He top scored in the State Schools final and played for South Zone against Sachin Tendulkar in 1986. The next season he created waves with a fighting century in the TNCA final but much like Hemant Srivatsa and Anish Thomas quit serious cricket as a teenager after failing to secure the Engineering seat in Anna University
Arun’s century has been the best knock played against Santhome in the last 40years - Srinivasa Rao, Renowned Santhome Coach
At 15, LU was as good as N Gautam and had the potential to go right to the top but he left me hugely disappointed by giving up early – Kalpathi CFO Rangarajan
It is 5.30pm at the Singaram Street corner in T. Nagar on the eve of the grand TNCA final end of January 1988. This writer was witness to more than half the PSBB team gathering in front of the then popular Sairam Typewriting institute. Unfortunately, even though it was a great entry into the final for what was considered in the TNCA circles as an un-fancied side, the spirit was low. While the PSBBians were high on intellect, the discussion that evening centered around their bowling spearhead the tall and lanky new ball bowler Dinesh Guhan and what his fate was likely to be the next day. It was a surprise even to those boys to have reached the final of such a prestigious tournament that in the previous decades had remained the domain of Don Bosco and MCC and which at the start of the 1980s had become almost the exclusive possession of Santhome, for they had begun to dominate city cricket like never before. And this match they saw as one between David and Goliath. The prospect of facing Santhome and especially bowling to Aashish was to be an overwhelming experience.
They were already beaten in their minds that evening and this reflected in the way they bowled the next morning at the University Union ground. The apprehensions of the previous evening had come true. Aashish continued his scintillating form with another dominating century in the final. Rajiv Shah and KM Suresh too scored centuries as Santhome topped 450 that day and even left a bit of batting that evening for the PSBB openers. It was a target that was unlikely to be chased. But one man played the innings of his life and despite the gloom of the crashing defeat, the evening conversation in the city’s cricket circles centered around the brilliant century against Aashish Kapoor’s unplayable off spin. At 16, one thought he would be in for the long haul but he quit cricket in the next few months and was never heard again in the cricket circles. Here’s the story of LU Arun.
LU Arun and his cousin R Vijayakumar began their cricket at Somasundaram ground in their early teens. Rangarajan Ramabhadran, now CFO, Kalpathi Investments put together three tennis ball teams that went on to play flood light cricket that was starting to take off in the city in the second half of the 1980s.
Rangarajan’s tennis ball team mate at Somasundaram ground and now AGM at IOB, Nitin Parekh was a feared left armer in the 1980s and youngsters in T. Nagar used to look up to him when he practiced at the Somasundaram Ground. Rangarajan and Nitin Parekh were integral early members of this group that met every evening at the Somasundaram ground not far from where Gurumurthy was running his academy.
Elegant and Stroke Filled
Like V Krishnaswamy( https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2016/08/krishnaswamy-v.html?m=1), Nitin too has worked in an overseas branch. Talking to this writer from Bombay, where he is currently heading the Nariman Point Branch, he said that Arun stood out as a cricketer even in those early days “The bespectacled Arun was a young slim boy. I corrected his batting stance at the Somasundaram ground as a young teenager who had just started out on cricket. He was elegant and stroke filled even then. It was a treat to watch him bat.”
As Good as N Gautam
Rangarajan resided on Kuppuswamy Street where RBI’s flamboyant striker Ramdayani too lived, a few hundred yards away the Arun’s iconic home atop Sairam Typewriting Institute on Singaram Street. He was active in local cricket in the 1980s during the years he was pursuing his CA. He would finish his article-ship, rush to the Somasundaram ground for that un-missable tennis ball cricket and would then speed away to the evening college. It became his routine for three years. Rangarajan recalls the way they used to develop cricketing technique in the 1980s at the Somasundaram Ground “We used to have a goal post and the batsmen had to play their within the two posts. Arun was not yet 15 but showed great temperament and technique to play in the 'V' and within the goal post. He was a good fielder and was mature for his age.”
“Watching him bat there at Soma, my expectations were raised. I really thought he would go places. He had all the requisites of being a top notch batsman. In fact, at that age, he was as good as N Gautam both in talent as well as in Character.”
