The nephew of TVS’ Suresh Krishna was very passionate about cricket in his teens and had it in him to make it big in cricket but quit early and went on to become a top notch IT Professional at Microsoft - In his comeback innings in Cricket, he is all excited about the MLC in the US
Sanjay was a rare 'Complete’ Package as a teenager – WV Raman, former India Cricketer and U15 and U19 SZ team mate
In the mid 1950s, S Ram, the Grandson of TVS Iyengar was developing into as a top swing bowler and had played for South Zone as a teenager but with an auto business to manage he quit cricket for his family business (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2020/06/tvs-ram-s-cricketer.html). Three decades later, a nephew of his, Sanjay Parthasarathy (Sundram Fasteners Suresh Krishna’s sister’s son) was making a strong case for himself on the cricket field as an opening batsman. He played for MCC in the first division and had represented South Zone at the U15 and U19 level playing alongside future India cricketers such as WV Raman and L Sivaramakrishnan. He had also played in the Rohinton Baria inter Universities tourney. But just out of his teens, he decided to hang up his cricketing shoes and moved overseas into a non-cricketing nation (then) to pursue his Masters. And soon after, he became a top notch Tech Professional at Microsoft and anchored Bill Gates’ visit to India in the late 1990s that brought IT investment into the country. Though he quit cricket early, his passion did not die. In his second innings in cricket, he has invested big dollars in cricket and will be Mentoring the Seattle team in the Major League Cricket in the US that is set to start in the next three months. Here’s the story.
A Top Ranker at School, But Great Cricketing Interest
Sanjay Parthasarathy was a top ranker at school with special interest in Physics, Chemistry and Maths. While he was studious throughout his school life, he was also very passionate about cricket, though not very ambitious and rose to great heights as a teenager. His appa Parthasarathy had played in the Rohinton Baria for Jadhavpur University and had earlier been coached by the revered KS Kannan, the much liked cricket coach at Don Bosco. Sanjay too blossomed under the watchful eyes of Kannan and was an integral part of the DB team that won many tournaments in the late 1970s and early 80s before the cricketing power shifted to Santhome.
Sanjay is just back from a trip to the historical Adhi Jagannathan Perumal Divya Desam in Thiru Pullani (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2017/11/thiru-pullani-divya-desam.html). Interestingly, he has already done two temple trips this summer!!! He told this writer at his palacious home (much like VBC later, Sanjay too had earmarked a pitch to practice at home as a school boy) in Boat Club about the influential role of his first cricket coach “Kannan was big on practice. We underwent rigorous training under him. In the net session every evening, he stressed on the importance of hard work. Fielding sessions were not in vogue those days at the school level, but he was particularly keen that in addition to batting and bowling, one had to sharpen the fielding skills as well and fielding practice was integral to our day at the nets. All these helped me a great deal in getting the basics right.”
A Well Balanced Personality
Akbar Ibrahim, who played Ranji cricket for TN in the mid 1980s, was Sanjay’s classmate at DB for a dozen years. They both batted at the top of the order and strung together several partnerships including a tournament winning one that Akku distinctly remembers “We were playing the final of the TNCA schools tourney at RKM ground against a very strong Adarsh team comprising of U19 stars. We won the finals through a big partnership that the two of us put on. He scored a half century and anchored the victory.”
“For a large part, he was a quiet guy but had great communication ability and when he got chatting, he made a lot of sense in everything he spoke. He could talk on a wide variety of topics. He was very well balanced person even as a school boy.”
Former India Bowling coach B Arun (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2022/01/b-arun-ipl-son-adithya-coaching-academy.html), whose cricket academy Sanjay visited this week on the outskirts of Chennai, remembers that match "Akku had told me about this stylish batsman at the top of the order and to watch out for him in the future. It was my first encounter and he definitely turned out to be a fine talent and very promising at that early stage."
His First Century
Opening with VV Sankapani, Sanjay scored a century for TN against Andhra in the interstate U15 match at Marina. It was his first big moment in cricket and he cherishes the knock of 129 to this day“It was that century that gave me the early confidence and instilled the belief that I belonged at this level. It laid the foundation for my cricket in the coming years.”
Sankapani (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2016/01/sankapani-vv_21.html) was a dashing opener and set the city grounds alight with his stroke play from ball one. He says that opening together for the state brought them close and he had many a memorable moment with Sanjay “In those days, both of us would write our name on the gloves as SP (Sanka Pani and Sanjay Parthasarathy). Throughout our cricket association, he would always pull my leg that he had the ‘copyright’ over SP. It was great fun being with him on so many tours. While I was the flashy batsman, he showed great temperament and patience to build an innings. He was really matured for his age and mentored me a lot in terms of not asking me to give away my wicket to impetuous shots but I did not have the ability to grasp those finer points in my early teens and often threw away my wicket much to his frustration.”
