Former India pacer Javagal Srinath said he could've prolonged his stint at the international level by at least another year, "but my knees made it difficult" to continue and he decided to retire at the age of 33.
Srinath, who had a significant career playing 67 Tests and 229 ODIs for India, explained how injuries and wish to see youngsters like Zaheer Khan and Ashish Nehra get their due saw him leave the scene after 2003 World Cup during Star Sports 1 Kannada's new show 'Diggajara Danthakathe'.
"My hands and knees had gone down. At that time, Zaheer and Ashish were there. When I used to play, only one of them used to get a chance," said the man, who is now an ICC match referee.
"I also went through the same phase before when Kapil Dev and Manoj Prabhakar were there (at the start of his career from 1991 to 1994, when Kapil retired)."
"Sometimes on the pitch, if there are only two fast bowlers, it used to become difficult (to slot in another). And I found it difficult to bowl on India pitches. I was already 33 at that time. I could probably play for another year, but my knees made it difficult," Srinath added.
In Srinath, India found its first real genuine quick to bowl alongside Kapil, at a time when the Indian domestic structure wasn't really famous for producing quality fast bowlers. And whoever others played, didn't quite get the consistent run.
In a segment on the show, Srinath discussed this aspect of the 90s.
"There should have been another two to three players consistently with us. Venky (Venkatesh Prasad) was there for five to six years. But others kept changing. When that happens, the bowling team dynamics will be missing. We build a strategy on our strengths (spin)."
"But that became difficult because of the changes. Later on, Zaheer and Ashish came and ramped up quickly. At that time, we were able to produce results. Spinners Anil (Kumble) and Harbhajan (Singh) formed a terrific pair together. Fast bowling used to miss that a lot," Srinath concluded.
(Inputs from IANS)