(Gautam was one of the most hard working and sincere cricketers of that generation)
Most Embarrassing Moment in School Cricket
Into his early teens, along with some tennis ball cricket at Somasundaram ground, he had also begun to practice at his school nets. Clearly, PSBB Nungambakkam was not one of the top cricket schools of the time. Sunny Ramesh had been a star in the first half of the 80s but really there was not much else to write home about. There was not even a team kit when Arun first played for the school. The PT Master doubled up as the coach. In his class VIII, he remembers the school being shot out for 18 against Don Bosco that during the decade boasted of players such as Siddharth Meddappa, his younger brother Satyajit, Tanvir Jabbar, Vijay Nirmal and Rohit Mahendra. It was one of his most embarrassing days in cricket. May be he had decided that day that he would transform the way cricket was played at school and help build a team that would give the top teams a run for their money.
As the next generation of cricketers took over at PSBB Nungambakkam, the team began to perform better. S Kedarnath, former SBI opener, moved in from KK Nagar to Nungambakkam as the coach. Epic battles were fought between Nungambakkam and KK Nagar (PSBB). LU Arun began to make rapid strides as a middle order batsman. He also bowled out-swingers with the new ball.
Rarely spoke a word, but a tremendous competitor on the field
Cricketer turned million dollar entrepreneur Promodh Sharma (Promodh) was a star performer for PSBB KK Nagar and had many an encounter with Arun. He looks back at the second half of the 1980s when Arun often proved a thorn in the flesh “I remember LU (Arun) as a kind and soft spoken person, a gentleman so to speak. He was very measured and rarely spoke a word out of place. On the field he was a tremendous competitor!!He was a brilliant batsman who could very quickly take a game away from you. He was very talented and capable of building an innings or scoring quickly all around the ground, as the situation demanded. Getting him out was always special and if you were in the opposition and got LU early, the chances of your success increased manifold.”
K Anand who has been a banker for over two decades and now an independent consultant played for PSBB KK Nagar in those years in the late 80s. He remembers the APSC final, then a popular tournament for CBSE institutions “We beat them in one of the finals but only after we managed to get LU (Arun) out. He scored a brilliant 93 on a matting wicket which was quite uneven in bounce pacing his innings beautifully and was unlucky to miss his hundred getting out to a ball that kept low. He was one of the most feared batsmen and would come between us and victory.”
Captain PB Anand shown the door
A year later the batting talent came to the fore. Impressive performances for the school led him into the U15 city team that went to Erode for the Districts match. He was selected for the TN State Schools team that was announced in the fourth week of October 1986 with PB Anand as the captain. The team was set to travel to Bangalore in the 2nd week of November. However, just ahead of the tournament, the father of Russel Radhakrishnan (Book Sellers and more recently of CSK fame) threw a bombshell that stunned the TNCA. Picking up the (real) date of birth of several cricketers in that TN squad, he raised objections. Original captain PB Anand was in the list of over aged players and was removed from the squad with the captaincy being handed to districts boy VJE Narasimhan.
Rajan Bala in his story on November 4, 1986 questioned the trophies won by Santhome in the previous years with 5 cricketers from the school being reported for producing false age certificates. All of them were dropped from the originally chosen squad including the captain. Rajan Bala pointed out that there was pride involved in playing for the State and it was not like playing for the school and hence called for the TNCA to take strong action against these players. Of course, as seen later in the story, this issue resurfaced the next year as well.
Talking to this writer from Houston, USA, cousin Vijayakumar remembers that tense evening in Madras “Arun was just 14years old and it was his first big tour. It was a big deal to be chosen for Tamil Nadu especially from a school like PSBB which had not been in the cricketing radar. It was quite tense. I accompanied his mother late in the evening that November day to send him off (Bangalore Mail) at the Central Station in Madras”
Tops the Batting Chart for TN
Arun had a terrific few weeks in Bangalore. Mujibur Rehman was in prime form but Arun matched him run for run. In the semi final against Andhra, while Mujib scored 47, Arun was not far behind with a knock of 32 as TN gained a slender first innings lead. Former IOB man and now a match referee Amit Pathak too was in his first season for Andhra. He remembers running into a rampant Mujib “It was my first match for Andhra. Mujib was at his blistering best even then and he smashed us in the second innings chasing out a target of just under 70 in 8oversand we were thrashed in no time. Arun was quiet and performed unnoticed and usually he was not in the limelight unlike a Mujib. While Mujib and I went to Nagpur the next year, I did not hear again of Arun.”
