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Srinath vs Vaas - Who was the better bowler ?


Srinath vs Vaas - Who was the better bowler ?  

  1. 1.

    • Srinath
    • Vaas
    • I don't care - Mohamad Sammy is the best


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To use a cliche Srinath in Test and Vaas in LOI but if I have to pick one I will go with Srinath. Srinath in many ways was an underachiever but the man had the goods and have many fiery spells. Even on dead Indian tracks he was very capable of making opposing batsmen hop around. Vaas doesnt come close on that account. He is a decent test bowler at best whose main role is to pick an early wicket or two while Murali is the main wicket taker. Srinath was the lead wicket taker for India and pound for pound was as important, if not more, than Kumble. Srinath I say.

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Oh, this is one tough choice i would say. Srinath was much more a fast bowler in real sense than Vaas was , but he lacked the discipline and control that Vaas had , which is understandable given that he was going for extra pace. Vaas is lucky to play during Sri Lanka;'s best times, so he has been part of more Lankan victories than Srinath has been part of Indian ones. But in fast bowing terms, Srinath held the edge. On his day , he could come up with fiery spell, as demonstrated in 1996 in Motera against the Saffies. He blitzed the Aussie top order in the 1998 Kolkata test match to set-up a famous victory. Even in the 1999 world cup match between Ind and Aus that we lost , Srinath bowled an outstanding opening spell and according to mark waugh " was close to unplayable". Srinath infact bowled one of the fastest deliveries of the tournament in that match, clocked at 93 mph ! Even though Srinath bowled a brilliant length with the new ball , his subsequent control over the older one wasnt that impressive. His length shortened and he lost venom. Vaas scored over Srinath in this aspect. Srinath was one of India's earliest Fire-brand !

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They are quite similar as far as their career trajectories are concerned - niether bowler fulfilled his true potential and they were the sole spearheads for their team's bowling attacks for a long time. Srinath's figures could have been better had he stayed for another season following the World Cup - India had Zaheer at his peak then, and as a result he would have been under less pressure to deliver. He would have enjoyed bowling alongside him. We can see how the emergence of Malinga has helped Vaas immensely. I'd say Vaas was the better bowler overseas and he also had a knack for nailing good top order batsmen. Srinath's biggest disappointment must still be his inability to win India a test overseas - he had ample opportunity to do so (in Zimbabwe '01, in WI '02). Vaas at least, did that for SL very early in his career - winning them a test in NZ. Unfortunately, Vaas was the one who won recognition - as evidenced by his selection for the World XI in one of the ICC Awards. Srinath never won any real accolades and was always known as an underachiever. Regardless of how comparable they may be, their legacies in the eyes of cricket enthusiasts are completely different.

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niether bowler fulfilled his true potential and they were the sole spearheads for their team's bowling attacks for a long time.
Actually Predz I would say Srinath was an underachiever while Vaas is an overachiever. Anyone who saw Srinath play would agree that the man had talent. EVen in the era of Donald, Akram and Ambrose Srinath held his own. He could of course have picked atleast another 50 wickets had Indians held catches in the slip. Regardless Srinath should have taken atleast another 50-75 wickets so good a bowler he was. Vaas on the other hand is as good as he could ever be. xx
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It wasn't just a matter of dropped catches, Lurker. Srinath just didn't have the ability to exploit favourable conditions to the full in the manner Donald, Ambrse and other greats of that period could. His spells would be varied, some good, some bad - he was never the kind of bowler who could bowl a barrage of short-pitched deliveries or yorkers at a tail-end and run through a batting lineup. He never quite developed these wicket-taking deliveries - at least Vaas had an off-cutter to count on. I do agree that his first spells were as good as ANY other bowler's - that includes Donald, Ambrose et al, but he wasn't as complete a fast bowler One thing i shouldn't have overlooked was his injury problems. Prior to that rotator cuff injury which sent him home from the West Indies in 1997, he was damn good - arguably one of the best in the world, and genuinely quick. From that point on, he consistently cut down on his pace and became less threatening. I don't think Vaas ever had to endure such a set-back in his career. Srinath at his peak was undoubtedly a far better bowler than Vaas was at his peak.

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Srinath was a definitely a better bowler than Vaas and more talend too. As regards to the style of bowling , one was a pace bowler and the other swing . So totally different style of bowlers in my opinion.Srinath lacked support from the slip squadron like Lurker pointed out earlier. Also, this guy has won accolades from his peers like Akram and Waqar. I don't think the same can be said about Vaas although their career stats are comparable. Plus the fact that he had to bowl in pitches not conducive for fast bowling and was cheated of playing time early in his career when Kapil and Prabhakar blocked his entry into the team. I still remember some of his deadly spells in the Ahmedabad test versus SA where he outshone Donald or the Calcutta test against Pakistan where he outshone Wasim Akram.

