Vasudevan TN Ranji Trophy Retirement

We are in the year of the Pandemic, and over the last three months UNPRECEDENTED has been the most oft used word in all walks of life. Way back in March 1988, a Tamil Nadu Ranji cricketer made an UNPRECEDENTED announcement within minutes of lifting the Ranji Trophy. At the presentation ceremony, left arm spinner S Vasudevan announced that he had played his last Ranji Trophy match. He had just picked up seven wickets in the Railways’ innings and had led TN to a Ranji Triumph that had come after three decades. It took everyone by surprise, most did not seem to take it seriously at that time with Doordarshan that telecast the finals editing his retirement comment. Probably, they had a justification. He was just 33 years then and the legendary TN spinners who preceded him had played on for a long time. Exactly a decade ago, VV Kumar (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2007/07/cricket-tales-exclusive-with-vv-kumar.html) then past 40 had heard the news of his non selection in the Ranji Squad from a newspaper report. His state spin partner for almost close to a decade S Venkataraghavan too played for TN till he was close to 40. In the form that he was in and as the Ranji Trophy winning captain, Vasudevan could easily have gone on for at least another 5 years. 

His appointment in 1987-88 to the TN captaincy itself came as a surprise to him for he was not even captaining his club side at that time (SPIC was captained by V Sivaramakrishnan). It was his first knock at captaincy. It was a young side that year and jelled well under Vasudevan. Sivaramakrishnan had announced his Ranji retirement at the start of the 87-88 Season but came out of it later that season and played a critical role for TN in the knock outs. Off spinner M Venkataramana (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2017/06/venkatramana-m_97.html) had just had a fabulous year in 87-88 that earned him an immediate test cap. The Golden leggie of the decade L Sivaramakrishnan(https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2016/04/l-sivaramakrishnan.html) was trying to make a comeback after having been on top of the world in March 1985 with his performance in WCC and Aashish Kapoor too was knocking on the doors. VB Chadrasekar and Robin Singh had big years with the bat that earned them a national call over the next 12 months.

At the start of that season, Vasudevan did not have any inclination to hang up his boots and not in his wildest dream did he visualize quitting Ranji cricket at the end of the season for he was greatly enjoying cricket and the responsibility deposed on him by the TNCA to lead and mentor a bunch of young upcoming cricketers the likes of Robin Singh, VB Chandrasekar (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2016/01/vb-chandrasekar.html), PC Prakash, K Arun Kumar, D Girish and Venkatramana was something he looked forward to. 

Cricket had been his passion since the time he started playing at the age of 8 and like all cricketers from that generation the general expectation was that he would continue to play till the time he contributed in good measure to the team's fortunes. 

Exactly ten years ago, he had joined LUCAS TVS, a firm headed at that time by cricket enthusiast R Ratnam. Vasudevan's close friend Crazy Mohan (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2015/08/crazy-mohan.html), who passed away last year had joined Brakes India, another TVS Firm in Padi. As one in his early 20s who had made his Ranji entry just then, he was asked what he wanted to do at the corporate. His childhood friend Raghu (who later became a CEO) had asked him to explore software that was still very much in its infancy in India. When Vasudevan expressed his interest in software, he was put through a rigorous training programme in IBM in 1977 and took up software as a career in the software world. He found the software job both exciting and challenging and he thoroughly enjoyed his corporate stint at Lucas TVS. 

               

During that period, he also received a lucrative offer from former TN Opener V Krishnaswamy (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2016/08/krishnaswamy-v.html) to join IOB that would have provided him with a stable job for the next four decades but Vasudevan’s interest in Software had gathered steam and he rejected Kicha’s offer. When he joined SPIC in the early 1980s, they bought Main Frame Computers and he continued to pursue software as an interest area. Through the 1980s, his interest in software moved up alongside his great passion for cricket. 

Vasudevan lifted the Prestigious Ranji Trophy in the first and what turned out to be his only year of his state captaincy. It had been a long over three decades wait for TN and Vasudevan played a great role both as a captain and a spinner in TN’s title triumph. He has happy memories from that season ‘Cricket had been my life for a large part of my life till that point. For any Ranji Cricketer, it is always a great honour to captain the state. It was a great first year as captain for me. I felt contended at the end of the campaign. It was a fulfilling experience. You play for the state to try and win the Ranji Trophy. And I managed to do that in my very first year. I thought it would be good to go out on a high.” 

Among all the cricketers who heard of his decision, SPIC captain and his team mate from the late 1970s V Sivaramakrishnan was the most vocal. Vasudevan remembers that morning when Shiv came to him and tried to persuade him to continue “Shiv himself had come back from his retirement and he was keen that I play for the next couple of years given my rich vein of form in 87-88. He was upset that I stuck to my decision and did not listen to him. He simply could not digest my refusal to accept his request.” 

