Javagal Srinath

Javagal Srinath Biography

Javagal Srinath started off as an express bowler. A raw tearaway in his earlier days, Srinath brought the ball in at terrific pace, and was easily the fastest bowler in the history of the country till the advent of the young brigade in the 2010s.

With age came injuries. Srinath changed his action, cut his pace down, and added the leg-cutter and a deceptive slower delivery to his arsenal. If he was devastating before, he was now vicious.

On some days he could be ordinary. On some others he looked lacklustre, even out of breath. But on his day he had that rare ability to run through sides — a trait common to all champion fast bowlers.

When South Africa needed 170 at Ahmedabad in 1996-97, Srinath claimed two wickets in the first over, and had two-in-two thrice during the innings. He finished with 6 for 21, and the Proteans folded for 105.

After India were bowled out for 83 by New Zealand at Mohali in 1999-00, Srinath hit back with 6 for 45, restricting them to 215. And at Calcutta in 1997-98, on a pitch where India went in with three spinners, he wrecked Australia in each innings, winning the Man of the Match award despite taking only 6 wickets.

The magnum opus, of course, came at Calcutta in 1998-99. It took him 5 overs to take 4 wickets to reduce Pakistan to 26 for 6. And in the second innings, when Saeed Anwar carried his bat with 188, Srinath kept on pegging away at the wickets, finishing with 8 for 86.

In Tests Srinath’s numbers read 236 wickets at 30.49. The wicket count would have been higher, had he not been plagued by injuries, beginning with one in the rotator cuff muscle in 1997. He would almost certainly have played more than 67 Tests.

In the 1990s, when every Test nation had a quality opening pair, Srinath was often left alone, trying his heart out on unfriendly tracks. He remained India’s torch-bearer in an era when India rarely won Tests overseas.

In ODIs he had 315 wickets at 28, and went for 4.44 runs an over. No Indian has gone past his tally of three 5-fors. He seemed to be past his prime in 2002-03, but he roared back with 18 wickets from 7 matches at 11 in New Zealand. He stayed on for World Cup 2003 at the insistence of Sourav Ganguly, exiting on a high with 16 wickets at 23 from the tournament.

A competent batsman, he finished with 1,009 runs in Tests (reaching the four-figure mark in his last match) and 883 in ODIs, where he was often used up the order to slog. On a Bangalore night in a Titan Cup match in 1996-97, he and Anil Kumble added 52 for the ninth wicket to secure a 2-wicket win against Australia.

Apart from Karnataka he had stints for both Gloucestershire and Leicestershire, and his 533 First-Class wickets came at 26.

Srinath later became an ICC match referee.

Abhishek Mukherjee

Javagal Srinath Batting & Fielding Averages

Career	M	In	R	NO	HS	Avg	BF	SR	100s	50s	4s	6s	Ct	St
Test	67	92	1009	21	76	14.21	2037	49.53	0	4	110	8	22	0
ODIs	229	121	883	38	53	10.63	1109	79.62	0	1	62	17	32	0
T20s	0	--	--	--		--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
World Cup	34	18	85	9	18	9.444	80	106.2	0	0	5	2	4	0

Javagal Srinath Bowling Averages

Career	M	B	R	W	Avg	EC	SR	5WI	10WM	BBI	BBM
Test	67	15104	7196	236	30.49	2.858	64.	10	1	8/86	13/132
ODIs	229	11935	8847	315	28.08	4.447	37.88	3	0	5/23	5/23
T20s	0	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
World Cup	34	1700	1224	44	27.81	4.320	38.63	0	--	4/35	5/23

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