In the final of the Pattabhiraman trophy against Hyderabad that included Vanka Pratap, Arun top scored with a knock of 75 after Mujib and Reuben Paul had failed at the top of the order. The strong performances in these matches earned him a place in South Zone squad that travelled to play West at Cuttack.
Mujibur Rehman was already making waves in the city circles with his blistering knocks at the top of the order. He recalls playing with Arun in the state schools matches in Bangalore and then the South Zone match in December 86 against West Zone, a team that included Sachin Tendulkar “Arun was a quiet guy and did not talk much.”
That was the way Arun was, then, and has always been ever since. It is a typical reference from everyone that has known him. He did not allow the early success to get to his head and remained grounded in that phase of life. Even in the photo of the South Zone, he chose a position that would not disclose his face!!!! (photograph below)
In the final Mujib once again gave a dashing start. Vanka Pratap told this writer from the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium in Hyderabad of the two consecutive zonal centuries he scored in his school phase. Batting at No. 6, lower than usual, Arun did not score much but South Zone won the match thanks to Vanka’s century.
Rajan Bala makes a difference
By now, Arun had become a star at school with his performances for the state. The confidence began to reflect in the performance of the school team as they began to win matches more frequently.
It was during this period that Rajan Bala began a summer camp for PSBB boys in the Old Ground near Moopaathamman temple (Krishna Gana Sabha). Arun’s cousin Vijayakumar, who studied at Venkatasubba Rao School too joined the camp. The coach was instantly impressed with Vijayakumar’s talent that he was keen to have him move to PSBB as he felt it would add to the school’s cricketing strength that was on an upsurge that year. But as was the case in those years, even extraordinary sporting talent could not gain entry into that school on sporting grounds alone and the school refused an admission. Had Rajan Bala brought him to the attention of Santhome and St. Bedes, it is likely they would have grabbed him and his cricketing life may have been different.
Promodh Sharma who was also part of that camp says that Rajan Bala had the foresight and vision to see what was coming "The PSBB team had begun to do well and he envisaged a strong performance in the TNCA schools tournament. He organised two day practice matches in the summer that helped build temperament."
In the next season, the age related issues once again flared after the City team was announced. Left arm spinner B Balaji who had captained the TN state schools in 1985 recounts the turn of events“Mujib and I were chosen to play U22 in Bangalore. But with the age issues coming up once again, Aashish Kapoor, the original captain had to sit out and I was asked at the last moment to go to Thanjavur to captain the side after which I left for Bangalore for the U22 match.”
Arun was part of the U17 team as well but it was really the last of his association with TN cricket.
Beaten by Arun
The year 87-88 saw the best year for PSBB Nungambakkam in a long time. Under the captaincy of Arun, the team had turned around. B Balaji who was Arun’s captain in the U17 city match after he replaced Aashish Kapoor remembers Arun from a School match“It was a period dominated by Santhome and St. Bedes and hence we (St. Bedes) were confident of a quarter final victory against the unknown PSBB side from Nungambakkam and almost took them for granted. However, we were single handedly beaten by Arun’s brilliant knock. He was that kind of a player who could take the match away from you on his own.”
The Best ever knock against Santhome
And then the biggest of it all for Arun. PSBB Nungambakkam reached the final of the TNCA tournament against a strong Santhome side that had won most of the trophies in the preceding years. The PSBB team was not particularly confident in facing Aashish and Co and the pre match talk at the Singaram Street corner pretty much revolved around managing Aashish. As feared, Aashish ravaged the attack at the University Union ground and with centuries from Rajiv Shah and KM Suresh, Santhome declared just under an hour before close of day 1 with the team having topped 450. Arun went into bat on the second morning with very little hopes of a chase. But in the next few hours he gave a glimpse of his attacking stroke play that left everyone stunned. PSBB did collapse after Arun’s dismissal but by then he had given the cricketing circles in the city an indication of where he belonged!!!
