Javagal Srinath: One in a billion

[express bowling]

Frankly speaking , as a cricket fan, I have enjoy and appreciated Malinga's bowling in LOIs. I have enjoyed the bowling of all the West Indian quicks as well as the 2 Ws. It is immaterial what speeds they specifically bowled at. Most of them had the basic necessary speed as did Srinath. That is all that matters as far as speed goes.

[express bowling]

That I can agree with. But on the thread issue, both looked MUCH quicker than Srinath.

I am not saying this as a biased Indian fan but as a fast bowling fan. I have followed Srinath's career almost over by over. Your above statement is not correct. At his prime, Srinath was not discernably slower than any of his contemporaries. Srinath's problem was his body language ... which dented his reputation.

[sweetaskandy]

Disagree re: nature of speed - obviously as an asset extra speed is welcome. The same skill sets delivered at 135k are much easier to handle than if delivered at 150k. Yes control and bowling IQ are key, but to combine those with speed is always better then to have them without the extra speed. That is why Ambrose is better then McGrath for instance.

[express bowling]

Speed is a huge asset in pace bowling. What I meant was that all the bowlers under discussion had the necessary speed and / or bounce to rattle batsmen ... when they were in their prime. I don't think lack of speed was an issue with either Srinath or Malinga when they were in their prime.

[Ankur Upadhyay]

The problem you have is that the evidence exists for Lasith. He clocked 150+ loads of times in tests and ODIs with a highest of 155k. He was not Lee/Akhtar in that he did not bowl 150 every ball - but he was in the next set - he bowled 150 with frequency. Plz check the speed in the top right. Its 152k - this is a test.

He was quicker in ODIs as all bowlers tend to be.

Even Ishant has bowled at 150kph on multiple occasions... That doesn't make him a 150 kph bowler... Malinga was at max a 140-145 kph bowler...

[Crookbond]

Guys believe me Srinath was out and out fast bowler during 92-97 probably fastest in the world' date=' [b']as for his average and wickets he would have taken more wickets if he had bowled touch fuller during those time, he was more of a bang the ball hard kind of bowler also there are other factors like slip fielding and corrupt captain at that time also play bigger role in selecting support bowlers for Srinath in those times, in those days Azhar and Co would select players from South, we used to get really frustrated for not selecting Salil Ankola, Atul Wasan, Prashant Vaidya etc... these were not top class but was much better then Doda Ganesh, Abey Kuruvila, V Prasad. Salil Ankola was equally quicker.

Finally, someone mentions this! In the later part of his years when Srinath was more effective, he used to bowl full.

[coffee_rules]

Finally' date=' someone mentions this! In the later part of his years when Srinath was more effective, he used to bowl full.[/quote'] In the initial years he would bowl 2nd change after Kapil and Manoj. He started having the new ball after 1994 and showed he was more effective. He has always complained he didn't have a good coach and seniors wouldn't help him direct his talent. Coming from domestic coaches, fast bowlers from India in the 90s had to develop on their own. At least he had MRF Pace foundation. Kapil Dev had none, probably he couldn't communicate his talent to others like Imran did (including bottle cap business).

[AmreekanDesi]

I don't like this rewriting of history. He was a great bowler for us but he was never an express bowler, let alone 'one of the fastest.' He was just a fast bowler for Indian standards. He was a 85mph bowler on his best days. Doesn't compare to the pace of Lee, Akhtar, Donald, Ambrose etc.

[AmreekanDesi]

Also McGrath being a fast bowler. The guy made a career out of line and length at medium pace. Fact is that there were speedguns in both 99 WC and 03 WC and I distinctly remember both and Srinath did not go anywhere near the speeds mentioned here anyone in doubt can attest to this on youtube highlights Umesh and Aaro nare our Fastest ever!

[AmreekanDesi]

Though on second thoughts, writer meant 'one in a billion' more literally LOL

[sweetaskandy]

^ AD should be applauded for his honesty.

[CG]

I don't like this rewriting of history. He was a great bowler for us but he was never an express bowler, let alone 'one of the fastest.' He was just a fast bowler for Indian standards. He was a 85mph bowler on his best days. Doesn't compare to the pace of Lee, Akhtar, Donald, Ambrose etc.

In icc wc 2003 he was clocking above 87mph at end of career.so at his best he would have been quicker but he was not genuine quick.