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Very interesting poll....the previous posts have covered most of the bases.... Srinath is the better bowler for sure, cos he is a bigger matchwinner in tests... on the last day of a test match, if i have 5 more wickets to take within two hours, i would put my money on Sri and not on Vaas... not to say, Sri would have won me tht money, but better chances than Vaas...

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In ODIs, I might be tempted to pick Vaas, only just. But in tests, puhleeeeeeeeease. Srinath over Vaas every single time. Srinath could do everything Vaas can and much more. Srinath could be intimidating. He could be menacing. Captains don't want fast bowlers who trundle in at 120-130 kmph and lose their effectiveness once the shine is gone or the conditions are less conducive to swing. They'd rather have someone who can do that and is capable of revving it up taking the pitch out of the equation. Srinath had the ability to do that and did so on few occasions(not many I admit, as he was a massive underachiever). Srinath's biggest weakness was his mentality.

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They'd rather have someone who can do that and is capable of revving it up taking the pitch out of the equation. .
Well, Vaas isn't exactly the kind of bowler who needs favourable conditions to bowl at his best. His 14 wicket haul vs the West Indies (the series in which Lara scored 700 runs in 3 Tests) on an absolutely bone-dry pitch at Colombo is testament to that.
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Well' date=' Vaas isn't exactly the kind of bowler who needs favourable conditions to bowl at his best. His 14 wicket haul vs the West Indies (the series in which Lara scored 700 runs in 3 Tests) on an absolutely bone-dry pitch at Colombo is testament to that.[/quote'] That performance notwithstanding, from what you have have seen of him, don't you think WPUJC loses his sting after the ball loses it's shine or the conditions improve? Srinath was much more capable than Vaas at getting wickets on the deadest of tracks.
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Vaas is easily a better bowler than Srinath. The guy has far better control, isnt a one-ball man ( sri = inswing. sucked badly at anything else) and is a far more wily customer than Srinath is, who usually bowled without a brain. Yes, Srinath was faster, but Vaas is categorically better IMO. I find the claim that Srinath could do everything Vaas could to be laughable- Vaas has a very good inswinger and outswinger, he can bend the ball back into the rightie ( Sri could never do that to a leftie because it'd be like bowling a superb outswinger to a rightie- which was not in his repertoire at any decent level), is far more consistent a bowler ( Vaas doesnt spray it around like Sri did every other over) and he has a much better slower ball. Vaas also played on wickets harder for a pacer to bowl on, as SL wickets are softer with less bounce & carry than Indian pitches- SL wickets are in essence true spinner wickets (while indian 'spinner wickets are mostly crumbling wickets, not necessarily the classic slow, low bounce and square turners of SL). I'd take Vaas 10 times outta 10 over Srinath, who was a wilder bowler and mentally was a putty- Vaas is pretty tough mentally and i respect that far more than a bowler like Sri.

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That performance notwithstanding' date=' from what you have have seen of him, don't you think WPUJC loses his sting after the ball loses it's shine or the conditions improve? Srinath was much more capable than Vaas at getting wickets on the deadest of tracks.[/quote'] Srinath was definitely a better bowler on dead subcontinental pitches. However Vaas wasn't exactly harmless on similar surfaces either. He was a bowler who relied on movement through the air (conventional swing) and accuracy outside off-stump. As a result, he never needed favourable conditions to succeed. Admittedly, my impressions are based on what i have seen of him in ODIs - against India at Sharjah, in SL, in England, in India. I haven't seen too much of him in Test cricket, other than a few series he played vs IND
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Vaas is easily a better bowler than Srinath. The guy has far better control, isnt a one-ball man ( sri = inswing. sucked badly at anything else) and is a far more wily customer than Srinath is, who usually bowled without a brain. Yes, Srinath was faster, but Vaas is categorically better IMO.
I wouldn't classify Srinath as a one man bowler because , he had the ability to straighten the ball instead of the conventional outswinger just like Ambrose. Plus you should not discount the fact that Srinath had a vicious bouncer which have felled the likes of Pringle or Ponting to name a few.BTW , he did develop the out swinger later in his career. While I can agree on the mental makeup with the fact that Vaas being stronger of the two , I would bet that most posters would feel that Srinath was more talented of the two.
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Plus you should not discount the fact that Srinath had a vicious bouncer which have felled the likes of Pringle or Ponting to name a few.
hahaha...who was that Lankan wicket-keeper who got bloodied by Srinath's bouncer ? Lanka Silva or something ? That was one hell of a ball. On a terrible pitch though ! He also knocked Jayasuriya on the head in that 900 match.
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hahaha...who was that Lankan wicket-keeper who got bloodied by Srinath's bouncer ? Lanka Silva or something ? That was one hell of a ball. On a terrible pitch though ! He also knocked Jayasuriya on the head in that 900 match.
Did you mean Ashley De Silva. I remember him playing for lanka
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