Javagal Srinath was the first Indian fast bowler since Kapil Dev to carry an attack on his own for a decade. Tall, wiry and genuinely quick in his early years, he took 236 Test wickets and 315 in one-day internationals, played in four World Cups, and then became one of the most experienced match referees in the international game.
Name: Javagal Srinath | Born: 31 August 1969, Mysore (now Mysuru), Karnataka | Sport: Cricket | Position: Right-arm fast bowler
Mysore and a first-class hat-trick
Srinath studied instrumentation engineering at Sri Jayachamarajendra College of Engineering in Mysore while he was learning his cricket. He was not a product of a famous school or club, and he was spotted largely because of his pace. On his first-class debut for Karnataka, against Hyderabad in the 1989-90 season, he took a hat-trick in the first innings. That was enough to get him noticed by the national selectors within two years.
Thrown in at the deep end
His one-day debut came against Pakistan in Sharjah on 18 October 1991, and a few weeks later he played his first Test, against Australia at Brisbane on 29 November 1991. It was a hard introduction: a long tour of Australia followed by the 1992 World Cup. Kapil Dev was near the end of his career and Manoj Prabhakar relied on swing, so Srinath was asked to provide raw speed on pitches that rewarded it. He did, and from the mid-1990s he was India’s main strike bowler.
Six for 21 at Ahmedabad
Srinath’s best day in Test cricket came at home, in the first Test against South Africa at Ahmedabad in November 1996. South Africa needed 170 to win on a pitch that had started to misbehave. Srinath took six for 21, they were bowled out for 105, and India won by 64 runs. It showed something that is easy to forget about him: on dry Indian pitches, where fast bowlers were usually used for a few overs to take the shine off, he could still win matches with reverse swing and cut.
His career-best Test figures, eight for 86, came against Pakistan in 1999, and he finished with ten five-wicket hauls in 67 Tests.
Injury and reinvention
A shoulder injury in the late 1990s needed surgery and cost him pace. Srinath came back as a different bowler, a little slower but more skilful, using the seam, the slower ball and changes of angle. He was still India’s most reliable one-day bowler and he formed new-ball partnerships with Venkatesh Prasad and, later, with a young Zaheer Khan and Ashish Nehra.
A last World Cup
Srinath had planned to retire after the 1999 World Cup, but Sourav Ganguly persuaded him to keep playing. The decision was justified at the 2003 World Cup in South Africa, where India’s pace attack bowled them to the final. He played his last one-day international in that final against Australia, on 23 March 2003. His 44 wickets across four World Cups, in 1992, 1996, 1999 and 2003, were an Indian record for many years.
His one-day figures read 229 matches, 315 wickets at 28.08 and a best of five for 23. In Tests he took 236 wickets at 30.49, the second-highest total by an Indian fast bowler when he retired, behind only Kapil Dev.
A second career in officiating
The ICC selected Srinath as a match referee in 2006, and he officiated at the 2007 World Cup. He went on to become a long-serving member of the ICC’s elite panel of referees and has overseen hundreds of international matches, including well over 250 one-day internationals. In 2010 he and Anil Kumble stood together in the Karnataka State Cricket Association elections, won, and Srinath served as the association’s secretary.
Career record and honours
- Tests: 67 matches, 236 wickets, average 30.49, 10 five-wicket hauls, best figures 8 for 86
- One-day internationals: 229 matches, 315 wickets, average 28.08, best figures 5 for 23
- Hat-trick on first-class debut for Karnataka against Hyderabad
- 6 for 21 to win the Ahmedabad Test against South Africa, 1996
- Played four World Cups (1992, 1996, 1999, 2003), taking 44 wickets; runner-up in 2003
- Arjuna Award winner
- ICC match referee since 2006
- Secretary of the Karnataka State Cricket Association
