Srinath made his
One Day International debut at Sharjah in 1991. He played 11 ODIs and two
Test matches in his debut year, taking 14 ODI wickets at an average of 30.00. He was selected for the Indian team for its 1991–92 tour of Australia, making his test debut against
Australia at
Brisbane. He took 3/59 as the third fast bowler during the match and finished the tour with ten wickets at 55.30. With an opportunity to take the new ball against
South Africa in
Cape Town, he took an economical 4/33 in 27 overs and ended the tour with 12 wickets at 26.08. Because the wickets in India were conducive to spin, however, Srinath spent seven consecutive home Test matches watching from the sidelines as India fielded only two fast bowlers. Following the retirement of Kapil Dev in late 1994, Srinath played his first home Test match, playing against the
West Indies. He took five wickets and scored 60 in the second innings to be named Player of the Match. His increased opportunities coincided with an improvement in his batting, and he scored two half-centuries during the series. Srinath was considered a very fast bowler in his early years. In the
1997–98 Test series against Australia, one of Srinath's deliveries was measured at and
Zimbabwe captain
Alistair Campbell considered him faster than
Lance Klusener and
Allan Donald at their peak. He and
Grant Flower had also faced
Waqar Younis and
Wasim Akram. Srinath was India's only regular fast bowler for many years, and his workload is believed to have caused his injuries; he underwent surgery on his right shoulder in 1997.
Injuries Srinath's rotator-cuff injury, diagnosed in March 1997, kept him away from cricket until November of that year and affected his speed. The injury was caused by overuse. At the time, he had 92 test wickets in 27 tests—46 in his first 18, and 46 in his last nine matches. There were some doubts about whether he would be able to play again and when he announced his retirement in November 2003, Srinath said that he thought his career was over when he was recovering from the rotator-cuff injury. ==Retirement==