He was on the verge of making his debut for TN Juniors at the age of 21 but Jaundice kept him out of the tournament and soon after his brother’s untimely death ended his cricketing ambitions
In this 2nd innings in cricket, this rank outsider from Salem was handpicked by N Srinivasan for the responsible post of TNCA Secretary that he served during one of the most challenging times
He was a late starter in cricket and got into serious mode only during his three year college phase in Coimbatore. His performances in the districts matches got him into the TN Junior squad when he was 21 but struck by Jaundice he made his way to the hospital instead of the cricket ground. He came back strong with ambitions of playing Ranji cricket but soon after, his elder brother died in a road accident. Responsibility of family business cut short his playing career. In his 2nd innings in cricket he has donned the role of an administrator for close to four decades. Impressed with his professional approach, N Srinivasan handpicked him as the Secretary of the TNCA and he led the association creditably during the Pandemic and after. With his term as the secretary of the TNCA coming to an end this Saturday, he will take his first administrative break from cricket in almost 40 years. Here is the story.
Manning the Score Board
Hailing from Salem, RS Ramaswamy spent his early childhood playing tennis. While he did not play serious cricket till into his mid teens, he did watch every big cricket match in Salem and was a regular at the Pongal test in Madras right from his early schooling days. In the match that Michael Dalvi made that big hundred in Salem (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2020/09/michael-dalvi-gopalan-trophy-salem.html), Ramaswamy remembers him as a 16 year old taking care of the score board at the ground. He also recalls AG Satvinder Singh (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2021/04/satvinder-singh75.html) hitting the Andhra spinner out of the ground in the Ranji match in 1975 in what he says was the biggest six in Salem!!!
It was only after he turned 15 that he began to play serious cricket under coach SA Narayanan, who also coached the new BCCI President Roger Binny, a student of Montford school in Salem. His big turnaround happened after he moved to Coimbatore for his Collegiate education. Those three years was a golden phase in his playing career.
Aged 19, he scored 80 on debut against Trichy and a century against Niligris playing for Salem Seniors. He scored a match winning century against the touring Chemplast in a tournament final in Salem. “Immediately, Vijayakumar extended an invitation to play for MCC in Madras along with prestigious membership” Ramaswamy told this writer.
He had a special liking for good bats and through his playing days, he used Duncan Fearnley, a dream for district cricketers in those days. He also used Gray Nichols and Gun & Moore.
Two good seasons got him into the Junior State team and he was set to make his debut when just ahead of the trip, he was struck with Jaundice and hospitalized. He recalls that moment “In those days, there were minimal opportunities for districts cricketers to showcase their talent. Getting into the Junior State team was the stepping stone to playing for the Senior State team. I had been in good form for two seasons and was confident of scaling the cricketing ladder. I nourished ambitions at that time of playing Ranji cricket for TN. But this (Jaundice) was a terrible blow and I lost a big opportunity to make the leap into the next level in cricket.”
“If I had played Junior cricket, my cricketing life could have changed but it was not to be.”
Unfortunately, a second blow in that phase ended his cricket career a year later. His elder brother died in a road accident and Ramaswamy had to manage the family restaurant business in Salem “The sudden death of my brother meant that I had to let go my cricketing ambitions and focus on our family business.’
He continued to play for Salem in the inter districts tourneys. He along with his brother had started a cricket club in the early 1970s and named it as Tiger CC after their all time favourite cricketer MAK ‘Tiger’ Pataudi. He captained Tiger CC to a first division title.
Sukumar who played his early cricket in Salem before moving to SVPB, Udumalpet was closely associated from the Salem days and recalls Ramaswamy from the 1970s “I knew Ramaswamy, his late elder brother Ramachandran and their family from my childhood. We played street cricket together. He would discuss a lot about the game and the leading players of the time. He was very promising as a cricketer and knowledgeable in cricketing aspects. As a player, he played with a straight bat.”
By this time, there had been some interesting developments. His high cricketing passion led him into cricket administration even while he was playing and he was inducted into the executive committee of the Salem District Cricket Association. After his playing days, he went on to become the Secretary of the association, a position that he held for two decades. During his phase as the Secretary of SDCA, the AGM had been held every single year before the 31st of May.
A surprise call from the TNCA
Just ahead of the Pandemic, he got a call from former TNCA VP and CEO of CSK KS Viswanathan “I was in Salem and he asked me to come to the TNCA. I had been a convener of the Districts Secretaries forum and I assumed it was something to do with Districts cricket.”
When he landed in Madras, he was in for a surprise. N Srinivasan had been looking for a reliable and hardworking person as the Secretary, one who could keep the flock together. He invited Ramaswamy to be the Secretary "It was out of the blue, completely unexpected and took me by surprise. A huge responsibility had been bestowed on me. I was touched by the trust he had on my abilities.”
Ramaswamy became the first man from the Districts to don the role of the Secretary of the TNCA.
