When Joshi told Srinath where his place was

BANGALORE: Figures of 10-6-6-5 are but dream ones at any level of cricket but coming as it did during an one-day international and that too against a strong side like South Africa it was better than any normal dream. But the man in question, Sunil Joshi, who on Thursday announced his retirement from first class and international cricket, was gracious in acknowledging that had Rahul Dravid, the man with the world record for slip catches, not been at slip, and pulled off two brilliant catches, the figures would have read very different.Had Joshi stopped there, this story would not have been written. "Thank God Srinath (Javagal) wasn't at slip that day," added Joshi, in jest of course, but the remark did have a little bit of history behind it.It was Srinath himself who had revealed the history a little earlier when he too spoke on the occasion of Joshi's retirement."Fast bowlers normally do not stand at slip but in the Test against Bangladesh at Dhaka (November 2000), I asked to be placed at slip. Soon enough a nick off Joshi came my way but it was in and out of my hands. A furious Joshi came to me and straightaway said 'Go to your place (outfield), you don't belong here'."Joshi apparently hadn't forgotten that dropped catch and so had ensured that it was Dravid who stood at slip that memorable day at the picturesque Nairobi Gymkhana ground.Srinath and Joshi continued to be friends and as Srinath said: "Given our similar backgrounds (both came from the districts), Joshi was my first friend." Not that day in Dhaka though, not from Joshi's viewpoint.