Srinath - the gentle executioner

He is not one of the more glamorous boys in the side. That tag would seem to belong to the batsmen - Sachin Tendulkar, Saurav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid. Even among the bowlers, Anil Kumble, on the reputation of being India's main strike spin bowler of the 90s and more recently for his ten wicket haul against Pakistan at New Delhi in February seems to have the spotlight firmly turned on him.

But this has not stopped Javagal Srinath from doing what he likes doing best. Bowling fast and taking wickets. Now and then he becomes the most talked about cricketer in the land. Like last week when he put the glamorous batsmen into the shade to bag the man of the match award in the Mohali Test for his splendid first innings spell of six for 45 which helped bring India back into a game they already seemed to have lost after the much touted about batting line up crumbled for 83. Or like now, when he has joined the select few who hae taken over 150 wickets in Test cricket.

But then quiet efficiency has always been Srinath's trademark ever since he made his debut in Australia in 1991-92. Sure, he has many of the attributes that a good fast bowler must have - a strong physique, a never say die atttitude, real pace, adroit use of the bouncer and yorker. But he has never possessed an overtly aggressive outlook that has been the hallmark of a Trueman or a Lillee. No scowl, no gnashing of teeth. He has always had this image of a gentleman fast bowler. At one time he was even a vegeterian, a rare breed among fast bowlers.

Even on his maiden tour, eight years ago, he caught the eye with his speed. But he remained under Kapil Dev's shadow as the great man surged towards his 400 wicket mark in Tests and then finally the world record. It was only after Kapil's retirement that Srinath became the spearhead of the Indian attack and along with Kumble, has been one of the two main strike bowlers of the decade. Quite often, he has put his Karnataka teammate into the shade, particularly with his match winning spells against South Africa.

Like most fast bowlers, Srinath's career has been interrupted by injury. Probably this has come about because he has been overbowled being the one quality pace bowler in the country. Indeed, he can have genuinely fast spells, fit to be compared with any of the West Indians or even Allan Donald, with whom he was compared with during his successful season with Gloucestershire a few years ago. It was hoped that with the advent of bowlers like Venkatesh Prasad, Ajit Agarkar and Debashish Mohanty some of the load would be taken off Srinath's tall and broad shouldered frame. But still when it comes to making the initial breakthrough at the top of the batting, terminating a troublesome stand in the middle or wrapping up the tail in typical fast bowler fashion, the team still has to depend on Srinath.

The recent rest wherein he missed a few one day tournaments does seem to have done him a world of good. His batteries recharged, Srinath is now a joy to behold as, like any of the great fast bowlers, he gives the indication that a wicket is imminent when the ball is in his hand. At 30, Srinath is at the peak of his powers. Surely wicket No 200 is not far away.