How quick were the Indian pacers of the 90s?

[Ahmad Shah]

How quick these guys were??

well Srinath was the quickest
he had decent pace 140+

but what about the other leading pacers??
what about the pace of following Indian speedsters??
1)Venkatesh Prasad
2)Manoj parbharkar
3)Abhay kuruvilla
4)Debashish Mohanty
5)Robin singh
6) sarauv ganguly (he was opening fast bowler vs Aus test series 1998)

also tell me what was the speed of their back up pacers
7)david johnson
8)Harvinder Singh
9)doda ganesh

 

[Ahmad Shah]

i have heard that robin singh was also genuinely quick pacer
but injuries destroyed his career

 

[Syed1]

I don't think quick is the right word to define them

 

[GBK_Fan]

How quick these guys were??

well Srinath was the quickest
he had decent pace 140+

but what about the other leading pacers??
what about the pace of following Indian speedsters??
1)Venkatesh Prasad
2)Manoj parbharkar
3)Abhay kuruvilla
4)Debashish Mohanty
5)Robin singh
6) sarauv ganguly (he was opening fast bowler vs Aus test series 1998)

also tell me what was the speed of their back up pacers
7)david johnson
8)Harvinder Singh
9)doda ganesh

Prabhakar and Prasad were probably slower than Afridis faster ball. Mohanty was a swing bowler, so would be in the same bracket as Prabhakar.

Kuruvilla was a fast bowler who never got a chance in his prime. Was brought in when he was old, line and length bowler so would be unfair to judge him.

Srinath btw, has been recorded at 150+ a few times in his prime. He has well regarded by the SA batsman but was never given his due in the team.

Don't know about Ganesh. You listing Robin Singh and Ganguly suggests you don't want a honest discussion

 

[Ahmad Shah]

Prabhakar and Prasad were probably slower than Afridis faster ball. Mohanty was a swing bowler, so would be in the same bracket as Prabhakar.

Kuruvilla was a fast bowler who never got a chance in his prime. Was brought in when he was old, line and length bowler so would be unfair to judge him.

Srinath btw, has been recorded at 150+ a few times in his prime. He has well regarded by the SA batsman but was never given his due in the team.

Don't know about Ganesh. You listing Robin Singh and Ganguly suggests you don't want a honest discussion

adding ganguly is unfair???
well i do want to have an honest discussion
let me show u something

watch out the following two videos
Ganguly used to open bowling for india along with srinath in many test series
at that time he was quick as well

see


watch from 3:20 ganguly opening the bowling
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OxpNzJd9u5U


ganguly magic swing
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OxpNzJd9u5U

ganguly brutal pace
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1ijag4Y4cE

 

[Ahmad Shah]

ganguly was a fast bowler with serious pace

if u r bowling with a long run up to open the bowling for your country in a test match against mighty team like Australia then it means u r a serious pace bowling option and we have seen ganguly in this role
so how its unfair to add him
he got more than 100 international wickets

 

[NoBallZombie]

Srinath bowling 150+? I would like to see a video of that. I thought even at his prime, he was around 140s (which is pretty quick by Indian standards)

 

[NoBallZombie]

That brute of a ball for Ganguly! Seems to me Ganguly had been balling dollies and all of a sudden slipped in a quicker bumper which totally caught the batsman by surprise.
Who was the gentleman facing that?

 

[Mo Dipsy]

OP, are you trolling? Indian fast bowling in the 90s was a joke.

Aside from Srinath who could clock 140+, the others were all in the low 130 range.

 

[MMHS]

Srinath bowling 150+? I would like to see a video of that. I thought even at his prime, he was around 140s (which is pretty quick by Indian standards)

Srinath clocked 147.3KM in 1999 WC, when he was officially almost 30. He was quicker than that in his mid 20s & I am sure in 1992-93 IND tour of SAF some balls he did reach 150KM.

 

[Shutdown Corner]

Srinath was quick thats or sure.

Was he 150 quick? Who knows. Speeds depend on the calculation method, headwinds, atmospheric pressure, etc. If Umesh, Ishant, Aaron have clocked 150 no reason why Srinath couldn't.

 

[Syed1]

Srinath was quick thats or sure.

Was he 150 quick? Who knows. Speeds depend on the calculation method, headwinds, atmospheric pressure, etc. If Umesh, Ishant, Aaron have clocked 150 no reason why Srinath couldn't.

