Javagal Srinath - the seasoned warhorse of Indian fast bowling

Science & sports go together now. Sports medicine, as a separate subject and line of treatment ensures that sportspersons across the globe are looked after well and the focus is on maintaining peak fitness while avoiding injuries. Though injuries are generally inevitable if a sporting career is prolonged, doctors and physiotherapists provide ample guidance and support leading to faster recoveries. A few injuries considered as career threating ones two decades back no longer remain so. During such difficult times when knowledge about science of sport was scanty and difficult to attain, an express Indian fast bowler went to South Africa for shoulder treatment. Widely believed to have clocked 156-157 km/hr speeds, his knowledge, thought process and application of science ( coming from an engineering background must have helped) opened the door for foreign physios like Andrew Leipus and John Gloster to Indian cricket. Thereafter steadily, the Indian cricket team peaked.

The respect for Javagal Srinath outside India was immense, especially in South Africa where some even remarked that they saw an Indian Fast Bowler for the first time. In 2003, Gauteng even sought his services for a fast bowlers conditioning camp and Srinath played for them the same year. With a wealth of experience, Srinath guided the Indian fast bowlers post 2000. Zaheer Khan, Ajit Agarkar, Ashish Nehra to name a few, benefitted under Srinath and even blossomed. He came out of retirement to spearhead the bowling attack in the 2003 world cup and ended with 16 wickets at an economy of a shade above 4 runs an over. He demolished the Sri Lanka top order single handedly and his impeccable line &length combined with wonderful rhythm never allowed any opposition to get onto fliers - the final excluded. He was beating the edge of the English batsmen countless times in his opening spell which was overshadowed by Ashish Nehra's six wicket haul.

His full time career must have begun late by 2 years as India never played more than two fast bowlers at home. Still the only Indian fast bowler with more than 300 one day wickets, his spells against South Africa in 1996 at Ahmedabad (6-21) and Pakistan at Calcutta ( 13 wickets in the match) are non erasable memories. After Kapil Dev, the only fast bowler with such a prolonged career was Srinath followed by Zaheer Khan. With a plethora of options for fast bowling at its disposal, the Indian fast bowling department has progressed leaps and bounds but there were times when Srinath had to toil alone and while bowling at such speeds injured his shoulder. His decision to get treated at South Africa and then make a come back to lead the attack benefitted the subsequent generations of fast bowlers in India.

While 236 test and 315 ODI wickets may not fully reveal the impact he had, Javagal Srinath took Indian fast bowling to new heights almost solely on his own. He is a renowned match referee now and is widely respected. But the pertinent question remains - did Indian cricket offer him the respect he deserves?