Thirteen-Test home season ‘wonderful opportunity’ for India’s quicks – Srinath

Former Indian fast bowler Javagal Srinath has urged India’s fast bowlers to embrace the challenge of “adverse conditions” over the next few months, when the team plays 13 Test matches at home. Srinath, who claimed 236 wickets in a 67-Test career, said this unusually busy home season was a “boon” for India’s core group of fast bowlers as it presents a rare opportunity to develop their skills.

“By the end of these 13 Test matches, you can become a completely transformed bowler,” Srinath told ESPNcricinfo. “Where will you get this opportunity? Normally you get three-four Tests, then a break, then you play ODIs, and T20s have come in now, then another break and you come in for the Test matches. The ball is different, the conditions are different, so again you have to come back and bowl and get back into the rhythm.

“Here, every month you have a couple of Test matches which means you don’t have to practice, you just have to bowl well in the Test matches. Every ball bowled in a Test match is a well-thought-out ball, you don’t take it lightly. That’s where the learning happens, and you try to understand a batsman in a much better sense. You go deeper into a batsman’s mindset, you start thinking… Psychologically you will be far better when you start thinking every ball.

“I think Test matches bring more depth in your own cricket. The body becomes stronger with that much bowling, the right kind of muscles will start developing, so you have to maintain yourself. It is about doing the right kind of gym, what kind of work you have done in the off season, all those things do matter. Your mindset should be very positive that this is a great opportunity and I want to make the best of it. Its not …

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