One of India’s finest fast bowlers, Javagal Srinath, turns 47 on Wednesday. The lanky bowler was a force to reckon with on the pitch. He is the only Indian fast bowler to feature in four World Cups and has bagged 44 wickets in the competition. As of today, Srinath is an International Cricket Council match referee.
The Karnataka-born lad made his Test debut against Australia in 1991 and went on to feature in 67 Tests. His One-Day International debut was against arch rivals Pakistan, also in 1991. He went to bag 315 wickets in ODIs, the most by an Indian fast bowler. In Tests, he has taken 236 wickets and was India’s leading bowler for more than a decade. He retired after the 2003 World Cup after taking 16 wickets in that particular edition, which also saw India reach the final.
Srinath loved bowling against South Africa and was always at the forefront of a Proteas batting collapse. One such match was the first Test of South Africa’s tour on India in 1996 in Ahmedabad. It was the Test debut of VVS Laxman and India were being led by Sachin Tendulkar.
India won the toss and chose to bat first. They were bundled out for 223 with Allan Donald creating havoc as usual, bagging four wickets to dismantle the Indian innings. In return, South Africa were bowled out for 244, with Sunil Joshi scalping four wickets. Srinath, Anil Kumble and Narendra Hirwani took two wickets each to give India a chance to beat South Africa. In the second innings, another batting collapse ensured that South Africa did not have a huge target to chase down. India were all out for 190 and South Africa needed 170 to win.
And then, Srinath produced one of his most devastating spells in which he bagged six wickets for just 21 runs to hand India a 64-run win at Motera cricket stadium.