Glimpses of Zaheer in his batting
Pak Legend Zaheer Abbas was in peak form when India toured in 1978 and many would remember the bashing he handed out to the Indian spinners. Business Editor of The Hindu Suresh Seshadri saw Sanjay bat from close quarters during the late 1970s and early 80s at Don Bosco and saw a lot of the Zaheer in him “He was truly gifted with ability and timing as a batsman and reminded me of Zaheer for his languid grace and placement with his offside strokes."
Suresh Seshadri
M Sanjay was one year junior at Don Bosco and has known him closely right from his childhood. He too recalls the similarities with the Pak great “Sanjay was a stylish player and all elegance and grace. He was bespectacled, wore a sweat band like Zaheer and was very similar to him in style.”
"As a personality, he was quiet but very intense on the field. Sometimes he was misunderstood as being laidback especially since he hailed from a very high profile (TVS) family. He was just one within himself and not too outgoing. He had a small circle of friends and moved extremely well with them. He was silently tough and quietly aggressive."
Makes the Bombay cricket trip, picks up a State Rank in Class X
He enjoyed a great time for TN at the U15 level and also contributed for South Zone that included 6 players from TN (WVR, LS, Vijay Rajamani, Ashok Kaushik, Sankapani and Sanjay). In early 1980, Sanjay was to travel to Bombay for the U15 match. With the Board exam just around the corner, DB’s Principal called on his amma (Radha Parthasarathy), who was a big source of inspiration, to enquire about the possible conflict of interest and the cricket trip impacting his academics.
Sanjay says that his parents encouraged him and his two sisters (State TT players) in their sporting endeavours. “My amma gave the green signal. I made the trip, came back and ended up with a State rank in Class X.”
Patti’s big cricket support
In 1980, he won the TN Junior Cricketer of the Year (LS had won it the year before and the one after) award. He says that the family appreciated his cricketing achievements but there was not ‘much fuss’ about it at home. The biggest cricketing support came from his patti, Ambujam Krishna, who was a great fan of his. It was she who collected and put together all his paper scores in a scrap book.
Sanjay's most prized cricketing scalp
In 1980-81, Don Bosco beat a strong Hindu HSS in the final of the TNCA tournament, one that Sanjay counts amongst his best matches and a tourney victory that he dedicates to his favourite coach Kannan. He was also coached subsequently by PK Dharmalingam (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2015/06/pk-dharmalingam.html), who he refers to as a 'professional' but the real cricketing joy came from being coached by Kannan.
He himself picked up four wickets and scored a half century in that final. While WV Raman did the star turn picking up 13 wickets in the match, it Sanjay had the last laugh and particularly remembers picking up Raman’s wicket with a ball that he says 'went the other way'. It is the wicket that he considers the most prized in his cricket career.
TN keeper from the 1980s and his namesake M Sanjay, who now volunteers at Isha Foundation Coimbatore, also recalls the way he foxed many a batsman with his non – off spin “He was a useful off spinner. He used to try his best to turn the ball. Seeing the twisting of the wrist, many a batsman expected big turn and were often foxed by the one that went straight. And sometimes he bowled the other one. He was quite an unpredictable bowler.”
Almost the same bunch of cricketers graduated to U19 and Sanjay made useful contributions in the Cooch Behar tournament including in the final at the Wankhade in 1982 against North Zone.
Raman played together with Sanjay for a number of years in many different tournaments and the two have remained good friends ever since. Raman says that even as a young teenager, Sanjay was very committed in whatever he did. “He was diligent and a keen student of the game. Despite his high profile background, he was always humble and polite. Standout features of his helpful and kind nature came to the fore on our long trips in age group cricket when we went North and West. He would bring an assortment of food from his home for the entire team.”
"His clarity at that young age stood out amongst the TN players. While he was passionate about the game, he was clear that academics was just as important. He would read the portions thrice before the exams and even studied during our train trips."
But the thing I hate about him the most is that he has never ceased to remind me of getting my wicket with his off spin in the final of the TNCA schools tournament, Raman told this writer bursting into laughter.
M. Sanjay, who has been the head of cricket operations at the academy at Ramachandra College (where Dave Whatmore was the Chief Coach) for six years, says that when his namesake moved up from the middle order to open the batting, some felt that he did not have it in him. But he did not flinch and was a revelation as an opener.
"At that time, in the way he approached cricket, I felt he was a sure shot for Ranji."
