Heartbeat shot up for the fans when he batted in the 1980s as he thrilled them with a new brand of cricket that was hitherto unseen at the international level
From the Sundal seller in the D-Stand to the most knowledgeable of cricket fans, Srikkanth was a crowd favourite and created a new audience for cricket with his exhilarating batting
I learned a lot from Srikkanth. He transmitted Positivity - TVS' R Dinesh
It’s a scene from the 1980s. Tamil Nadu is batting first on a sunny morning at Chepauk. The Peanut vendor is all set at the far end of the ground at the D Stand with his basket and all excited as his favourite cricketer walks on to the middle with his Symonds bat. He shouts out the best wishes to him and within 15 minutes has sold a sizeable quantity of the nuts with the opener in blazing form striking fours and sixers including the answering the request of the vendor with a hit straight into the D Stand. The packed crowd in that stand is just as thrilled as the vendor boy as they go up in chorus cheering another six. It is what they have come for that morning – fireworks from ball one. There are near misses as well as a lofted stroke just clears the fielder and an outswinger beats the edge, each of which send the crowd into silence. It was always tense as one did not know what would happen the next ball and how long the blitzkrieg would last but they enjoyed every minute of what came their way. And when his favourite batsman gave it away yet another time when he was just beginning to look dangerous and well set for a big score, the peanut vendor’s mood changed quite drastically. The chatty guy suddenly turned sad and angry after his ‘Thalaivar’s’ dismissal. He was done with it for the day and left the D Stand happy with what he saw but his heart still yearning for more and shouted out the message that the King of Chepauk would score a Century the next time.
In the 1980s, Krishnamachari Srikkanth set the stands on fire with his batting that was well ahead of his time. Most of his teammates were conservative and traditional in their approach but not he. He was fearless and aggressive and wanted to dominate the fast bowlers right from the word go. He was also terrific against the spinners and dismissed them to all parts of the field with nonchalant ease. A feature of his batting was that his aggression was all directed straight – back over the bowler and over mid-off and mid-on. Rarely did he play ugly cross batted swipes. When the pacers tried to bounce him out, he hooked them into the stands with the best of that generation getting a taste of his medicine in the 1983 World Cup final. In the one dayers, he used the field restrictions in the first 15 overs to his advantage and hit over the top leaving the fast bowlers stunned.
His dashing stroke play reached its peak in Australia where a lot of the Indian openers had struggled previously and he even had the Aussie commentators looking forward to his demolition of the opposition bowlers. Many a time he committed Hara-Kiri and that’s one regret he has but the 1980s was a memorable decade when he transformed the way international openers looked at batting at the top of the order. Three decades after his retirement, he looks back with great joy at his cricket career in a chat with this writer. Here’s the story.
The Early days - Devotional learnings from his amma
Srikkanth’s amma was very religious and initiated him into a devotional way of life during his school days. Sitting at the verandah of his home in Neelankarai, Srikkanth recalls those early years when his interest in serious cricket was limited and restricted to playing tennis ball cricket “We lived a middle class way of life and as was the tradition those days, my parents inculcated in me devotional habits very early on that held me in good stead later on in life. I would regularly recite Adithya Hridayam and Hayagriva stotrams during my schooling years. Visiting the nearby temples was also a ritual that was initiated into me by my amma. The focus was on excelling in academics and in those early years, I batted in a ‘natural’ way, which turned out to be an aggressive way. It was not any well thought plan to play in that fashion. When the tennis ball was hurled at me, I instinctively hit it hard and back past the bowler and that’s how I developed that style of play.”
His Devotional Engagement with the Sun God
Later on in his cricketing years, his walk towards the square leg umpire and looking frequently at the Sun became a distinctive feature of his stay at the crease. Srikkanth once again credits his amma for instilling in him the devotional thoughts “Right from my school days, Surya Bhagawan was part of my daily prayers. We were told that Sun is the visible God and hence I always invoked His blessings when I was on the cricket field, especially while batting.”
It was those lessons from his early days that taught him humility. Despite his mega achievements at the international level, he did not forget the past and remained the same simple, down to earth, friendly human being to all his teammates from the 1980s. He simply did not have any airs about himself and continues to move around with cricketers in the same way he did back in his prime.
No Cricketing Ambitions
As a young boy, he had no inclination to play serious cricket. Even into his teens, the focus was on academics and he joined Engineering at the Guindy Engineering College with the intention of getting into a corporate life “Doing well in academics was the only focus and I joined Engineering with the intention of pursuing a career path similar to the boys my age. Even into my mid-teens, I had absolutely no ambition of even playing for the state let alone for the country.”