Appa’s life message comes into play
It was a hugely challenging task. At the time of taking over as the Secretary, Ramaswamy remembered the two life messages his appa had handed to him during his teenage years “Making money is incidental, be honest in everything you do. That’s the way we should live our life.”
“Never hurt anyone in life” was the other message he received from his appa and that served well during his term as the Secretary of the TNCA. With so much revenue flowing into the TNCA, he knew it was a hot seat and a tricky position but managed to stay away from controversies. His people management skills came to the fore. He was clear in his approach “No one should point a finger at me in the way I discharged my duties and every single team mate should look forward to meeting me in the future long after I was gone from the post.”
Big Moments
Three years went by in a flash especially with him having to manage during the Pandemic. During his term MAC B receive a complete facelift. Resting areas, rest rooms and permanent sight screen became a new feature at MAC B. All the wickets were re-laid. He worked closely with MCC to sort out some of the old issues. Getting them to agree on the demolition and reconstruction at Chepauk was a big achievement. The entire stadium will be repainted. A cricket museum, cafeteria and a super store is on the anvil. The VIP boxes will have a new look. A conducted tour of the ground will be an integral feature in the future.
Conducting back to back test matches at Chepauk during the Pandemic (something that had never been done earlier), organizing ten IPL matches with the highest safeguards for Covid and spreading TNPL to four new grounds gave him a great deal of satisfaction “We carried out over 8000 Covid tests and only one came out positive. ICC was so impressed with our bubble maintenance that they reached out to us to seek tips.”
KS Viswanathan (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2015/02/ks-viswanathan-tnca-bcci-ipl.html) is all praise for the contribution of Ramaswamy in this challenging phase. He told this writer “As the Secretary, Ramaswamy was responsible for the reopening of the I, J and K stands after 8 years and major repair works were undertaken. The new stadium with a pavilion was constructed during his tenure. He was closely associated with the implementation of the 3rd phase of construction of the stadium which is almost complete.”
"He had good rapport with the BCCI officials and ensured a healthy relationship with them. He was a calm and an efficient Secretary. Most importantly, he was liked by all the members of the TNCA. Since he had completed 8 years in office bearers post he could not continue for the next term of 3 years."
Batting with Sourav
He says he was blessed to have had the opportunity to meet and interact with TN cricketing legends and the India cricketers during his term as the Secretary. Earlier this year, he played in an exhibition match between President’s XI and Secretary’s XI at the Motera Stadium “It was the first time I played under lights and with the white ball. It was a delight to bat alongside Sourav Ganguly and be involved in a good partnership.”
He also experienced playing at the iconic Eden Gardens.
Former Ranji off spinner and Secretary of MUC M Santosh Kumar (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2022/06/m-santosh-kumar-iob-tn-ica.html) has been vocal at the TNCA meetings in recent times raising issues quite vociferously. He has seen several Secretaries in the TNCA during his 50+years in cricket and rates Ramaswamy among the best"He is a Gem of a person and a Gentlemen to the Core. He handled all the issues with a Smile. He showed extraordinary skill & ability to run the TNCA without any issues especially when there was no President for a while."
"I really felt happy to be associated with him in the Apex council. He gave me a free hand to talk about cricket development issues and benefits to Cricketers & Support staff. He gave me a patient hearing. He approved without any hesitation the suggestion of a fee hike to Umpires and additional financial benefits to Selectors"
"I rate Ramaswamy as the best next to Kasi Viswanathan. He ran the show very meticulously and systematically and was a great administrator."
Districts Cricket Infrastructure
With an eye on improving the infrastructure in the districts, Ramaswamy roped in his big network in Salem to invest into a huge cricketing infrastructure on the outskirts of Salem. With just five phone calls, he got old Salem mates to invest in buying out the land for the Cricket Stadium. It was due to his initiative that the Salem Cricket Foundation was built on 22 acres of land, one with an 85 meters boundary. It is here that Super Kings Academy (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2022/10/super-kings-academy-mega-expansion-plans.html) was launched earlier this summer “It was a big dream come true. We have invested in the best cricket equipment at the stadium. 300-400 cars can be parked.”
Already U19, U22 and city v districts matches have taken place here in addition to the TNPL matches.
He was a rank outsider and much against the odds was elevated to the post of Secretary of one of India’s most prestigious cricket associations. Aged 64, Ramaswamy has been involved with cricket administration for close to four decades without a break. When he steps down this Saturday (Nov 5), he would leave behind for his successors at the TNCA strong finances with all compliance issues sorted out that would allow them to focus on pure cricketing activities. His pet project -The Salem Cricket Foundation - will be his cricket connect in the immediate term. His big regret was the inability of the TN team to succeed in Ranji cricket. He has a parting message for the TNCA “We need to play the first division matches on neutral venues and have independent TNCA curators prepare the pitch. That will pave the way for success in Ranji cricket.”