Srinivasa Rao, Santhome coach of over three decades and now Senior Manager at the TNCA recounts the turn of events at the Union Ground “LU Arun played the best knock ever against Santhome that I have seen in the last four decades. Any team would have been demoralized chasing 400 plus but Arun spearheaded a superb fight back and took it to the opposition. He was not intimidated by the strength of the opposition and never gave up that day. Even Aashish was put to the sword. Finally, it was lesser known bowlers of the time, Gokul Subramanian and Elango who got us the breakthroughs. In terms of the quality of the knock, I would rate it right up there as the best against Santhome, especially given the context of the match when he came into bat in that final.”
“Everyone who saw his innings that day was impressed. I rated him very high. He had it in him to make it to the top. But we did not hear much of him in the coming years.”
Tamil Nadu’s All Time Great Sharath, who was a 15year old at that time, recalls meeting Srinivasa Rao outside the St. Bedes ground to enquire about the fate of the match. 30+ years later, Sharath distinctively remembers the feedback from Rao that evening “A guy called LU Arun played one of the best knocks that I have seen and scored a century but we won the trophy.”
Sharath remembers Arun as a solid bat with attractive strokes and wonders why he was not in the news again.
Handling of Aashish Kapoor was stunning
Former IOB wicketkeeper and this writer’s teammate at YMCA (TSR) B Venkatesh watched every ball of that ‘celebrated’ innings in the TNCA final in January 1988 for he was Santhome’s keeper“Aashish was almost unplayable at the school level in that phase but Arun was brilliant that day. The way he played Aashish was stunning.”
“We played together at U17 but he was always aloof and quiet. With the city and state side dominated by a few schools, he was a lone man in the pack from PSBB Nungambakkam.”
I was always referred to as Arun’s cousin
Talking to this writer from Houston, Texas, US, Vijayakumar, an aggressive all rounder who once scored 180 in a Thumps-Up TNCA tourney match and a scorching league century in the 1980s was often referred to even in school circles as Arun’s cousin. While they were the nephews of CB Selvakumar, who was known in the city circles for his swashbuckling knocks including the double hundred in 30overs, Vijaykumar came to be known as Arun’s cousin in those years than Chelli’s nephew “Such was his performance in cricket in those couple of years in the late 80s that wherever I went, people saw me as Arun’s Cousin. His centuries in the tournaments caught the eye not just of the powers that be in cricket but also of school teachers and tuition masters and that gave me a sudden brand name. For a period in my life, I had become 'Arun's Cousin'.”
Aashish Kapoor, the captain who lifted the trophy on the second evening told this writer from his home in Delhi that Arun’s was the shining light that day and the lone bright spot “while just one innings does not help one go up the ladder, he was definitely talented and had the potential.”
Never one abusive word
Dinesh Guhan, now a finance professional working in Houstan, Texas, was the star fast bowler of the PSBB Nungambakkam team and had been a significant contributor to the team with the new ball. He was the one who had to face the initial fury of Aashish and VS Sriram that January morning at Union. He looks back at his cricketing years with his captain“‘LU’ as we all called him was my first cricket captain in high school. While he commanded respect initially due to his amazing talent, I saw him develop into a strong leader by the time we moved into our senior year in high school. “
“All of us remember the amazing century that he hit during the 1988 school championship final against Santhome High School, a perennial powerhouse. However, my fondest memories of him was during a coaching session when he pulled me aside and exhorted me to start getting serious about my physical fitness and to get stronger (as an opening new ball bowler) if I wanted to make an impact as part of the team. “
“He had a very calm personality and demeanor and I have never seen him utter one abusive word ever. Also, he was never one to talk about himself and let his bat do most of the talking.”
Fumma (Sriram) was an off spinner in the late 1980s who modeled his action on the lines of John Emburey. He trained under legendary TE Srinivasan. He refers to Arun as a ‘Silent Bloke’ who was precise with his straight drive “He was a great cricketer of the time and a wonderful stroke filled batsman. Whether on the cricket field or on our very own Singaram street pitch, he had his stance and grip firm and was full of concentration.”