A Distinctive style right from his teenage days
But Devanatha Perumal of Thiru Vahindrapuram (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2008/03/thiruvahindrapuram-devanathan_29.html), who he had great devotion for, had different plans for him. By the time he was into his late teens, things changed dramatically for Srikkanth. There was a rapid upswing in cricket and he made his Ranji debut at 19. Rohinton Baria winning captain SM Krishna Kumar (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2024/01/sm-krishnakumar-madras-university.html) saw the aggressive side of Srikkanth even in that early phase much before he had made his Ranji debut “The fearless cricket that Srikkanth played at the top of the innings reminded me of the aggressive style adopted by P Ramesh in the preceding years in the mid 1970s. While most others in
the city played in a traditional way focusing on building an innings, Srikkanth
was different and his natural ability to hit the ball right from the start stood
out distinctly even in those early years of his cricket.”
No role model for his aggro
Srikkanth says he had no role model whose approach he based his game on and this just came naturally to him “While I was really impressed with Richards and Lillee and their aggressive way of playing cricket, GRV was the one I admired the most in my teenage years. But my aggressive batting style was just instinctive and there was no role model that I wanted to emulate. I tried to be as natural as possible and like in tennis ball cricket during my school days, I just wanted to hit it back over the bowler as straight as possible. I felt it was a simple approach to batting.”
Selectors back the new approach of this teenager
He gives credit to Sriraman, Annadurai and Rangachari for spotting the talent in him “Right through my career, I adopted the same approach and in fact threw away my wicket many times after crossing 50 when I could have easily converted those to centuries. But in that early stage in my career in the late 1970s, the Selectors and the Powers that be at the TNCA took a judgement call based on my approach. They liked the way I batted and saw something different in me and encouraged me a lot. Unlike the more conservative and traditional players who built long innings, those like me could get out early because of the ultra aggressive style and hence needed that extra support. They really backed my style of play and believed that I could go a long way with that different approach that not too many adopted in that period in the late 1970s and early 80s.”
Play and become like Venkataraghavan – Elders tell him
It was a traditional practice in the century gone by for youngsters to take blessings from elders on special occasions or ahead of important events. He recalls as to why S Venkataraghavan (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2020/04/venkataraghavan75.html) was such a legend and an iconic cricketing face for Tamilians “When in my late teens, I began showing some promise in cricket, the blessings from elders would always be the same thing every single time ‘Play and become like Venkataraghavan’. It showed what an impact he had made in the minds of middle-class families in Tamil Nadu."
In the late 1960s, opener KR Rajagopal (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2021/03/kr-rajagopal-dashing-opener-brilliant.html) was a brilliant wicket keeper and had amassed huge runs in domestic cricket but could not get into the squad to Australia. Similarly, B Kalyanasundaram picked up a hat trick in the Ranji final and always picked up the crucial big wickets when his captain needed him to but he too was overlooked at even the zonal level. Srikkanth has great regard for Kalli in the way he contributed to TN cricket and that came through in the way he agreed to meet this writer (when Kalli spoke about this writer at the 1970s cricketing meet at MCC and suggested to Srikkanth that he should meet and get featured in this section, the trust factor - another distinctive characteristic of Srikkanth - came through. He trusted the words of Kalli so much that in a matter of a few seconds he agreed to meet this writer despite the fact that he has not met any other media house for a story on his cricketing career).
In light of the above challenges that high performing TN cricketers faced in the 60s and 70s, Srikkanth credits Venkat's mental strength for holding his own in international cricket for such a long period "To play the kind of cricket he did at the international level amidst such stiff competition and to hold his own against three giant spinners was unbelievable. I had the greatest respect for him right from my childhood. There were times when he shouted at me especially when I did not meet his expectations and threw away my wicket but I took it in the right spirit that he was well meaning. He encouraged me a lot and was the guiding force and inspiration for me in cricket. He was my ‘Guru’ in cricket. I am also happy that I was able to fulfil the prayers and wishes of the elders. Like Venkat, I too did Engineering, played for India and also captained the country."
Sudden rise to cricketing glory
Srikkanth made his Ranji debut when he was just 19 in the 1978-79 season. Within a couple of years, he rose to great heights in cricket. Instead of donning the role of an engineer in the corporate world, he engineered a cricketing revolution on the cricket field with a style of play that was transformational “Like I said, till well into my teens, I had no cricketing ambitions. But its all Karma, and God decided that I should spend that decade in cricket and not as an Engineer. The big differentiator was that I scored big when it really mattered – be it the Irani Trophy match or the Zonal matches or those against visiting teams” says Srikkanth crediting all his success to the divine powers.