Just so you know bowling speed is measured at point of release not at the point the batsman plays it at. Things you mentioned such as pressure and wind effect the speed of the ball reaching the batsman but not the speed of the ball being released from the hand.

 

[JattMaula]

Other that Srinath in his prime no bowler in above list can be caller fast or fast median or even median fast.

 

[Buffet]

Srinath clocked 147.3KM in 1999 WC, when he was officially almost 30. He was quicker than that in his mid 20s & I am sure in 1992-93 IND tour of SAF some balls he did reach 150KM.

Clocked 149.6kph in 1999 WC, but Not sure how many balls were in 148-149 KPH.


----------------------------

Javagal Srinath was no medium pacer, but was a genuine speedster clocking up 149.6kph once again and bettering McGrath's best speed by some 9kph.

Srinath proved to be the second fastest bowler of the tournament next to Shoaib (154.5kph) while surprise pacemen Geoff Allott of New Zealand (146.5kph) and Jacques Kallis (146.4kph) left the pace of McGrath and Donald looking decidedly bland. Javagal Srinath could now lay claim to being the second fastest bowler in the world.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/wctimeline/content/story/111878.html

---------------------------------

 

[The_Odd_One]

Srinath was a very fine bowler. Him, Kapil, and Zaheer will be in my all time Indian XI.

 

[Nikhil_cric]

Clocked 149.6kph in 1999 WC, but Not sure how many balls were in 148-149 KPH.


----------------------------

Javagal Srinath was no medium pacer, but was a genuine speedster clocking up 149.6kph once again and bettering McGrath's best speed by some 9kph.

Srinath proved to be the second fastest bowler of the tournament next to Shoaib (154.5kph) while surprise pacemen Geoff Allott of New Zealand (146.5kph) and Jacques Kallis (146.4kph) left the pace of McGrath and Donald looking decidedly bland. Javagal Srinath could now lay claim to being the second fastest bowler in the world.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/wctimeline/content/story/111878.html

---------------------------------

This article is inaccurate I think. The author claims that Srinath was 9 kph quicker than McGrath but McGrath claims that he was timed at 148 kph in the final against Pakistan. And to be fair, McGrath looked really rapid in his opening spell.

 

[ethan hunt]

Clocked 149.6kph in 1999 WC, but Not sure how many balls were in 148-149 KPH.


----------------------------

Javagal Srinath was no medium pacer, but was a genuine speedster clocking up 149.6kph once again and bettering McGrath's best speed by some 9kph.

Srinath proved to be the second fastest bowler of the tournament next to Shoaib (154.5kph) while surprise pacemen Geoff Allott of New Zealand (146.5kph) and Jacques Kallis (146.4kph) left the pace of McGrath and Donald looking decidedly bland. Javagal Srinath could now lay claim to being the second fastest bowler in the world.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/wctimeline/content/story/111878.html

---------------------------------

What match is this from . There must be a video of this ??
Srinath was bowling 130 kph a couple of months later in australia .
He was a fine bowler quicker than the others in India but was not nearly as fast as stated

 

[Virat_Kohli_fan]

Here's a video of Srinath at some of his peak speeds.

 

[troodon]

Apart from Srinath, David Johnson was the only genuine 140k+ bowler.

The rest of the bowlers you listed are 110-125k bowlers.

Our bowling was atrocious in 90’s. No point even discussing that nonsense. The legacy of 90’s carried on to 2000’s too. Actually until 2012.

The trundler brigade of 2000’s were on par with 90’s bowlers.

Thanks to Shami, BK, Bumrah and Yadav. We don’t have to relive the torture of Indian trundlers anymore.

 

[Mamoon]

Srinath was a quality fast bowler, but the others were rubbish trundlers.

 

[Ahmad Shah]

Can anyone tell me how quick was robin Singh???

 

[Railu Katta]

Can anyone tell me how quick was robin Singh???

115-120 kph

 

[troodon]

Can anyone tell me how quick was robin Singh???

105-110k gun barrel straight bowler. His batting was okay. India had no choice but play him.

 

[Proactive_]

Who cares? Maybe a dozen or so Indian bowlers have crossed 145+ at their peak. How many of them have actually been Test standard? Just three. Kapil, Srinath and Zaheer. Three bowlers in 70 years.Give me a 135 kph bowler with brains any day over a 155 kph Ishant Sharma.

 

[jagatk]

Apart from Srinath, David Johnson was the only genuine 140k+ bowler.

