Although Srinath was a batsman as a youth, it was in a club match that he caught the eye of former Indian Test batsman Gundappa Viswanath. In 1989/90, Srinath made his first-class debut for Karnataka against Hyderabad, taking a hat-trick in the first innings.
Srinath was selected for the Indian cricket team for the 1991/92 tour of Australia, making his Test debut against Australia at Brisbane. It was not until three years after his international debut, in late 1994, that Srinath played his first home Test, against the West Indies. He took five wickets and scored 60 in the second innings to be named Man of the Match as India won by 96 runs. His increased opportunities also coincided with an improvement in his batting, scoring two half-centuries in the series.
Srinath then made his One Day International debut in the Wills Trophy at Sharjah in 1992. He became the fastest bowler to take 100 ODI wickets, reaching the mark 3 years and 19 days after his debut.
Srinath took over 500 first-class wickets, playing for Karnataka he took 96 at 24.06. In 1995, he joined Gloucestershire, and took 87 wickets in his one and only season with them including taking 9-76 against Glamorgan. He has also played English county cricket with Leicestershire and Durham.
In the 1996-97 series in South Africa, Srinath’s speeds were timed at 150kph with one particular delivery measured at 156kph. [2] For many years, Srinath was India’s only regular pace bowler, and the workload is often believed to be the partial cause of injuries, which forced him to undergo an operation on his right shoulder in 1997.
Srinath successfully heralded and nurtured a group of fast bowlers in the likes of Zaheer and Ashish Nehra’s to make Indian attack a more formidable one. With his engineering background he was instrumental in getting technology into cricket.
He retired from international cricket after the 2003 World Cup in South Africa in which he performed strongly. He toured England with the famous Lashings World XI team in the summer of 2005, and also became a commentator, including for the India-England Test series in 2006.
In April 2006, he was selected as a match referee by the International Cricket Council and served during the 2007 World Cup. He continues his association with the game as a match referee and is also known for his writing skills as a columnist.
Srinath was also the Secretary of the Karnataka State Cricket Association where he spearheaded various activities to promote the game. Srinath was instrumental in setting up cricketing infrastructure in various parts of Karnataka including Mysore, Shimoga and Mangalore.