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Should Javagal Srinath be dropped for the Sri Lankan tour?
The Offside
It's high time Javagal Srinath is shown the door. Going by his sloppy
performance in the two Tests in Zimbabwe, there can be no excuse to retain
the ageing veteran in the team. Of the five bowlers used in the series,
Srinath was fourth in the averages, ahead only of Ajit Agarkar. The team looked up to him to
deliver as the pace spearhead but instead it was left to rookie Ashish
Nehra to shoulder the burden. Srinath was particularly ineffective in the
Zimbabwe first innings at Harare, bowling short and spraying the ball on either side of
the wicket when India desperately sought to prevent their opponents from taking a first innings lead.
If after a decade of top flight cricket, Srinath still isn't able to
command the basics like line and length, it speaks very poorly for the man
who claims the mantle of India's No.1 quick bowler. Srinath never had
an outswinger and even the inswinger, his stock ball for donkey's years,
seems to be malfunctioning of late. Certainly there is nothing like the
late movement in the air achieved by Nehra or even Agarkar, nor does he
have the usual stocks-in-trade like a yorker or slower ball.
Srinath's speed too has dropped several notches and he appears to living
purely on past reputation. Indeed it looks like he's taking his place for
granted. The circumstances are propitious to eject Srinath from the team
since after a long time India have a promising bunch of youngsters to take
custody of the new ball. For the Tests, Nehra, Zaheer Khan and possibly
Rakesh Patel would make a trio of keen, energetic and lively speedsters.
And then again if Srinath is dropped, it might be just the kick in the
backside he needs to rediscover the appetite for hustling out opposing
batsmen which he once had in droves but is now at its lowest ebb.
The Evidence:
The Onside
Javagal Srinath may have been off colour during the series in Zimbabwe but
that is hardly reason enough to believe that he is washed up. After all he
did collect seven wickets from two Tests even if they came at the slightly
expensive price of 35 runs apiece. In any case, one below par series is
not sufficient evidence to condemn a bowler to oblivion.
Looking back on the 2000/01 season, Srinath took 17 wickets in four Tests at
24.89 including a nine wicket haul that was instrumental in sealing
victory against Zimbabwe in Delhi last November, a performance that
won him the Man of the Match award. The Tests in Zimbabwe
constituted his first full series since recovering from a broken finger, so he
was still short of adequate match practice and the rustiness showed, but
India's next tour should see him regaining his rhythm of old.
Consider also that our next trip will be to Sri Lanka in July which is
notorious for being the graveyard of Indian bowlers in the past. Srinath
hasn't played too often in Sri Lanka but his record is fairly creditable;
on his only tour in 1993/94, he took three wickets in India's Test win at
Colombo at 26 runs apiece. Four years later, the Indian bowlers
were plundered for 1699 runs in return for a measly 23 wickets. Srinath
missed that tour as also the next one when Ashish Nehra made his debut in
the Asian Test Championship.
Nehra took a solitary wicket in 28 overs of hard toil and was promptly
jettisoned for more than two years. In such torrid conditions for seam
bowlers, blooding a youngster like Rakesh Patel could well serve to damage
his confidence beyond repair. The new kids on the block are not quite ready
to take up greater responsibility and the presence of an experienced hand
like Srinath is essential to smoothly manage the transition to the next
generation of quick bowlers.
The Evidence:
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