Keeping pace for 12 years, Srinath runs into his sunset

When I started out at the one-day international level in 1994, our interaction increased. And, two years later, I could see the enjoyment on his face once we started bowling together in Tests.

People have written and spoken a lot about our partnership. I believe the secret of our partnership lay in the closeness we shared after I made my one-day debut. From then, till my Test debut, we used to share everything. We were regularly touring and were roomies on all of those tours. He knew everything about me (and vice-versa), my character and my thought processes, and this helped us gel together when we bowled for India.

How did it work on the pitch? He would create pressure on the batsman and soften him up so that I could get a wicket with my legcutters. The best part was, we were two really different bowlers; I would get the ball out and he used to primarily bring it back in. This unsettled the batsmen.

We had been together for so long, I knew what he was going to do and he knew what I was too. Standing at fine leg, I could read him and understand why he was bowling in a particular way.

The best part about Srinath was the extra pace, bounce and nip that he got off any track. No batsmen could take him for granted. I especially remember that red-hot spell when he softened up Hansie Cronje during the 1996-97 tour of South Africa. For the first time, you could see a chink in Hansie’s armour; that spell stands out in my mind as being the best I have seen from my mate.

Before that, I remember my debut Test at Edgbaston, bowling to Nasser Hussain. Sri kept shouting instructions from the fine leg. ‘‘Pitch it up, pitch it up’’, he shouted. A few balls later, he screamed at me to bowl a short one. Guess what happened: Nasser went for the hook, mistimed and it fell just short of Srinath.

But it hasn’t been easy for him, of course. The most painful period was the time when he had return from West Indies in 1997 with a shoulder injury. He left such a huge void, I felt I’d lost my left arm. Because more than just a fellow bowler, he was like an elder brother who repeatedly fought with the team management and argued for my inclusion.

Off the field he’s got a great sense of humour. Very dry, so you won’t understand it at first. I vividly remember the ‘welcome note’ that he stuck on the wall of the hotel room when I was flown in 1994 to New Zealand as a replacement for Manoj Prabhakar — that really summed up the bonding we had.

If I had to sum him up, I would just say, ‘A very unpredictable person and bowler.’’ But only such people can be fun, can’t they?