respected all around the world for his ability to bowl at genuine pace. Traditionally India was never known to produce fast bowlers but when Srinath was at his peak he was one of the quickest bowlers. Parthiv believes that Srinath was underrated and drew his comparison with great Australian fast bowler Glenn McGrath.
Javagal Srinath is right up there: Parthiv Patel
The veteran wicket-keeper batsman commented that Srinath was a similar bowler to McGrath that regularly bowled in right areas. Srinath made full use of his height and pace and troubled batsmen in his career. Parthiv kept wickets to Srinath in the last Test series of the fast bowler. He lauded Srinath and said that even in his last Test match Srinath bowled at pace with great accuracy.
Parthiv told Rediff.com, “Zaheer Khan and Javagal Srinath were playing, so that was a big challenge too. There isn’t much of bounce and the ball comes at a good pace”. You have to stand slightly closer to the stumps than you stand when playing outside India. So that was something I learned, as to where to stand behind the stumps when the ball is reverse swinging”.
He added, “People talk about Glenn McGrath, but the first time I kept against Sribhai (Srinath) he was right there and there about all the time and with good pace and bounce. He was playing in his last series he did not play any Tests after that. Even in his last series, he was getting a lot of bounce and at a very good pace. He was also very accurate”.
Javagal Srinath retired from international cricket after the 2003 world cup in which India made the final. In 67 Test matches, he scalped 236 wickets and in ODIs, he played 229 ODIs and took 315 wickets respectively. Srinath after his retirement became an ICC official and worked as a match referee.
