Javagal Srinath ( ) (born August 31, 1969 in Mysore, Karnataka) is a former Indian cricketer. He was a frontline fast bowler for the Indian cricket team until his retirement, being the only Indian pace bowler apart from Kapil Dev to take 200 Test wickets, until Zaheer Khan achieved that milestone. At his peak, he was arguably India's fastest bowler ever.

Personal life

Srinath was born in Mysore in Karnataka. He was attracted towards cricket right from an early age. He holds a Bachelor of Engineering degree in Instrumentation Technology from Sri Jayachamarajendra College of Engineering, Mysore.

Career summary

Although Srinath was a batsman as a youth, it was in a club match that he caught the eye of former Indian Test batsman Gundappa Viswanath, now a selector for the state team. In 1989/90, Srinath made his first class debut for Karnataka against Hyderabad, taking a hat trick in the first innings. He followed this with wickets from successive balls in the second innings. Srinath finished the season with 25 wickets from six matches, and took another 20 the following season. The second season involved a display of reverse swing against Maharashtra at the Nehru Stadium in Pune, taking 7/93 to dismiss the home team for 311 in response to a Karnataka total of 638 on a good batting track.

Srinath was selected to the Indian cricket team for the 1991/92 tour of Australia. Making his Test debut against Australia at Brisbane, he took 3/59 while playing as the third pace bowler. He finished the tour with ten wickets at 55.30. He was given an opportunity to take the new ball against South Africa in Cape Town, where he took an economical 4/33 in 27 overs. Srinath ended the tour with 12 wickets at 26.08. However, due to wickets in India being conducive to spin, he subsequently spent seven consecutive home Tests watching from the sidelines as India only fielded two pacemen. It was not until three years after his international debut, in late 1994 and with the retirement of Kapil Dev that Srinath played his first home Test, against the West Indies. He took five wickets and scored 60 in the second innings to be named Man of the Match as India won by 96 runs. His increased opportunities also coincided with an improvement in his batting, scoring two half-centuries in the series.

Srinath then made his One Day International debut in the Wills Trophy at Sharjah in 1992. He became the fastest bowler to take 100 ODI wickets, reaching the mark 3 years and 19 days after his debut.

Srinath took over 500 first class wickets, playing for Karnataka he took 96 at 24.06. In 1995, he joined Gloucestershire, and took 87 wickets in his one and only season with them including taking 9-76 against Glamorgan. He has also played English county cricket with Leicestershire and Durham.

In the 1996-97 series in South Africa, Srinath's speeds were timed at 150 km/h with one particular delivery measured at 156 km/h. For many years, Srinath was India's only regular pace bowler, and the workload is often believed to be the partial cause of injuries, which forced him to undergo an operation on his right shoulder in 1997.

Some critics argue that Srinath's average and strike rate suffered as a result of bowling on the predominantly dry and spin-friendly wickets in India; however, his average at home was in fact superior to his average away from India. Srinath knew how to reverse swing the ball.

Though his batting average is not impressive, he has played quite a few scintillating innings and won matches for India with his batting. He scored a vital 30 runs off 23 balls against Australia in the 8th match of Titan cup series (1996) in Bangalore, thus winning the match and securing a berth in the finals for India. This innings contained 2 fours and a six. In the same series he also scored a 50 against South Africa in Rajkot.

He retired from international cricket after the 2003 World Cup in South Africa in which he performed strongly until the final against Australia, where he appeared to be overwhelmed by the pressure of the occasion, conceding 87 off his 10 overs. He toured England with the famous Lashings World XI team in the summer of 2005, and also served as a commentator for the India-England Test series in 2006.

In April 2006, he was selected as a match referee by the International Cricket Council and served during the 2007 World Cup.

Awards and honors

• Arjuna award - 1996

References

External links

• CricInfo Player Profile : Javagal Srinath