Parthiv Patel says former India pacer Javagal Srinath right up there with likes of Glenn McGrath

India wicket-keeper batsman Parthiv Patel in a recent interview brought in a comparison between Indian pacer Javagal Srinath and Australian fast-medium pace bowler Glenn McGrath.

File photo of Javagal Srinath. AFP

According to a report in Hindustan Times that quoted his interaction with Rediff.com, Parthiv said, “People talk about Glenn McGrath, but the first time I kept against Sribhai he was right there and there about all the time and with good pace and bounce.”

Parthiv who had kept wickets for India in Srinath’s last Test match which was against the West Indies at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata in October 2002, added, "Sribhai (Srinath) was playing in his last series; he did not play any Tests after that. Even in his last series, he was getting a lot of bounce and at a very good pace. He was also very accurate."

According to a report in Sportzwiki, Patel, who made his debut for India in 2002 against England, becoming the youngster wicket-keeper in the Tests, also said that keeping to Srinath and Zaheer Khan was a difficult challenge for him.

“Zaheer Khan and Javagal Srinath were playing, so that was a big challenge too. There isn’t much of bounce and the ball comes at a good pace,” he was quoted as saying.

He also revealed that another thing he learnt was that one had to stand slightly closer to the stumps than when playing outside India.

Srinath has claimed 236 and 315 wickets in 67 Tests and 229 ODIs respectively.