After serving the bank both as a player and a mentor- coach, 46 year old Rajesh Kannan (http://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2015/06/rajesh-kannan-bcci-board-umpire.html), a down-to-earth man from a humble middle class family in Madras who for many years during those early days in cricket boarded that infrequent 45B bus at the Saidapet bus stand to reach his cricket destination and came up the hard way in cricket facing many hurdles that would broken many a weaker mind, is quitting IOB exactly 25 years after he joined when he was handpicked by former TN opener and mentor for many at IOB V Krishnaswamy (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2016/08/krishnaswamy-v.html).
Rajesh Kannan has quit the Bank just ahead of the long domestic cricket season. He follows in the footsteps of mentor and former teammate KN Ananthapadmanabhan (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2016/09/ananthapadmanabhan-kn.html) who just last year quit IOB. International umpire S Ravi (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2018/11/umpire-ravi-quits-rbi.html) too had quit his bank job at RBI a couple of years back.
In recent times, it had become increasingly difficult for him to straddle between the two careers – the pressures of a Deputy Manager at a bank branch, the physical challenges of sitting at the desk for several hours and the issues relating to that and his absence from the branch for many days with the growing number of matches for BCCI umpires and the related outstation travel involved in this engagement.
In the decades gone by, Banks provided a stable long term job for cricketers, who usually settled down in the PSUs at the end of their playing days. There were those like Krishnaswamy who also grew professionally in the Bank after their playing career and scaled the peak in the Banking Career.
Not anymore.
Even in the just concluded TNPL, given the pressures of the bank job and the responsibilities he held at the branch, he was shuttling midweek between Tirunelveli/ Natham and Madras to take care of his work at the Besant Nagar Branch, where he has been working over the last year, and then returning a day later for his umpiring duty at the TNPL.
Not anymore.
Even in the just concluded TNPL, given the pressures of the bank job and the responsibilities he held at the branch, he was shuttling midweek between Tirunelveli/ Natham and Madras to take care of his work at the Besant Nagar Branch, where he has been working over the last year, and then returning a day later for his umpiring duty at the TNPL.
TNPL Final
Rajesh Kannan officiated as the third umpire in the final of the TNPL at Chepauk after a strong showing in the league phase of the tournament that earned him the respect of the players.
With the domestic calendar set to start next month and expected to be another long one, Rajesh Kannan is likely to be away on an Umpiring expedition going around the country over the next four months.
Rajesh Kannan officiated as the third umpire in the final of the TNPL at Chepauk after a strong showing in the league phase of the tournament that earned him the respect of the players.
With the domestic calendar set to start next month and expected to be another long one, Rajesh Kannan is likely to be away on an Umpiring expedition going around the country over the next four months.
Rajesh Kannan's elder daughter is an upcoming carnatic music artiste and a student of Subha Ganesan
(http://sundaykutcheri.blogspot.com/2015/07/harini-presents-lively-sunday-kutcheri.html)
(http://sundaykutcheri.blogspot.com/2015/07/harini-presents-lively-sunday-kutcheri.html)