Javagal Srinath (Former Indian cricketer): Age, Wife, Bowling Speed, Stats, Wickets

Arguably India’s quickest bowler ever, Javagal Srinath was born in Hassan district of Karnataka on 31st August, 1969. From the very early age, his ambitions were very clear. He wanted to become a professional cricketer and represent India at the international level. Although he didn’t give up on his education as well and completed a degree in instrumentation engineering from JSS Science and Technology University in Mysore.

Javagal Srinath made his first-class debut in the season of 1989-90 for Karnataka. He straight away caught the eye of state selector Gundappa Viswanath with his extra zip – a commodity which was very rare in Indian fast bowlers historically. He picked up a hat-trick in the very first innings of his first-class career against Hyderabad. Javagal Srinath ended up picking 25 scalps in his first season for Karnataka. But his second season was even more impressive. Following year, Karnataka was playing against Maharashtra in a Ranji trophy tie at Nehru Stadium, Pune. After posting 638 on a batting pitch, Karnataka was struggling in the field to get a result out of the match. From nowhere, Javagal Srinath produced a reverse-swing masterclass to take 7 for 93 and dismissed the home team for 311 runs.

It was only a matter of time before Javagal Srinath made his ODI debut during the Wills cup at Sharjah in the year 1991. He was selected for the tour of Australia in 1991-92 and received his India cap at the Gabba. He took 3 wickets on debut and looked a long term prospect for India. But India was well served with the great Kapil Dev and Manoj Prabhakar during Srinath’s initial years on the international stage. As a result, he had to wait on the sidelines for most of the times.

Only after the retirement of Kapil Dev in 1994, Javagal Srinath played his first home test match against West Indies. He took a five wicket haul and contributed with the bat also to earn ‘Man of the Match’ award in an Indian victory. Moving on to 1996 when he was selected for his second world cup appearance and along with Venkatesh Prasad, he led the Indian attack. During the same year, India started using him as a pinch-hitter in limited overs cricket. He was involved in a match winning partnership with Anil Kumble to take India home against Australia in a Titan Cup game in 1996.

In 1999 during the Asian test championship match against Pakistan, Javagal Srinath delivered the knock-out punch at Eden Gardens. He took his career best 8/86 in the second innings and also recorded his only ten wickets haul in the match but India ended up losing the match. After the emergence of young fast bowlers in 2000s, Srinath retained his spot under the new leadership of Sourav Ganguly. He was mainly used for ODIs and overseas tests.

Javagal Srinath was intending to end his career after the home series against West Indies but Sourav Ganguly requested him to play until 2003 world cup in South Africa. He obliged and produced a record performance in New Zealand tour leading into the show-piece event. He took 18 wickets in the series which is a record for India in a bilateral series. He continued his form in the world cup also and announced his retirement after the conclusion of the event.

Javagal Srinath is a familiar face at the international matches now with his role as an ICC match referee. He was elected by ICC in 2006 and Srinath is one of the most respected officials in the circuit currently. He also contested KSCA elections, in 2010 along with his former teammate Anil Kumble, which they ended up winning by a comfortable margin.

Name: Javagal Srinath

Nickname: The Mysore Express

Role: Right-arm fast-bowler

Physical Appearance

Javagal Srinath Height: 6’ 3” (191 cm)

Weight: 78 Kg

Eye Colour: Black

Hair Colour: Black

Tattoo: NA

Personal Life

Date of Birth: 31^st August, 1969

Javagal Srinath Age (as on June 2020): 50 Years

Birth Place: Hassan, India

Zodiac sign: Virgo

Nationality: Indian

School: Marimallappa High School, Mysore

College: JSS Science and Technology University, Mysore

Educational Qualifications: Engineer

Signature:

Family

Father: JK Chandrashekar

Mother: Bhagyalakshmi

Sisters: Srilakshmi & Srilatha

Brother:  Javagal Srinivas

Coach: NA

Religion: Hindu

Address: Bengaluru, Karnataka, India

Net Worth: NA

Cricket Career

International Debut

Test: 29^th November, 1991 Vs Australia at The Gabba

ODI: 18^th October, 1991 Vs Pakistan at Sharjah

T20I: Not played

Jersey Number: 7

Major Teams: India, Karnataka, Gloucestershire, Leicestershire

Javagal Srinath Wickets, stats and records

• Javagal Srinath has taken the highest number of wickets at the world cups by an Indian bowler.
• He is the leading Indian fast bowler in terms of a number of wickets taken in ODI cricket and 2^nd overall after Anil Kumble.
• He is 2^nd Indian bowler to take 300 ODI wickets.
• Javagal Srinath is the third-highest wicket-taker in test matches for India in fast bowlers’ list just after Kapil Dev and Zaheer Khan.
• He has made the most world cup appearances for India in terms of fast bowlers. He participated in 1992, 1996, 1999 and 2003 editions.

Javagal Srinath Bowling Speed

According to former Zimbabwe international Alistair Campbell, Javagal Srinath was the quickest bowler he had faced in his career. “I have played against the likes of Allan Donald and Waqar Younis but the extra bounce which Javagal Srinath used to get with his pace was something else”, Alistair Campbell said in an interview. It is notable that Srinath clocked a delivery at 157 km per hour during a tour match against Zimbabwe in 1997.

Preferences

Hobbies: Jogging, Travelling

Favourite Cricketers:  Sachin Tendulkar

Favourite Sportspersons: NA

Favourite Food: South Indian Food

Favourite Actors: NA

Favourite Place: Australia

Javagal Srinath Wife & Children

Marital Status: Married

Girlfriend: None

Javagal Srinath Wife: Madhavi Patravali (M-2008)

Javagal Srinath Ex-wife: Jyothsna (M-1999)

Marriage Date: NA

Children: NA

Javagal Srinath Arjuna Award and other recognitions

• Javagal Srinath won the prestigious ‘Arjuna Award‘ in the year 1999.

Lesser Known Facts

• When Javagal Srinath announced his retirement in 2003, he told that his career was all but over in 1997 when he was suffering from rotator-cuff injury.
• Courtney Walsh recommended the name of Javagal Srinath when the former was injured and Gloucestershire was looking for a replacement.
• Javagal Srinath advised his teammate Sadagoppan Ramesh not to take a catch on his bowling in a bid to give Anil Kumble the opportunity to pursue 10 wickets in an innings against Pakistan.