The rest of the bowlers you listed are 110-125k bowlers.

Our bowling was atrocious in 90’s. No point even discussing that nonsense. The legacy of 90’s carried on to 2000’s too. Actually until 2012.

The trundler brigade of 2000’s were on par with 90’s bowlers.

Thanks to Shami, BK, Bumrah and Yadav. We don’t have to relive the torture of Indian trundlers anymore.

Have to disagree post 2000 we have had a fair few pacers most just couldn't keep the pace, zaheer, nehra, Pathan even munaf all started out as consistent 140k hitting bowlers. Ishant was a really quick bowler when he started too.

 

[GrandMaster]

Agarkar was quite decent as well.

 

[Bubby]

Srinath was serious pace, remember him injuring few guys with his bouncer, he caused serious injury to Pringle from South Africa if I am not wrong, I remember Wasim in one of his interviews saying, that if Srinath had 50% of his aggression he would have been much more dangerous and one of the most fearsome bowlers of that time.

 

[Rightarmfast]

This article is inaccurate I think. The author claims that Srinath was 9 kph quicker than McGrath but McGrath claims that he was timed at 148 kph in the final against Pakistan. And to be fair, McGrath looked really rapid in his opening spell.

Funny. Do you know who wrote the article? ' Eddie Smith '! The Eddie Smith! He was the official record keeper for bowling speeds from Australia. Ask the real oldies from PP forum, from early 2000's and you will know how authentic Eddie was.
Mcgrath was never clocked at 148 in his entire life.


Coming back to the topic, Javagal Srinath was genuine fast, so were Atul Wassan and Salil Ankola. Atul Wassan and Salil Ankola were 140+ bowlers. Not claiming they were hitting at 145 at will. David Johnson had some pace, I would say around 135-145 bowler. Abey Kuruvilla was fast in his prime, but when he made his debut, he was around 135ish.
Harvinder Singh was quick. He was around 140-145ish.

The problem with the 90's was, the management never believed in fast bowlers. Even if they were quick, they were asked to reduce their pace for line and length.

 

[asadee]

Srinath used to get murdered by anwar and co

 

[Rightarmfast]

Srinath used to get murdered by anwar and co

Remember the double hundreds by sehwag against Shoaib Akhtar?

 

[LastManstanding]

This article is inaccurate I think. The author claims that Srinath was 9 kph quicker than McGrath but McGrath claims that he was timed at 148 kph in the final against Pakistan. And to be fair, McGrath looked really rapid in his opening spell.

I guess the author is talking about the super six match between Australia and India in which Srinath was recorded much quicker than McGrath.

 

[big_gamer007]

Srinath was alright rest were either mediocre or pure garbage.. Speedwise most Indian pacers are swing bowlers and not genuine pacers so speed hardly matters... For what it’s worth Agarkar was the only one who I remember could swing the white ball both ways at 140-152kph..

 

[Ahmad Shah]

Agarkar @152kph??? U kidding ???? Right???

 

[big_gamer007]

Agarkar @152kph??? U kidding ???? Right???

One off deliveries reached 150+... Mostly he operated between 140-145kph.. Was a beast in taking wickets when he started think he was fastest to reach 50 wickets in ODI’s.. Exonomy was crap though..

 

[Bhaag Viru Bhaag]

Are you asking about their bowling speed or disappearing speed?

 

[Rightarmfast]

Agarkar @152kph??? U kidding ???? Right???

He certainly could clock upto 147k's on a not so regular basis.

 

[big_gamer007]

How quick these guys were??

well Srinath was the quickest
he had decent pace 140+

but what about the other leading pacers??
what about the pace of following Indian speedsters??
1)Venkatesh Prasad
2)Manoj parbharkar
3)Abhay kuruvilla
4)Debashish Mohanty
5)Robin singh
6) sarauv ganguly (he was opening fast bowler vs Aus test series 1998)

also tell me what was the speed of their back up pacers
7)david johnson
8)Harvinder Singh
9)doda ganesh

I don't think quick is the right word to define them

Prabhakar and Prasad were probably slower than Afridis faster ball. Mohanty was a swing bowler, so would be in the same bracket as Prabhakar.

Kuruvilla was a fast bowler who never got a chance in his prime. Was brought in when he was old, line and length bowler so would be unfair to judge him.

Srinath btw, has been recorded at 150+ a few times in his prime. He has well regarded by the SA batsman but was never given his due in the team.

