On a weekend that cricket has seen two high-profile deaths, one Test match and two one-day internationals, a potential headline has been reduced to a mere footnote. Less than ten days after playing for India in a losing cause in Jamaica, Javagal Srinath, the second most successful, arguably the second best, fast bowler, in Indian history, has decided to retire from Test cricket. For ten years he shouldered a large responsibility, albeit reluctantly on occasion, and has turned out memorable performances. Who can forget his six for 21 on the Ahmedabad dustbowl against South Africa in 1996, when he snatched victory from the jaws of what had seemed like an inevitable defeat when they set out to chase 170. Or his 13 wickets against Pakistan at Calcutta, which should have really been made to count for a win by the batsmen. Or the number of times he alone has laboured in to give teeth to the bowling attack.

Srinath's has been a worthy contribution. His retirement, at 32, will be described by many as a bolt out of the blue. Not so to closer observers. His steady exhaustion was evident. When he, half in jest, asked a journalist during the recent West Indies Test series, why he was always referred to as an "ageing warhorse", you could almost smell the irony in his breath. You could tell it was getting harder and harder for Srinath to motivate himself for the bigger challenges.

Srinath always gave the feeling that he could have done more. A man who could bowl consistently quick (in his younger days at least), generate pronounced, sometimes devastating, movement into the right-hander, and extract disconcerting bounce on most pitches, should have ended with a Test average better than 30.46. But Srinath often brooded when he should have bristled, and he always gave the impression that disappointment came more naturally to him than fire. That, and a serious deficiency in stamina, were the difference between Srinath being world class, which he was, and a world beater, which he fell well short of.

But Srinath's best days were here. He had peaked during the tour to South Africa in November last year, where he averaged 19.76 with the ball. He seemed to have, at long last, understood the benefits of a fuller length and the value of such accessories as the leg-cutter, the yorker and the slower ball. To penetration, he added wile.

Yet, he remained incapable of sustaining hostility over more than two Tests, and within the space of a Test, over more than a session. That is why his retirement will not hurt Indian cricket as much as believed. Yes, he could have played in England this summer, where he was a handful in 1996, and would have undoubtedly been again now. Yes, he will leave behind a handful of inexperience, when he could have been nurturing it. But when a man doesn't appear willing, it is time to leave. As Ravi Shastri, another relatively early retiree, pointed out, Srinath best knows his own mind and body.

Srinath has now actually done a complete flip-flop. Since the last two years, he had boycotted one-dayers almost entirely to preserve himself for Test cricket. Now, with an eye on the World Cup next March, he has made himself available only for one-day selection. Truth be told, he shouldn't be given a place. His prolonged absence from the one-day team means that a host of youngsters have been identified, out of which Zaheer Khan and Ajit Agarkar have emerged as prime contenders. Srinath doesn't have the agility in the field, nor the lower-order hitting (which he once seemed so capable of) nor the attitude of the sharp, new-look Indian limited-overs side. India must not look back to Srinath now, unless he works so hard on his fitness and proves so irresistible in whatever opportunities come his way, that he cannot be ignored.

These may seem like harsh words for such a key member, arguably third only to Sachin Tendulkar and Anil Kumble in the 90s. Such is life. Srinath's contribution should not, and cannot, be devalued. In a period that India didn't ever dominate, they would have struggled far more without Srinath. Above all, Indians could say they possessed a fast bowler, and there was pride in that. But his retirement has come, more or less, at the right time. Perhaps one series too early.

Rahul Bhattacharya is a staff writer of Wisden.com India.

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