Collegiate
Cricket - Rohinton Baria..... but lost a bit of sting
In his cricketing phase at Anna University, he lost a bit of the bite as the academic intensity took over. He says the college extended up to 5pm and there were no daily net sessions like the one at DB and that made a big difference. Nonetheless he did make big runs in that phase for the college. Sanjay’s captain at Anna University, PC Prakash (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2022/04/pc-prakash-tn-ranji-1980s.html), now Chief of TNCA Academy, remembers him as a stylish bat and a run machine. "He was a wholesome cricketer at that time- was a good fielder and bowled decent off spin. As a batsman, he was technically correct and compact and could have easily played higher levels for TN but he chose to pursue his Masters in the US. He made big runs for Anna University in the year we qualified for the all India Rohinton Baria tournament. He was consistent through that season."
"Particularly striking and strong in my memory even now after four decades is the fact that he had no airs about himself though he came from a top industrialist family and moved well with all of us and was very friendly."
Thorough Professional
Sanjay wanted to remain entirely professional in the way he conducted himself both on the cricketing field as well as on the corporate front later on.
"I have labored my whole life, not to distance myself from the family, but to stand on my own two feet and hope that anything that I do can be credited to my effort. This is what I learned from my father" he told this writer.
"It is ironic that growing up in Chennai, I had to work 10x harder so I wouldn’t be seen to take advantage of the family name. And in the US where I had no privilege I had to work 10x harder as an immigrant to prove that I was good enough."
Former TN wicket keeper and PCP's Ranji team mate from the late 1980s, D Girish is now Chairman of Cricket Advisory Committee. He was Sanjay’s batch mate at Anna University. Talking to this writer from Sikkim, where he is on a summer holiday after picking the new TN Selection committee for the coming season, Girish pointed to Sanjay being a highly focused and determined cricketer. “He was a deeply intense character and gave his 100% on the field. Though he was from a very affluent family, he was able to adjust himself to the travails of cricketing tours (many of the train trips were extremely tiring) with the poor facilities in those days. Sanjay was all cool and mingled with us as equals. He never missed a practice session and we had a lot of fun playing together over those years at College.”
Best Cricketing year at YMA under B Arun
He played for YMA under B Arun and considers that as his most enjoyable year in cricket and that's no surprise. Both are high on communication and clarity of thought “It was fabulous entertainment and we just enjoyed playing. And it was no wonder I ended up scoring a lot of runs.”
He would have taken to Cricket as a career had he been playing now
Arun told this writer just a few hours ahead of his team's (KKR) IPL match against Gujarat that he practiced a lot with Sanjay at the BS Nets where they were part of the Schools Camp. He was very promising but he just looked Studious. He was always good to interact with. He was clear that his first priority was Education. Beyond a point, he knew he was not going to pursue cricket as a career. If he had been playing like that now, it is very likely he would have continued with cricket but in the 1980s, it was logical for a top ranker in academics to go the education route. And it took him places!!!
A Good Season at MCC
In 1985, he signed up for MCC in the first division. Long time MCC offie VV Giri who has continued to play inter club cricket till very recently recalls his memories of Sanjay from that season. "He used to be thin, trim and was a smart student of the game and very intelligent. He was a graceful right hander and a wonderful fielder. He was soft spoken and a gentleman to the core. I was very happy to play with him but unfortunately for us (at MCC), he moved to USA after one year. He could have gone higher up in cricket had he continued to play senior division league here"
Former BCCI President S Sriraman sent a letter home wherein he wrote that he was happy to see Sanjay knocking on the doors of Ranji with his consistent performances and a long and successful cricketing career beckoned.
The MIT experience - Mind Blowing
But it was not to be. In 1986, he moved to MIT and got into Artificial Intelligence, an experience that he says was phenomenal “The difference between education here (then) and the years at MIT was one of a night and 1000 brilliant suns. It was a mind boggling experience. The freedom and intellectual thinking blew my mind. You would have been finished here (in India) for such thinking” says Sanjay.
“It was just as big a gift to be at MIT as it had been for me to have played such enjoyable cricket for a decade earlier.”
No real cricketing ambition- The Safety Net in Life
Sanjay agrees that he could have been more ambitious but all along at the back of his mind he knew that academics was the way forward for him ‘I just enjoyed the rigour of practice and the challenge of battling it out on the field. I knew it was never going to be my career. I played for fun and in a way that helped me really enjoy that phase in cricket.”
But he is quick to point out the benefits of safety net in life “Most cricketers of that gen depended on cricket for a career and a job. “I had a safety net in that phase. I have always remembered that it is very easy to underestimate the ‘Power of Privilege’.”
Sunil Gavaskar was his all time favourite batsman. Though many from his generation idolized GRV, Sanjay liked Sunny, who he finally met four years ago, for his grit, determination and the process he followed. Gavaskar was not the most fashionable of batsmen but he definitely worked a methodology to fight it out against the best of the bowlers.
Sanjay counts his first century, the two finals against North Zone and the win against Raman’s Hindu HSS as his best moments in cricket.