A Geek who could smash the bowling
Vijay Nirmal who runs the Prasad Cricket Club in the TNCA league is now a Vice President at HDFC Bank in Madras where he manages high Networth individuals. He played for TN state at all age group levels in the late 1980s and early 90s. He is the son of Prof Nandakumar, who was part of the selection panel that chose the U15 team in 1986. He recounts the period in the late 1980s when he played with and against Arun “He was very fluent and aggressive. Behind the specs, he was like a geek but could smash the bowling around on his day.”
Quits Cricket @ 17 after having played State Schools and South Zone
For obvious reasons - as the 1989 Class XII Board exams neared, the focus shifted to academics. Following the century of his life, Tuitions and Tests became a way of life for the next 12months. For most PSBBians of that generation, sports had to take a back seat when they moved into Class XII. He had played State Schools and was alongside Rahul Dravid and Sujit Somasundar in the South Zone schools and against Sachin. He had been in the form of his life and showed him to be a class apart.
But alas as things unfolded in the summer of 1989, Arun much like Hemant Srivats (Murrays Auction) earlier that decade and Anish Thomas just after him lost in the race for that coveted seat in Anna University. Having played State Schools and having secured high grade in Class XII, he should have got an automatic sports quota seat but the son of a political bigwig secured that seat.
It was almost a slap in the face for Arun. His high performance in cricket in the preceding couple of years for the state seemed to count for nothing. It was only in the last minute after he lost that seat to the politico that he went and joined Engineering in Melmaruvathur. And like Hemant Srivats went away from Madras at the peak of his cricketing life and cricket was laid to rest. He spent a major part of the month at the college and only visited his home on select weekends. He never got back into cricket again thought he played lower division league cricket including a match winning knock against this writer at the Dunlop Cricket ground but by this time he had begun to play only the odd match when he was in the city and more for the love of the game.
His cousin Vijayakumar joined VIT (Vellore) in 1989 and quit cricket as a teenager. Just a couple of years prior, he hit the top tier of the PS High School building playing in a league match. In his case, he did not grab the attention in the cricketing circles despite a top knock of 88 against a superior bowling attack in a Thumps up Trophy school match and a top notch league century.
Promodh Sharma, then of PSBB KK Nagar and now an entrepreneur in Hongkong, remembers that knock “I was fielding against Mujibur’s Gill Adarsh at the St. Bedes Ground. At the next ground was this school boy taking the opposition bowling to sword. Even though the star personality Mujibur was batting against us, my attention was Vijayakumar. It was easily one of the best knocks I have seen for a teenage cricketer. But despite a knock of 88, he failed to grab the attention in the cricketing circles for he came from an unknown Venkatasubba Rao. He remained ‘unspotted’ and predictably very soon, faded away from cricket.”
PSBB’s All Time Best All Rounder
Kedarnath, who has been coaching PSBB since the 1980s remembers Arun as one the best all rounder PSBB has produced in the last 40years “He was an outstanding out-swing bowler in school cricket and was delightful to watch with a bat in hand. Clearly, TNCA did not have a process in place to groom talented youngsters. Arun should have played higher levels of cricket given the scores he ran up in those years but opportunities were limited. Even with half a mind on academics, he performed very well and was an outstanding achiever in his time.”
Kedarnath points out that the students of PSBB were quick to shift their focus from sports to academics once into Class XII “While he was a hugely talented cricketer, he quit the game early to focus on academics that was typical of the PSBB mindset of those years.”
Downward Spiral of Disappointment and Despair
Hemant Srivatsa(Hemant), owner of Murrays Auction, was a star bowler for Vidya Mandir in the mid 80s and played U19 South Zone and against Australia. He had signed up for Alwarpet while still at school and was developing into a great left armer under the mentorship of PK Dharmalingam. He had done everything to gain a seat in Anna University but he lost out on it and spent four years at his cricketing peak in Coimbatore. He looks back at the challenges of moving away from Madras at 17 “In Madras, we had net practice for Alwarpet CC thrice a week and I learnt a lot bowling to WV Raman, PC Prakash, R Madhavan, Srikkanth etc whereas practice in Coimbatore meant I had to bowl at half pace so that my college mates don't get injured!”