Don't know about Ganesh. You listing Robin Singh and Ganguly suggests you don't want a honest discussion

Srinath bowling 150+? I would like to see a video of that. I thought even at his prime, he was around 140s (which is pretty quick by Indian standards)

Srinath clocked 147.3KM in 1999 WC, when he was officially almost 30. He was quicker than that in his mid 20s & I am sure in 1992-93 IND tour of SAF some balls he did reach 150KM.

Clocked 149.6kph in 1999 WC, but Not sure how many balls were in 148-149 KPH.


----------------------------

Javagal Srinath was no medium pacer, but was a genuine speedster clocking up 149.6kph once again and bettering McGrath's best speed by some 9kph.

Srinath proved to be the second fastest bowler of the tournament next to Shoaib (154.5kph) while surprise pacemen Geoff Allott of New Zealand (146.5kph) and Jacques Kallis (146.4kph) left the pace of McGrath and Donald looking decidedly bland. Javagal Srinath could now lay claim to being the second fastest bowler in the world.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/wctimeline/content/story/111878.html

---------------------------------

Are you asking about their bowling speed or disappearing speed?

According to Wikipedia Zimbabwe captain at that time 1997 said One of Srinath’s delivery was recorded at 157kph, if true that is some express pace he raked up there..
[MENTION=76058]cricketjoshila[/MENTION] can you confirm?

 

[Rightarmfast]

According to Wikipedia Zimbabwe captain at that time 1997 said One of Srinath’s delivery was recorded at 157kph, if true that is some express pace he raked up there..
[MENTION=76058]cricketjoshila[/MENTION] can you confirm?

That is true. That was posted on Cricket zimbabwe website too about Srinath's speed.

 

[big_gamer007]

That is true. That was posted on Cricket zimbabwe website too about Srinath's speed.

157kph is lethal from my memory of Srinath he was mostly a 130-135k bowler who in some matches could operate at 140-145k range... I guess I was too young to understand pace when he was in his prime during early to mid 90’s and the fact that he had to play most of his matches on Indian pitches in Hot and humid Indian weather he probably couldn’t ball that fast regularly..

 

[Rightarmfast]

157kph is lethal from my memory of Srinath he was mostly a 130-135k bowler who in some matches could operate at 140-145k range... I guess I was too young to understand pace when he was in his prime during early to mid 90’s and the fact that he had to play most of his matches on Indian pitches in Hot and humid Indian weather he probably couldn’t ball that fast regularly..

During his prime, there were no speed guns. Plus there was this bias going on in world cricket that Indians could not bowl fast. He was never given due respect. The first day speed gun was unveiled ( WC 99, Ind vs Aus match ), Srinath was clocked at 149.6 k's. This was after his rotator cuff surgery, at the age of 30 when he had already lost pace.

Tells you a bit about his pace.

 

[big_gamer007]

During his prime, there were no speed guns. Plus there was this bias going on in world cricket that Indians could not bowl fast. He was never given due respect. The first day speed gun was unveiled ( WC 99, Ind vs Aus match ), Srinath was clocked at 149.6 k's. This was after his rotator cuff surgery, at the age of 30 when he had already lost pace.

Tells you a bit about his pace.

If only he had some form of support.. Still 90’s era whatever anyone might say was more emotional to a fan than the current era due to everything our country was going through at that time so Srinath will always be remembered fondly..

 

[Bewal Express]

Srinath was quick, averaged around 86-88 mph but could reach 90mph when he wanted to. His problem was two fold; he was a little to short so beat the bat alot but didnt take the edge and mentally he seemed a little weak. Prasad was a good new ball bowler but again he was mentally fragile. The rest were pretty mediocre.

 

[Rightarmfast]

Srinath was quick, averaged around 86-88 mph but could reach 90mph when he wanted to. His problem was two fold; he was a little to short so beat the bat alot but didnt take the edge and mentally he seemed a little weak. Prasad was a good new ball bowler but again he was mentally fragile. The rest were pretty mediocre.

Agree. Then again, Srinath and Prasad and co never had a good mentor.

 

[ind_win]

srinath and kumble mostly as bowlers while Tendulkar as batsman carried the team from 1992 to 2000 - effetively 3 people played with supporting roles from Dravid and Ganguly and sometimes when he is in mood (fix)zhar, from 1996 here and there. Had there been better 3rd seamer, prasad and srinath would have won 1997 series, southafrica were saved by rain in 1 test match. And they bowled their hearts out in the series only to be let down by batsmen. Kuruvilla, Johnson, Dodda ganesh, Debashish etc - those were the days for quota bowlers. I simply do not agree talent was not there. Just like in many areas of most sports, talent hunters were not good enough in BCCI and state boards to find right teams. The title of this thread should have been how incompetent the BCCI selection committee was in 1990s.