A great partnership with V Shiv – Opposite poles like each other!!!
In a glorious two year phase, Srikkanth forged a great opening partnership with V Sivaramakrishnan and the two posted several century stands both for TN and the Zone. It all began against Hyderabad in Dec 79 when Shiv came up against his brother Ramnarayan and almost notched a century with Srikkanth scoring 66. A month later the two put on a century stand in a Deodhar Trophy match playing for South Zone.
The knock against Goel gives him great confidence
The 1980-81 season was a big one for Srikkanth, one that catapulted him into the next phase in cricket. He scored close to 500 runs in Ranji Trophy including a belligerent 172 against Karnataka, once again sharing a century opening stand with V Shiv. But the knock that stood out that year was the fourth innings chase at Chepauk against the spin twins Rajinder Goel and Sarkar Talwar in the Ranji QF. Chasing over 250 to win, Srikkanth and Shiv posted another century stand to help take TN into the SF.
Srikkanth is philosophical about his big partnerships with Shiv in that phase “Shiv was a solid bat with a good temperament. We had a great understanding. When we went out to bat, he would ask me to play my strokes freely while he focused on giving me the strike. Yes, we did not have too many common qualities in the way we batted but maybe it was the case of ‘opposite poles’ coming together in a big way. I really enjoyed batting with Shiv and many a time we gave great starts to TN and SZ in that phase.”
He says that innings against Goel was a big confidence booster for him and it played an important role in him moving up the ladder in cricket.
The transformational season
The great start to the 1981-82 season got him into the teams against the visiting English side. He began the season with another century stand with Shiv in the Deodhar Trophy Final and followed that up with two half centuries in the Duleep Trophy. He scored half centuries playing for India U22 and the Board Presidents XI against England, innings’ that got him into the squad for the first test in Bombay “In those days, scoring big against visiting teams counted a lot as the selectors kept a close watch on these matches to see if the players were up to it against the international teams. My knocks against England in these two matches went in my favour ahead of that first test.”
The Debut Test - Takes a stroll and is run out
The previous year Ian Botham performed extraordinarily in the one off Golden Jubilee test in Bombay with a 13 wicket haul and a century. And just a few months prior to this first test, Botham made a remarkable comeback in the Ashes after being stripped of the captaincy. The old Botham was back to his aggressive best as was Bob Willis, who too was on the verge of being dropped. Willis' 8 wickets to bowl England to that famous win in Headingly is still spoken about four decades later as one of the best spells in cricket. And Srikkanth knew he was up against two of the best that year and the spinner in Emburey, who too had played a role in the Ashes earlier that year.
Srikkanth recalls the tension that ran through his blood in that debut test “I was not yet 22 and had received an early break in international cricket. I was really tense in that test match and overwhelmed by the occasion.”
While he made a duck in the first innings, he was in the spotlight for the wrong reasons in the second. He was infamously run out by Emburey when he strolled down the wicket for a casual walk after playing the ball to Gully. “The bigness of the occasion got to me and it was a mindless act. Yes, I did not attempt a single but I had no business to walk out of the crease and they were right in running me out. It was one of those early lessons in international cricket and that came to me in my very first test match.”
But this wandering itself and him being in his own world was not new, for in a Ranji match earlier he moved around in the field all on his own much to Captain Venkat’s anger. Later that decade, in a WSC match against Australia, when he was hit wicket and no one noticed and appealed, he quietly picked up the bail and placed it back on the stumps and continued to bat!!!
The first of the many big partnerships with Gavaskar
His debut was a huge disappointment to him and his fans back in Madras. He also scored a duck in his One day debut but he turned around the disappointment of the week in the 2nd test in Bangalore where he was to share the first of many great partnerships with the legendary Sunil Gavaskar. However, Srikkanth looks back with a bit of disappointment in the way he let go that opportunity “In my playing career, there were many days when I let go the opportunity of converting my fifties into big knocks. This was the first of those on the big stage. I had put together a century stand with Sunny and was batting well at 65 and should have gone on to a century. A hundred in just my 2nd test after the way I got out in the first would have given me greater confidence but I missed that opportunity and gave away my wicket.”
