Javagal Srinath was the spearhead of India’s fast bowling after Kapil Dev retired from the game. He retired as the second Indian pace bowler (after Dev) to take 200 Test wickets. Also, he is still the second-highest wicket-taker for India in ODIs. Srinath was at the peak during his era. Parthiv Patel, who has played a couple of games with the pacer, shares that it was difficult to keep to Srinath.
Parthiv Patel made the debut for India in 2002 against England, becoming the youngster wicket-keeper in the Tests. He has the experience of keeping the wickets to India’s great bowlers, but he has kept Srinath above all. He said that keeping to Srinath and Zaheer Khan was a difficult challenge for him.
“Zaheer Khan and Javagal Srinath were playing, so that was a big challenge too. There isn’t much of bounce and the ball comes at a good pace,” Parthiv told Rediff.com.
“You have to stand slightly closer to the stumps than you stand when playing outside India. So that was something I learned, as to where to stand behind the stumps when the ball is reverse swinging,” Parthiv Patel added.
Parthiv Patel heaps praise on Javagal Srinath:
Moreover, Parthiv even went to compare Srinath to Australia’s greatest pacer Glenn McGrath. He heaped praise on former Indian pacer’s pace and bounce.
“People talk about Glenn McGrath, but the first time I kept against Sribhai he was right there and there about all the time and with good pace and bounce,” said Parthiv.
Notably, Parthiv Patel kept wickets for India in Srinath’s last Test match which was against the West Indies at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata in October 2002. The southpaw said that even in former pacer’s last Test match, he was bowling at an excellent pace.
Javagal Srinath represented India in 67 Tests and 229 ODIs picking up 236 and 315 wickets respectively. He retired from the game of cricket after playing the World Cup 2003 in South Africa. After retirement, he is still connected with the game as an ICC match referee.