“But most importantly, I think it is the mental thing. The fact that you feel let down by a system you believed in and the blatant abuse of clout gets into your head when you spend those countless hours all alone in the hostel away from home for the first time. And at 16-17, one doesn't have the mental maturity to not get bogged down by it. Without your parents and coach to guide you, you get sucked into the downward spiral of disappointment and despair and your game suffers as a result.”
Over Two Decades at Infosys
Later Arun joined Infosys and has been there for well over two decades in a completely contented and happy state of mind with no complaints about cricket or life. Management Consultant Pradeep Chakravarthy worked in Infosys for a few years. Arun and Pradeep drove together every morning to the Shozhinganallur facility during this period. Pradeep recalls his association with Arun “I found him to be a very considerate, soft spoken and friendly person. He would always listen patiently, find a way to summarise it succinctly in a way that it works for me and the team without compromising his own thought process. The ‘give and take’ was always very powerfully felt in a conversation with him. He was a quiet guy but sincere at everything he did.”
Kalpathi Investments’ Rangarajan, who reached the final of the flood light tennis ball tournament in his first foray, is saddened at the way things transpired for Arun during the later part of his teenage years“As I look back now 35years later, I am disappointed that he did not go the full distance. He quit cricket too early for my liking to focus on academics. Having played South Zone Schools before he had touched 15, I expected him to get into the top of the TNCA league and graduate to the next level. Instead he quit cricket altogether leaving me with the feeling that he did not reach his potential and ended up an underachiever in cricket.”
Vijayakumar who secured a seat in VIT and quit cricket that year watched Arun very closely in those few months following the Class XII results “If he had secured the college seat in Anna University in 1989, which would have led him to continue to stay in Madras, his cricketing career may have taken a positive turn. But the fact that he did not get the sports quota seat despite a strong performance in the State Schools and South Zone and he had to move out of Madras for his collegiate education left him frustrated and he quit serious cricket at 17, which was unfortunate because he would have been a real talent for TN.”
Spotting of rare talent and nurturing them, especially if it came from the not so fancied schools, did not happen in the 1980s. And getting into the TNCA league too did not happen without the right contacts. Arun and Vijayakumar chose not to pitch their cases with any contacts they may have had and played the game as it should be – by scoring runs on the field.
Arun, who along with his cousin R Vijayakumar- who this writer rates as, as good a batsman T Nagar had seen in the second half of the 1980s - did not find the right mentors despite them being the nephew of CB Selvakumar. Having played cricket for the state schools and the zone, Arun did not find guidance into a higher division (first) league team in that phase. Back then, he was very quiet and all to himself, like he is now 35 years later allowing life to take its course.
Arun displayed very little emotions as a 17 year old. Hailing from a middle class family, the focus clearly was on academics and in his case an Engineering Seat. The fact that he did not get one in Madras meant his cricket met with a rather premature end. Ever since, he has not once exhibited any sense of regret at not carrying forward his cricketing interests after having played with Rahul Dravid and Sujith Somasundar and against the likes of Sachin Tendulkar. He accepted the opportunities that came its way in life, both in cricket and elsewhere. He has been at Infosys for over two decades and leading a normal life.
Had he secured that coveted seat at Anna University in 1989, this story may well have been one on a cricketer who made it to the top of TN cricket for he was a hugely talented cricketer with attractive strokes and great mental character. 1980s was not a decade for T.Nagarians to venture out full time into cricket and this silent cricketer decided that he had had enough of it by the time he was 17, a lot sooner than two other stars of that period, MS Anand and Sunny Ramesh, who gave it a few more years before making their overseas foray away from cricket.
Arun probably goes back once in a while to the years from the 1980s reflecting within himself the joys cricket had given him in those 2-3years when he was at the top as a school boy.
This story will leave with the only words Arun had for this story "I did not have the conviction and chose the safer path. The risks were too high in cricket and the fall back options did not seem good enough."