Kudos to the TN and Indian Selectors of the time
Owner of TSM(TS Mahalingam & Co), 2nd hand car dealer, K Ravishankar (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2020/12/k-ravishankar-alwarpet-tsm.html) played for Alwarpet for five seasons under Srikkanth starting 1987. It is a typically busy day at the TSM headquarters on Royapettah High Road and Ravi is at the receiving end of non stop calls from customers with queries on the sale and purchase of 2nd hand cars. But when he hears the name Srikkanth, he is all excited to talk for he considers Cheeka as a one in a generation and his All Time Favourite cricketer. "For a youngster like me, he was the greatest blessing I could have had in cricket. He had no airs about himself, mingled with all of us as equals and wanted the youngsters to succeed. What a confidence booster it was for the teenage cricketers to have him around at Alwarpet."
"The selectors of the time really need to be appreciated for having backed him early on. Based on pure stats and numbers, there were others at that time who made big hundreds but there was no opener in the country who could have batted like him. And the TN selectors, initially, and later the Indian selectors placed their faith on Cheeka and felt that his unique approach would put the opposition on the defensive. At a time, when you were told by your coaches to start slow, leave the first few balls alone and ‘pace your innings’, Srikkanth chalked out his own path but very importantly the selectors backed his approach when the selection methodology was to pick players who played the traditional way. It was a huge call by the selectors and it paid off for them through the 1980s."
The Greatest Chase in Domestic Cricket
At the start of the next domestic season, he played an innings that stands out as one of the best in his career. In the Irani Trophy match against Delhi, Rest of India were set a target of 420 in the fourth innings in less than 100 overs. Srikkanth, who made 83 in the first innings, recalls the message from his captain at the start of that chase “The rivalry between Bombay and Delhi was huge and Gavaskar did not like losing to Delhi. We had given away a big first innings lead and he was keen for me to give us a blistering start and asked me to go after their bowling.”
The fastest Indian bowler of the time TA Sekar (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2013/08/ta-sekar-architect-behind-worlds-best.html) was part of that team and remembers watching that magical innings “Scoring over 4 runs an over was unheard of in those days and definitely not in the fourth innings of a match. The way Srikkanth treated Sunil Valson at the start of that innings was unbelievable. He really had the belief that we could win and that was always his differentiator throughout his career. He always played positively and to win and believed that anything could be achieved. It was one of its kind success and he laid the foundation to chase a seemingly impossible 420runs and we did it in 80overs. Srikkanth’s century stood out for its positivity and he impressed everyone with that knock.”
Srikkanth himself credits that knock for his selection for the tour to Pakistan that immediately followed.
(Interestingly, six years later, his TN opening partner VB Chandrasekar (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2016/01/vb-chandrasekar.html) played a similar belligerant knock in the fourth innings to chase out an unlikely 350+ target in the Irani Trophy)
Very helpful to fellow cricketers
Sekar was roped into the Indian team ahead of the fifth test after Madan Lal sustained an injury midway through the tour. He has a lot of words of praise in the way Srikkanth guided him in that last part of that tour “Throughout his career, he was always helpful to his colleagues. I landed up in Karachi just one day before the match and did not know any bit of Hindi (or Urdu). Srikkanth was very supportive that fortnight and gave me a lot of confidence encouraging me all the time from his fielding positing at Short Leg. He genuinely wanted his teammates to succeed and did everything in his might to give them that much needed confidence.”
Score against Venkat and you will get in
Ravishankar recalls how Srikkanth motivated him and helped him get into the Buchi Babu team. "He came up to me at the end of the first day’s play against India Pistons and asked me to score big the next day as Venkat was watching me 'Perform against Venkat and show him that you belong'."
“It was his piece of advice that helped me concentrate the next day to score 96 before I got out to Venkat. I was soon roped into the Buchi Babu squad and I owe a lot of that to Cheeka in the way he encouraged and motivated me to make big scores. Alwarpet was a dream dressing room. He kept it light, the atmosphere was jovial and there was always good spirit when he was around. He made a big difference to Alwarpet. He was big hearted, trusted everyone around him and didn’t carry anything to heart. He was such a selfless cricketer."
Crowd lost interest after Cheeka's dismissal
Ravi says that he was always under huge pressure when he went in at No. 3 for Alwarpet "Sanku and Cheeka would blaze away at the start and when Cheeka got out and I went in and defended a few balls, the crowd got restless and slow handclaps would start that put a great deal of pressure on me. He set the standards so high at the start that it was an uphill task for a No. 3 like me to keep the crowd happy with my style of batting. The hands would shiver when you heard those claps from the crowd expressing their displeasure but Cheeka was always encouraging and allowed me to play my natural game."
