It is not often that Javagal Srinath wins the man of the match award -- before this date, he had just four in ODIs, with this being his first outside the sub-continent.
So, when his 7th four-wicket haul outside Asia spearheaded a performance that saw Lanka bundled out inside 23 overs and earned him a Man of the Match ahead of Sachin Tendulkar, he had to reluctantly face the media.
He made it a memorable one by insisting that the credit belonged to the batsmen, who in his opinion had put up a defensible total. Srinath then dedicated his performance to his team-mates and to his friend Hemu, in Mysore, who suffered a heart-attack and passed away recently.
The 34-year old Srinath, who throughout this tournament has been outstanding with the new ball for India, added that he is undecided about his future and would reconsider his options after the World Cup.
Skipper Ganguly immediately butted in to say that there was no question of Srinath being allowed to retire for a while longer, while a clearly amused Srinath maintained his stand.
Last June, the veteran pace bowler had announced his retirement from Tests and maintained that he wanted to save himself for the shorter version of the game. Clearly, though at the time he was criticised for "picking and choosing" what he would play -- the national selectors in fact "punished" him by leaving him out of the squad for the NatWest Trophy in England -- Srinath has vindicated his decision, through his performance here.
Ironically, Srinath may not have made the cut here, but for Ashish Nehra injuring his finger before the final of the ICC Champions' Trophy in Colombo last September. At that point, the team management headed by Ganguly insisted that the selectors bring Srinath into the side. Ganguly -- who has during his tenure as captain gone contrary to the selectors when he thought it was in the team's best interests -- then pre-empted them by calling up Srinath, at the time bowling brilliantly for Leicester in the England county circuit, and asked him to take the first flight to Colombo.
The Indian selection panel had by then been reshuffled following the board elections in September, and Ganguly talked the new committee, headed by Karnataka's Brijesh Patel, into having Srinath drafted into the squad.
At the press conference today, Srinath said that this was India's best fast bowling combination ever.
"Zaheer Khan and Ashish Nehra have more pace than me, and it is very good for Indian cricket that three pace bowlers have cemented their place in the side," he said.
© 2024 Rediff.com -