 

[Nikhil_cric]

Funny. Do you know who wrote the article? ' Eddie Smith '! The Eddie Smith! He was the official record keeper for bowling speeds from Australia. Ask the real oldies from PP forum, from early 2000's and you will know how authentic Eddie was.
Mcgrath was never clocked at 148 in his entire life.


Coming back to the topic, Javagal Srinath was genuine fast, so were Atul Wassan and Salil Ankola. Atul Wassan and Salil Ankola were 140+ bowlers. Not claiming they were hitting at 145 at will. David Johnson had some pace, I would say around 135-145 bowler. Abey Kuruvilla was fast in his prime, but when he made his debut, he was around 135ish.
Harvinder Singh was quick. He was around 140-145ish.

The problem with the 90's was, the management never believed in fast bowlers. Even if they were quick, they were asked to reduce their pace for line and length.

Eddie Smith himself had said around 2002 ish that the speeds mentioned were only the ones that he had witnessed. If you go on a couple of other forums, they all attest to that fact and it somehow slipped under the radar. By the way i'm not disputing Srinath's speeds at all. I personally believe he clocked in the 150's at times between 1992-1997. By the way Eddie Smith has recorded McGrath as having clocked 145 kph in the final I think .

 

[Nikhil_cric]

I remember the 2000 Sharjah cup where bowling speeds were being televised and Prasad was only between 120-130kph whereas Agarkar was high 130's and early 140's. Donald wasn't playing and Hayward wasn't that quick then. Agarkar was quicker than any bowler in that tournament not named Akhtar.

 

[MMHS]

According to Wikipedia Zimbabwe captain at that time 1997 said One of Srinath’s delivery was recorded at 157kph, if true that is some express pace he raked up there..
[MENTION=76058]cricketjoshila[/MENTION] can you confirm?

I think, at full fitness, in his 1st spell when in rhythm, Srinath was really quick. Don't know about 157K (which can be technical error as well, he doesn't look 98MPH pacer), but 150K+ in some balls is quit possible.

 

[Robert]

Srinath could wind it up when he wanted to depending on situations. I’d sat he was FM tending to F at times.

 

[wrongun]

Srinath was sharp at his peak. He was not known really as a 150k bowler but he was sharp enough, 5ks either side of 140 depending in stage of career & circumstances. It MAY be possible he delivered a couple of freak balls at his peak but no way he was known as an express bowler in his day. Sharp enough & nothing more.

Guys like Prabhakar were 120-130k.

Ganguly looks like a C grade 110-120k local indoor cricket bowler (including with that swing!)

 

[cricketjoshila]

Remember the double hundreds by sehwag against Shoaib Akhtar?

You mean triple 100?

 

[cricketjoshila]

According to Wikipedia Zimbabwe captain at that time 1997 said One of Srinath’s delivery was recorded at 157kph, if true that is some express pace he raked up there..
[MENTION=76058]cricketjoshila[/MENTION] can you confirm?

It was 156ks. During that series in SA in 96 speed would be shown sometimes on the ground scoreboard and cameras will pan to show that.

 

[Navdeep Srivastava]

It was 156ks. During that series in SA in 96 speed would be shown sometimes on the ground scoreboard and cameras will pan to show that.

I still remember the spell, South African needed 170 odd to win the test but Srinath 21/6 completely demolished them.

 

[cricketjoshila]

I still remember the spell, South African needed 170 odd to win the test but Srinath 21/6 completely demolished them.

That was in Ahmedabad.There were no speed guns there.But he was quick in that spell also.

The speeds mentioned here are from India Tour Of SA 1996-97

 

[Justcrazy]

Can anyone tell me how quick was robin Singh???

He was a part time bowler like Adam Holliake , shane lee etc

 

[shahman1980]

salil ankola was faster then srinath . didnt get picked ( dunno why - indians were not valuing pace then . kuruwilla too was quick- both above 145 k easy at their peak
old kapil delayed srinaths entry too

indian team late 80s upto 1992 ( liberalisation started) looked like a quota team with various zones wanting their man in - talent be doomed.