Owe everything to Cheeka
Srikkanth's opening partner in the 1980s VV Sankapani (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2016/01/sankapani-vv_21.html) says that he owes all his success at the club level to Cheeka"In order to allow me to express myself, he would slowdown his pace of batting and ask me to bat freely. He gave me all the space and freedom to showcase my talent. He wanted me to play my strokes and always backed me when I got out early to a rash shot. It was his backing that gave me the confidence to play my strokes without the fear of being dropped hanging over your head. If I am today known a little bit for the way I played cricket, it was solely due to Cheeka's motivational talks and his encouragement. He was easily the best captain and a player's delight."
Bazball model in the 1980s!!!
While he did not make much of an impression through the matches in the first phase of the World Cup, one of his biggest moments in his cricketing career came in the final. He top scored in the final with 39, a knock that is talked about even today for the way he punished the greatest fast bowlers of the time. Middle order TN bat from the 1970s and owner of The Hindu, K Balaji, watched the final (he had also watched Richards’ century in the 1979 final at Lords) - https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2022/10/world-cup-1979-reliving-final-k-balaji.html- from a vantage position at Lords and is all praise for Srikkanth’s style of play in that phase “I had seen Srikkanth start off his TNCA league career in the mid 70s as a school boy in the same aggressive way that he later displayed at the international level. It is creditable that he continued in the same vein unmindful of the criticisms that came his way when he got out cheaply to a rash shot. For a World Cup final, when India were clearly the underdogs and against the best fast bowling attack in the world, he showed no nerves at all. I saw that square drive on one foot off Roberts from a reasonable distance and it was mindboggling- the confidence with which he played that shot. And so too the hooks that day of the bouncers that were hurled at him.”
“It is one thing to play aggressively at the domestic level and completely another to achieve success playing the same way at the international level against top notch fast bowlers. It is really creditable that he did not conform to the traditional style of the time and yet managed to succeed the way he did. He followed his natural instincts and unmindful of what others (the critics) thought of his game, he continued to pursue his unique style”, Balaji told this writer this week of how Srikkanth managed to buck the existing trend.
“I would say that he followed the Bazball kind of approach way back in the 1980s and that says a lot about Srikkanth’s thought process. He was way ahead of his time in terms of approaching the batting at the top of the order.”
Expectations soar
Srikkanth says that the World Cup Victory and his contribution in the final changed his life completely “When I came back to Madras, everyone started talking about my innings and the way I demolished the West Indian quicks. It was a feeling of conquering the ‘Everest’ and I was over the moon. The expectations among fans and friends shot up dramatically.”
On the test front, he went through a lull for a couple of seasons and it was not until the tour to Australia in 85-86 that he made any significant contribution.
Cricketing Peak
For a couple of years from early 1985, Srikkanth went through a glorious phase in his cricketing life. He captivated the worldwide audience with his dashing stroke play in the world championship of cricket (WCC) leaving even the Aussie commentators stunned. They had seen the West Indians play that style of cricket in the past and the only Indian who had given a glimpse of such attacking stroke play was Sandeep Patil with his knock in Adelaide earlier that decade but he did not last too long in the international circuit. The consistency with which Srikkanth tore apart the new ball attack sent shock waves across the opposition teams and 'there goes SriCant again' became an oft repeated phrase in the commentary box in the Australian summer of 85 and 86.
A Special Knock that he cherishes
While he played two scintillating knocks against Australia in the league phase in the WCC and then in the final against the Imran Khan led bowling attack, Srikkanth counts his knock against England as one of his favourite innings in his cricket career. It was a match famous for Sadanand Viswanath’s five dismissals and L Sivaramakrishnan and Ravi Shastri bamboozling the English batsmen with their turn but it was Srikkanth who set the Sydney crowd on fire with his breathtaking half century that afternoon It was the kind of knock that had been rarely seen from an opener in Australia and definitely not from any one from the sub-continent. None of the English bowlers had any answers to the way Srikkanth batted that day and he finally got out the only way he could have – run out beaten by a throw from the deep as he attempted a second run“That knock gave me a lot of satisfaction. It was one of the cleanest innings I played in one day cricket. Run a ball half century was unheard of in those times (from an Indian) and I played the perfect game that day. It ranks as a very special innings in my career and I cherish it to this day.”