While batting with Sanku during the schooling phase, he was a lot more responsible in the way he batted. At college, with Girish and PCP in the middle order, he took on a Sanku role and played with a lot more freedom and aggressively.
Two Decades of a high profile life at Microsoft
After another couple of years of Masters at MIT, he joined Microsoft in 1990 and was there for close to two decades. In 1996, when he launched the India ops, it was he who foresaw India becoming a Super Power in IT. He was the cynosure of all eyes in that phase as an Indian making it to the top of the IT World in the US. In 2010, he founded a tech startup that he ran for six years before selling it off at a high valuation.
He missed out completely on the SRT era in cricket with Microsoft not offering a minute of free time in those two decades. But as soon as he came out, he began watching CSK’s matches in the IPL just over a dozen years ago.
The Cricketing Come Back- 2023
And now in the phase after the Pandemic, Sanjay is to make a comeback in cricket after nearly four decades. He has co-founded a team in the US Major league. He says it has been bubbling for a while and he is now in the process of getting it off the ground in Seattle. Like his previous corporate start up, the cricketing venture too is a startup. He has been joined in this endeavor by his old college mate Somasegar. With just 80 days to go for the kick off, he says the next two months will be hectic. Going forward he will play the role of Mentor at Seattle club. He says he particularly enjoys the confluence of Sport, Business and Creativity. Sanjay has already starting dishing out his creative juice for the next season!!! He recently made a trip to Delhi to meet the partners (stake holders) at Delhi Capital, which part owns the Seattle Franchise.
He always liked challenges, was self driven and self motivated. His passion can be seen in the way he has invested in a team in the US cricket league says Girish.
Sanjay was a Rare Package -WVR
While most people have big plans and ambitions, Sanjay executed it with finesse. And it was no surprise that he achieved what he did in the corporate world. It is also no surprise to me that he is coming back into cricket now. One simply cannot take the man out of cricket. He was so passionate about the game in his teenage days. There was no helmets in those days and he wore a glass but he did not flinch one bit even while facing a real quick Chetan Sharma in the Zonal match, says Raman.
"Sanjay was a rare kind of Package. He was well mannered, came from an affluent family but absolutely had no airs about himself, displayed great inter personal skills, always lent a helping hand to others, his head was firmly on his shoulders, has kept in touch with his old teammates even after over three decades. And on the field, he was a very dependable batsman and scored runs almost every time he went out to bat."
High on Generosity
M Sanjay says that his namesake was full of generosity "When I went for the India U15 schools camp, he handed me his high priced bat for the entire tour."
Sankapani too has high words of praise for Sanjay’s generosity and going out of the way to help his team mates. “Almost four decades after we played together for TN, he went out of the way to help my son with his education in the US. That’s Sanjay for you. He is ever willing to help his teammates and has never forgotten the joys of the cricketing days from the 1970s and early 80s.”
Arun says that Sanjay's love for the game has resurfaced with his involvement in the Major League Cricket and it is likely he will enjoy this stint in exactly the same way he enjoyed playing cricket as a youngster.
The Second Innings in Cricket
In the 1970s and 80s, we (TN) won almost everything on sight at the age group level in cricket. We knew deep inside that we were good enough to win and the only way that we would not was when we did not play to our potential. But a most important lesson in life is that you are not guaranteed to win everything. Hence the process, intent and value system is more important than the win itself. Both in cricket and at the work place over the last three decades, I have used this phrase ‘Trust the Process’ a lot, says Sanjay.
Cricket, he says, has taught him two big lessons that he put to great use in the Corporate World “Never give up till the end and Practice as hard as you can” have been life lessons that have stood with me during the most testing times. Cricket gave me a positive boost and it brought together a lot of threads in my life. It is interesting, complex and satisfying. The prospects of what might happen in the cricket league is already giving me goose bumps. Even just thinking about cricket gets my ‘non-existent’ hair to stand up. There are so many possibilities of what can be done.
Though there are a million kids playing cricket, he says there is no downside to playing the sport. The key though is that you don’t want unqualified people coaching susceptible kids. He has some interesting ideas though it is still only ‘lumps of clay’. Only a handful can be wildly successful in cricket. What about the rest, he asks. How can they benefit from those skills that they have learnt over the previous ten years? He says there is a lot anxiety among kids about the future and dealing with the uncertainty. One has to build a resilience while playing and that will help later on in facing any of the challenges that life throws at you. Sometime in the near future, Sanjay could come up with a solution to these challenges and make it a real enjoyable experience for the cricketing kids from the new generation.
For the moment, his focus is on the 'processes' leading up to the launch of the Major League Cricket even as he heads back to the US early next week to get the action going on the ground.
Best Wishes to Sanjay Parthasarathy in his new cricketing venture.