‘Needed to play twice our potential’: Javagal Srinath recalls India’s 2003 World Cup final loss
The ‘Mysore Express’ as he was fondly called, Srinath expressed his wish to go out on a high, and admitted a win in the final would have been the perfect way to end his career.
For former India fast bowler Javagal Srinath, the final of the 2003 World Cup in Johannesburg could have been the perfect swansong. With India taking on Australia in the summit clash, Srinath could have written the perfect final chapter of his 13-year-long career, but instead the dream went awry as Australia ran India ragged, smashing them by 125 runs.

As Australia piled a humongous 359/2, the Indian fast bowling trio of Zaheer Khan, Srinath and Ashish Nehra were taken for 211 runs combined, with Srinath going for 87 off his 10 without picking up a wicket. The ‘Mysore Express’ as he was fondly called, Srinath expressed his wish to go out on a high, and admitted a win in the final would have been the perfect way to end his career.
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“We could have won the 2003 World Cup final but we were up against the best side in the world. They were on a roll and nobody could even get closer to them. We lost the final and I couldn’t do much in that match either. Winning that final could have been a real feather in my career but you can’t expect everything to happen in life,” Srinath told SportsKeeda in a chat.
Besides the fact that Australia were the best side in the world, Srinath felt that in hindsight, India could have done a few things differently, but in order to down the mighty Australia back in the day, perhaps each player in the Playing XI would have needed to give his double on that day.
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“We had a chat about it – should we have batted first? But those are all hindsight expertise of what we bring post the match. I just think they were the better side. The same team had won the previous World Cup as well. I think all of us needed to play twice our potential. Probably that could have been the best way.”
