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Should Javagal Srinath be dropped for the Sri Lankan tour?

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Should Javagal Srinath be dropped for the Sri Lankan tour?
- The Appeal

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:

Archive


Zimbabwe
Results & Scores
West Indies won by 16 runs
West Indies 290/6 (50 ov)
India 274/8 (50 ov)
[Scorecard]



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