Venkataraghavan (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2020/04/venkataraghavan75.html), his state spin partner for over 5 years, was the Secretary of the TNCA that year and he too was not happy with Vasudevan’s decision. Venkataraghavan expressed his displeasure at this unexpected decision when he was in prime form with the ball and at a time when he was playing the role of a mentor for many youngsters in the TN team. In his typical ‘orderly’ direction, Venkataraghavan asked him to play the Irani Trophy and make the trip to Australia with the TN team for the match against Western Australia, hoping that Vasudevan would change his mind as his association with his young team members grew. As per Venkat’s orders, Vasudevan captained the Irani Trophy match and he picked up another 7 wicket haul in the innings endorsing the former captain’s view that he was in great form. Even without the form as a bowler, Vasudevan would have been an automatic choice for at least another two years on the back of him having led the state to the Ranji Trophy. 

Vasudevan’s father Santhanaraman (who passed away in February this year at the age of 90) was a spinner of repute in the local league and also ran a couple of clubs in the city. He had been Vasudevan’s Acharya and his cricket mentor and spent a lot of time at the city grounds watching his son play through his early cricketing career. At their independent house on Sundararajan Street in Abhiramapuram, his father initiated him into cricket guiding him on spin bowling. Thus Vasudevan looked up to this father all through his life. But that day in 1988, Vasudevan sprung a surprise even on his father by announcing his retirement even without consulting /informing him. Angered at this sudden decision, his father shouted at him, one of the very few times that he had received a belting from his father. 

Vasudevan was clear that he wanted to leave cricket on a high and the decision had been made. If Vasudevan had gone on like the legendary VVK or Venkat, it is likely that Sunil Subramaniam’s entry into TN cricket would have been delayed by a year or two. Sunil Subramaniam held great potential and he spent a good number of hours each day at Vasudevan’s home discussing the art of spin bowling (this writer too bowled alongside Sunil at the SPIC nets. Often the lanky Sunil would ask this writer if he saw (Ravi) Shastri in him. That’s how Sunil saw himself as a left arm spinner). In the long sessions at home, Vasudevan found him to be a good listener and an intelligent bowler and credits him for using the opportunity to become a great bowler for Tamil Nadu. 

Vasudevan had played 61 matches for Tamil Nadu at that time and in the next few years could have easily played another 20 or so. A phenomenal performance in the Ranji Final and the Irani Trophy should have brought him into contention for the Duleep Trophy the next season even though he was in his 30s at that time (He had played one season of Deodhar but was largely over looked for Duleep in his 20s). He let go that possibility as well. But really he was not a man for the records and neither did the statistical highlights inspire him to play more. Right from his childhood, he played for the love of the game and records and statistics were merely an outcome of that passion. 

In the decades since his retirement from Ranji Cricket, his fortunes have swung to extremes. In the 1990s, SPIC took care of him financially as he made his mark in the Software Arena. . He was a State Selector for a full term in the 1990s. In the mid 2000s, he started his own IT firm and forayed into Oracle ERP that was well received by overseas customers. 

Four years after the launch of his firm, he faced the biggest tragedy of his life. His 17 year old son passed away within a month of completing his Class XII exam (and after he had secured admission in Venkateswara Engineering College) struck by a sudden and unknown illness that sealed his life in a matter of months. Just after completing his board exam, his son made a trip with the family to Oppiliappan temple in Kumbakonam where he specifically asked for Nilai Maalai for the Lord. As his last wish, he held his father’s hand and took a promise that he would continue to engage in cricket. During the last 24 hours of his life, a big eagle stayed inside his home complex almost as if watching over him. As soon as his life departed, the eagle too died!!! 

Soon after the passing away of his son, Vasudevan shut down his Oracle firm and has since been coaching at the Gandhi Nagar Sports Club academy. Life was tumultuous financially for a few years earlier this decade. But he has stuck to his son’s final wish of associating himself with cricket for the rest of his life. Late last year, the TNCA invited him to be the Talent Hunting Head of Tamil Nadu, a paid engagement that was to have started this new season, one that COVID 19 has ensured would take some more time to fructify. 

Just over three decades later, he has no regrets whatsoever on his sudden and surprising decision to retire at the peak of his cricketing career, one that paved the way for Sunil Subramaniam’s entry into Tamil Nadu. Had he played over 75 matches, he would have been eligible for the One Time Financial Benefit and a higher pension as well. Even during the times of financial difficulty that he encountered earlier this decade, he had no second thoughts even in hindsight, on his decision to quit Ranji Cricket. 

He continued to play local league cricket for almost another two decades (this writer umpired the final TNCA league match that Vasudevan played just under 15 years ago). 

For a man who lifted the Ranji Trophy in 1988, the three decades since have been one of ups and downs as he went back and forth between cricket and software. But unmindful of the challenges, he has led a contended life and without regrets. Finally, this decade, he has decided to let go of his software interest and taken a call to be associated with ‘Cricket’, his first and biggest passion of his life as per his son’s wish. Vasudevan had form, passion and age on his side and these two combined with the Ranji Trophy triumph could have ensured that he continued to play till he was 40. This story is a reminder of the UNPRECEDENTED decision of the unassuming Vasudevan (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2011/12/vasudevan-hats-off-to-you.html) quitting cricket on that Ranji Trophy Winning day at the peak of his career and with age still on his side, giving way his space to another left arm spinner, who much to the delight of Vasudevan (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2007/10/s-vasudevan-tn-ranji-winning-captain.html) made a thumping mark on TN cricket over the next decade.