Javagal Srinath: The man who gave pace to India
Mohammad Nissar played only six Test matches, and all of those in the thirties. The current crop of cricket fans might never have heard of him or known of his furious pace.
Kapil Dev set the trend for Indian fast bowlers in the late seventies and eighties, but for the more keen observers of the game, he was simply a medium pacer with a brilliant outswinger and an even better inswinging yorker.
If anyone deserves the moniker of being a genuine Indian fast bowler, it is the man who shouldered the hopes of millions and carried the bowling attack for much of the nineties.
A man whose lion-hearted performances have led to an Indian victory many times in both Tests and One-day Internationals.
A man who was selfless enough to enable a fellow champion bowler take all ten wickets in a Test innings for the second time in cricketing history.
A man whose decision to retire from Test cricket prompted his captain to request him to re-consider.
Javagal Srinath – India’s front-line fast bowler until he hung up his boots, and the second Indian pacer to take 200 Test wickets after Kapil – was a rare jewel India were fortunate enough to have in their bowling ranks. For far too long, the world’s most populous democratic nation struggled to find a bowler with the pace to match the likes of the West Indian quartet or the Aussie bulldozers Lillee and Thomson.
Until Srinath arrived on to the international scene.
Born on August 31, 1969 in Mysore, Karnataka, the tall, lanky young lad was interested in cricket from an early age. He was an alumnus of Sri Jayachamrajendra College of Engineering, and began his cricket career as a batsman. While playing in a club match, former Indian batsman Gundappa Viswanath spotted his talent, and recommended him for a place in the Karnataka state team.
In 1989-90, Srinath made his first-class debut for his state, stunning Hyderabad with a hat-trick in the first innings, and following it up with wickets off consecutive deliveries in the second. His first two seasons in first-class cricket fetched him 45 wickets; this was when he appeared on the radar of the national selectors, who drafted him into the squad for the Wills Trophy at Sharjah in 1991.
During his first outing in India colours, the ‘Mysore Express’ bowled with genuine pace against the Pakistanis. He sent down nine overs for 31 runs, and picked up his first ODI wicket by castling Wasim Akram. His next two outings were less impressive as India lost to the same opponents in the final of the Wills Trophy. Nevertheless, he was picked in the squad to tour Australia for a five-match Test series.
The lanky pacer took the wicket of Geoff Marsh in his debut Test at Brisbane in November 1991. He finished with 3/59 in the first innings and went wicketless in the second as Australia won by ten wickets. He played in the remaining matches without success, but won his first Man of the Match award for a magnificent spell of 4/33 against South Africa in Cape Town.
After returning to India, the youngster was kept out of the team for seven of India’s home Test matches; the spin-friendly wickets on offer were the cause for this decision. He returned to the domestic arena and plied his trade there, and was recalled to the national side for the 1992 World Cup, where he took eight wickets as India had a dismal campaign.
In late 1994, the veteran Kapil Dev, having crossed 35 and no longer the penetrative force he once was, announced his retirement from international cricket. At 25, the young Srinath became the spearhead of the Indian bowling attack, playing alongside his state-mate and best friend Anil Kumble. It gave him an opportunity to emerge out of Kapil’s shadow and show the world what he could do.