Javagal Srinath, India's only pacer with over 300 ODI wickets, turns 51-year-old

The current crop of Indian pacers consisting of Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma and others are often referred to as the 'best in the world' but there was a time when the pace unit of Men in Blue was not taken seriously.

Teams led by MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli have won matches on their bowling potentials on many occasions. Taking 20 wickets in a Test match is also a common sight for the Indian fans now. But 20-30 years ago there was a trend of sorts in the Indian team of having only one or maximum two good bowlers in the squad.

Exploring a good Indian bowler was rare and even when explored their careers would be short and they would disappear from the scene after playing a handful of matches. It was during these times that India had a bowler to rely on, Mysore Express as he was famously known, Javagal Srinath represented India for 12 years after debuting in 1991 against Pakistan in Sharjah.

Javagal Srinath is arguably India's first 'fast bowler'. The legendary, pacer who turns 51-year-old today, once bowled a delivery which against Zimbabwe, which read 157 kmph on the speedometer. Srinath grew in stature after every match he played.

In his 67-match Test career he scalped 236 wickets that included 10 five-wicket-hauls. From the 229 ODIs he played, he took 315 wickets, the most by any Indian pacer till date. No other Indian pacer has taken more than 300 wickets and the fact that Srinath retired 17 years ago, tells a lot about the bowling potential of the Mysore-born

Javagal Srinath is also the joint-highest wicket-taker for India in 50-over Men's Cricket World Cup. Sinath and Zaheer Khan have taken 44 wickets each in the World Cups. His batting also came handy for India on many occasions. His unbeten 52 run partnership with Anil Kumble against Australia in 1996 is a famous anecdote in Indian cricket. Srinath scored unbeaten 30 with his mother watching in the stands. In Tests smashed 4 gutsy fifties in his Test career.

Javagal Srinath had a glittery career but might regret only one thing till that -- the fairly tell ending which he deserved. India were in the finals of 2003 World Cup and had a just to script history by defeating the mighty Australians but unfortunately that didn't happen. Javagal Srinath retired after India's loss in the final.

Currently, Srinath is an ICC match referee and has officiated over 350 international matches.