[rkt.india]

His quickest in 2003 wc was 143.

[rkt.india]

Also McGrath being a fast bowler. The guy made a career out of line and length at medium pace. Fact is that there were speedguns in both 99 WC and 03 WC and I distinctly remember both and Srinath did not go anywhere near the speeds mentioned here anyone in doubt can attest to this on youtube highlights Umesh and Aaro nare our Fastest ever!

Even in 2003 at the end of his career, he clocked up to 143.

[amiret]

It was November 23' date=' 1996 when [b']Javagal Srinath ripped the heart out of the visiting South African batting line-up, taking six for 21 in the first Test. It was a world-class display of express pace and this fact was not lost on the then Indian captain Sachin Tendulkar who said: "It was one of the greatest exhibitions of fast bowling I have seen from an Indian for a long time."

Yes it was a fantastic display by Srinath in the 1st test at Ahmedabad where due to the dusty nature of the pitch and outfield the ball was reversing a lot in the 2nd innings . It helped us bowl out SA for 105 (target 170 ) in the 2nd innings. There were stories that the umpiring in the match and series left Hansie Cronje extremely displeased and he wanted payback . When India toured SA just one month later during the Durban test where India was bowled out for 100 & 66 , there was a banner in the crowd which read "Next time come back with Bansal ", a reference to SK Bansal's umpiring in the Ahmedabad test.

[Crookbond]

^ The decision to bowl Srinath instead of Kumble and spinners on the dusty pitch was the strategy of the captain aka Sachin Tendulkar. He felt that the ball would reverse due to the outfield and pitch. The South Africans were expecting a spinning attack but the pace batter threw them off. Hansie Cronje admitted that at the end of the Test match.

[amiret]

^ The decision to bowl Srinath instead of Kumble and spinners on the dusty pitch was the strategy of the captain aka Sachin Tendulkar.

It was not a difficult decision since Srinath took the first 2 wkts with 0 on the board.

[express bowling]

I don't like this rewriting of history. He was a great bowler for us but he was never an express bowler, let alone 'one of the fastest.' He was just a fast bowler for Indian standards. He was a 85mph bowler on his best days. Doesn't compare to the pace of Lee, Akhtar, Donald, Ambrose etc.

A few points -- 1) Speed guns were regularly used from the 1999 world cup. By that time , Srinath was past his prime. He had a major injury to his right shoulder rotator cuff in 1997. After that, he lost a lot of pace. The speed gun readings of 135 to 142 k were not his peak speed by some margin. Even then, he clocked upto 93 mph or 150 kph in the 1999 world cup and was adjudged the second fastest after Shoaib. 2) Don't you think that it is an illogical assumption to think that a pacer who bowled 135 to 142 k during his last 4 years ... after losing a lot of pace .... should still be classified as a 85 mph or 137 kph bowler in his prime ? 3) You should compare speed readings of other quick pacers of similar age to Srinath .... from 1999. Like Donald, Waqar, Wasim, Ambrose, Walsh. None of them could bowl in the 140s after 1999. Many of them mainly bowled 130 to 137 k ... like Walsh and Akram. It is not logical to compare the speeds of the then younger guys. Old Srinath was one of the quickest among the other quick older pacers of his era. That is the only factual evidence we have. 4) Srinath was never an express pacer .....meaning bowling 145 k+ consistently with many 150 k or more deliveries.....nobody has claimed him to be so. But he was most probably fast....meaning consistently 140 k or more ...during his prime years. The above mentioned facts as well as visual evidence would suggest that. Express spells were rare ones .He had injured multiple batters too. But how many express pacers with more than 150 test wickets have the world seen really. Lee, Shoaib, Thomson, Holding. Srinath was not in the same pace league as those 4. 5) That Srinath was quicker than Donald in the 1996 tour of South Africa had been mentioned in many articles. That he was adjudged the second quickest pacer in 1999 world cup is well known. Various posters have mentioned this only. Your claim is not backed by facts.

[Marut]

Srinath had pace, but did not have the body language of a pace bowler. If he had swagger in addition to his pace, he would have been one of the greatest pace bowlers of his era. He also had a tendency to bowl short, with a fuller length he would have taken many more wickets.

[Marut]

I remember some commentators in the 90 saying this about Srinath - Srinath was fast through the air, but his deliveries usually lost pace upon hitting the deck, compared to express pace bowlers of his era.