Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Javagal Srinath, arguably India's Best Fast Bowler

When I say Javagal Srinath, the first thing that comes to mind is Cricket and his heroics with the ball. But he was more than just a fast bowler for India. He was a Bachelor of Engineering in Instrumentation Technology from Mysore. He made his Test Debut against Australia in 1991/92 tour, One Day International Debut in 1992. He decided to call it in the year 2003 after the World Cup Final. In his career of over a decade he won himself Arjuna Award along with many other honours

He has had an illustrious career, he was the spearhead of the Indian fast bowling. He was overburdened due to the lack of good fast bowlers, his workload is believed to be one of the reason of his injuries. At the peak of his carer his bowling speed was in 150km/hr with his fastest delivery being bowled at 156km/hr. He was a wonderful ambassador to the game of cricket has been rewarded by the ICC by selecting him as the Match Referee.

In my opinion he has been the best fast bowler that India has ever produced. His statistics may not seem to support my statement but we should not forget the fact that he was the sole fighter for India in terms of fast bowling and didn't actually have a good support bowler by his side. We should also take into consideration 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 was a good exponent of reverse swing. He was also no mug with the bat. His match winning innings of 30 runs off 23 balls against Australia in the 8th match of Titan cup series (1996) in Bangalore was as good as any. He is the only other bowler than Kapil Dev to take 200 wickets.

He is one of my favourite cricketers and he has been a great servant to the game of Cricket. India was lucky to have him as a part of its cricketing artillery. I would love to see him play again but I guess this is too big a wish for it to come true. I salute you sir for your contribution to the game of Cricket .

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