Imran khan's lack of cricket knowledge. Review on Cricket Talk

Sanjay Manjrekar avoided confronting Imran Khan on the subject of India not producing fast bowlers, on the television show during the second test.Imran was boasting of Pakistan’s success of producing fast bowlers and India failing to get a bowler to bowl even at 135 kmph.Below are something written about the genuine quicks we have produced:-

Part(1) :- In 1946, an Indian cricketer named C.R. Rangachari makes his debut for India vs Australia at Adelaide in 1948.He was a bowler of genuine speed and was lightning fast in his youth.Even after partition ,he remained an Indian.

Part (2) :- In 1959 , another bowler with brisk pace enters the international arena, Ramakant ‘Tiny’ Desai as he as known , generated a fair degree of pace and could bowl a real fast ball at times with a supple run up and was only 5’4” tall.

Part(3)In the 1970s for a short while, India produced a tall well built fast bowler who bowled real quick, Pandurang Salgaoncar who later went into obscurity.

Part(4)In 1983, India again produced a fast bowler of real speed. Thirumalai Ananthanpillai Sekhar.Sekhar in his peak in the early eighties was the fastest in the land.

On his debut vs Pakistan at Lahore, he proved that an Indian could bowl real quick even on a featherbed wicket and put the fright for their life in the minds of the Pakistani batsmen.

Part(5) In the late 1980s the word spread of a tall , skinny, really quick bowler making headlines in the national arena.Javagal Srinath from Karnataka.On a dustbowl in Pune and with the old ball he ran through the opposition batting line up bowling with fire and speed in the air which enabled him the crash through the batsman’s defence. In fact on one occasion ,he hit one Punjab batsman’s head with a bouncer,the batsman was never the same again, he quit cricket.But it was Srinath who felt bad for it more than the batsman.At last he entered international cricket in 1991 making his one-day debut vs Pakistan at Sharjah.He came in first change and bowled really fast ,surprising the Pakistani batsmen with his speed.Even the great waqar younis , who played in that same match,looked barely medium pace after seeing Srinath.

In late 1992 India toured South Africa and Srinath was excluded out of the eleven for the paceman friendly Port Elizabeth test. In the next test in Cape Town which was a slow wicket Srinath was included and he bowled in anger and fire for being left out in the paceman friendly track.Knowlegeable people who saw that match said that it was the fastest spell of bowling they ever saw by an Indian bowler.In that match ,he hit Meyrick Pringle on the face with a bouncer and created a record of being the first Indian Bowler to knock out an International batsman.The South African Batsmen secretly thanked their stars that they need not have faced this pacemen on a pacemen friendly track in Port Elizabeth.

In1995, after Kapil Dev retired ,he became our main Strike bowler , bowling with the same fire and venom vs the Englishmen on their own soil.In 1996 was his best and worst year.When the South Africans visted India ,he bowled with fire and pace in every match took 6 for 25 on a slow turning wicket in Ahemadabad’s Motera Stadium and showing the South African’s that an Indian could bowl real quick on a dustbowl.Sachin Tendulkar later said that it was a marvellous exhibition of fast bowling of the highest quality.Unfortunatley ,He tore his shoulder.When India toured South Africa in the year end,Srinath bowling with an injured shoulder was clocked bowling a top speed and the fastest ball of the series of 156.1km/hr (97 mph) in a one dayer , speed guns being employed.

Even after his Rotator cuff surgery ,he clocked 149.6 km/hr (93 mph) twice,once in the world cup 1999 , it being the second fastest ball clocked and once vs Australia in 1998 which is phenomenal.

Part(6) Around 1996 word spread again about a fast bowler from Karnataka named David Johnson who was said to be even faster than Srinath.Unfortunately , he played only in one match vs South Africa and later escaped into obscurity.I remember he having an action and pace similar to what Shoaib Akhtar had when Shoaib made his international debut.

Part(7)In 2003 India unearthed another quick bowler in Munaf Patel, from Bharuch,Gujrat.He was reported to be bowling in the 150s.He later that year trained in MRF Pace Foundation in Chennai and now plays for Mumbai.He is now said to be the fastest in the land.

Now coming to the real story.Pakistan have been producing genuine fast bowlers only from the 1970s ,Imran Khan being their first.Prior to that , they had produced only medium pace bowlers in Fazal Mahmood and Khan Mohammed.We have been producing genuine fast bowlers since the 1940s.When Waqar Younis

entered the International arena, Imran Khan gave him a month long media build up so that he psyches the opposition batsmen out.No one gave Srinath or all the genuine fast bowlers we have produced a media build up when they entered the scene.The way they talk about Shoaib , Imran Khan ,Fazal Mahmood, no one talks about Rangachari, Sekhar, Srinath etc.Also Indian Media ,Public and journalists are notoriously biased against believing that India can produce genuine quick bowlers for whatever reason.Srinath defenately would have bowled over a 100 miles an hour many a times, especially in his cape town spell in 1992-93 and early part of his career.When he bowled most of his fastest spell speed guns were not so extensively used as today.When Waqar was clocked at 153 km/hr in South Africa in 1993, because Imran Khan hyped him so much cricket officials and public were curious to know how fast he is and employed speed guns. It was just by chance he was at his peak then when he was clocked.When Srinath was clocked bowling with shoulder injury and was clocked at 156.1 km/hr he was not bowling at his best ,just imagine how farst he would have bowled at his peak and in his youth.

It was very rude and arrogant of Imran Khan to have said that India failing to get a bowler to bowl even at 135 kmph and Sanjay Manjrekar not confronting it is cowardice!We Indian have Produced Genuine quicks but the politics in the cricket board prevents many of the really fast bowlers enter the international arena.India has produced genuine fast bowlers and will always produce genuine fast bowlers.

About Mohammed Nissar, he was really fast , played for pre independence India but migrated to India after Partition.So He could be represented for both India and Pakistan when anybody asks since he played for pre independence India.But so far as the most consistently fast bowler pre or post independence India has produced so far, it is Javagal Srinath.We have many Srinaths knocking around in India not getting opportunity to play the game at its highest level, either because they just are not interested in persuing it further as they want to pursue a career in academics or they just do not have the proper influence either politically or monetarily or both.