Sharjah, March 23: Under the new dispensation of captain Sourav Ganguly, Javagal Srinath was dropped from the team for the second match of the tri-series against Pakistan here on Thursday, even though for public posturing the reason stated was a groin injury.This is a signal which has hotted up the stakes for the two other major Indian bowlers of the nineties - Anil Kumble and Venkatesh Prasad. The three enjoy a rare position in the history of One-Day Internationals.Kumble (260 wickets from 197 matches), Srinath (252 from 187) and Prasad (170 from 143 matches) are third, fifth and 18th best performers ever.That they have picked up 276 (Kumble, 61 matches), 168 (srinath, 46 matches) and 85 (prasad, 29 matches) Test wickets in their illustrious careers make them inarguably the main bowling arsenal of India in the international arena in the last decade.But signs of poor form, brought about by age and the relentless grind of One-Day cricket, are forcing a reassessment of their future. Srinath, Kumble and Prasad all are 30-plus bowlers who have borne the brunt of more than their fair share of burden because younger, newer bowlers have not come forward and staked their claims.Ajit Agarkar burst on the international scene with 50 wickets in his first season, but, since then injury and indisciplined bowling methods have restricted his overall figures to 80 wickets from 50 matches.Indeed, the 22-year-old Mumbaikar has conceded over 50 runs in 18 of his 50 One-Day Internationals.``What can you do,'' lamented the Indian coach Kapil Dev. ``This is the best talent we have in the country.''Ganguly, like his predecessors, is aghast at the line his bowlers have stuck to in recent times. ``The line is not good, not good at all. There are far too many loose deliveries,'' said the Indian captain.The recent series have been a pointer to their diminishing abilities. On dead home pitches, Srinath was rested in the first three games and played in the last two One-Dayers. His figures of just one wicket from two matches for 125 runs - an average of 8.33 per over - were embarrassing.Kumble went for 216 runs from five games at 36.50 average and six wickets while Prasad conceded 46 in his six overs for one wicket at 7.66 runs per over.