The Humane side- WCC Final
Srikkanth’s humane side came to the fore in the WCC final when one of his favourite lofted shots over long off saw Ramiz Raja bang his chest against the railings. Srikkanth immediately showed great concern about the well being of Ramiz and that was a characteristic he displayed throughout his cricketing career. He always cared for his fellow cricketers.
His best test innings overseas- Flaying Bob Holland
He continued this one-day form in Australia into the test series later that year. Srikkanth had his best overseas test tour with a knock of 86 at MCG and a century at the SCG where he took a particular liking to the leggie Holland. Srikkanth considers taking on Holland and hitting him all over the park as an unforgettable experience“Only the previous year at the same ground, he had picked up a 10wicket haul against a very strong West Indian side at its peak. You never know about leggies. That knock gave me a lot of satisfaction and I count that as one of my best innings, overseas.”
In a matter of 12 months, Srikkanth had played his two most memorable knocks at the SCG.
Ravishankar is not surprised at the way he despatched Holland and recalls an innings at Chepauk that remains etched in his memory“Venkatramana had moved to Indian Bank from Alwarpet. After Sanku got out, I joined Cheeka at No. 3. While most count Srikkanth as a great player against fast bowling, he was equally outstanding against spin. On that day, he tore apart Venkatramana, who had already made his test debut by then and was in prime form. He hit him for over 50 runs in two overs including five sixers in an over and moved to a double hundred in no time. He hit Ramana to every part of Chepauk and showed what a class player he was against spin bowling too. He would look at the crowd and ask if they were happy. And when they wanted more, he hit another one into the stands. That's how entertaining he was and I was greatly privileged to watch one of the greatest innings in first division league cricket from the non striker's end."
Positive outlook made a huge difference
Sekar says that his was a significant achievement. "In a purist era, when the focus was on a strong defence, Srikkanth had the mental strength to buck the trend and play the way he wanted and succeed at the highest level. The biggest advantage he had was that he did not fear facing the fastest of bowlers and took them head on. It was very difficult to bowl to him as he hit the length balls over the top and hooked the short balls to the boundary. The selectors saw that as a big plus in him. He was always positive and energised his teammates with his outlook and instilled the feeling in them that a team could win from any situation. He rarely played for a draw."
His Best and most favourite innings in Test Cricket
In February 1987, at his home ground where he had thrilled the crowd over the previous decade, he played the innings of his life with a century against a strong Pakistan attack “The Chennai crowd and especially the supporters from D-Stand hold a special place in my heart. It was their encouragement that had given me a big boost early on in my career even from the time I was just getting into Buchi Babu cricket. It was always my desire to pay back to them through a big innings at Chepauk in international cricket. To play that kind of a knock against Imran and Akram and the legendary leggie Qadir remains the most memorable innings of my test career. I can still hear the crowd cheering every stroke of mine that day.”
Kind Hearted and Found Joy in others' success
It was around this time that a cricketer from Madurai was spotted by Srikkanth and whose life was immediately transformed. From nowhere, it was Srikkanth who spoke to TVS Chief R Dinesh to send the teenaged M Venkatramana from Madurai to Madras. Venkatramana, who is just back in the city from a coaching engagement with the Kerala Ranji team looks back at how Srikkanth transformed his cricketing life“It was the annual inter office match in the 1980s between TVS Chennai and TVS Madurai where Srikkanth saw me for the first time. He was so good at spotting talent and helping young cricketers that he immediately called Dinesh requesting him to send me to Chennai for greater exposure.”
“It was a very important phase in my life and he gave me the big break at the right time. It opened up new opportunities for me and I went on to play U22 and U25 cricket. Within a year or so, I was in the TN Ranji team and then shortly after I made it to the Indian team. Without Srikkanth, I would have missed the bus. It was also Cheeka who, soon after my test debut, asked me to join Indian Bank for long term security.”
“He was very kind hearted, always looking to give opportunities to youngsters and took great joy in the success of others.”
Srikkanth - The surprise off spinner
End of 1988, he shone with the bat and ball against New Zealand including taking two five wicket hauls in the one dayers with his off spin. Unfortunately, a few months later in the final one dayer against the West Indies, he had his hand broken by Ian Bishop that ruled him out of the entire test series, one where his ‘Guru’ Venkataraghavan was the manager. Venkatramana bemoans that as a personal loss in his career "Had Cheeka been there for the test series, I may have played earlier on a turning track at Port of Spain and it may have given me a boost to my career, especially as I had performed well in the tour matches."
Makes a mark as a captain
In what was to be one of his biggest achievements in his test career, Srikkanth captained India in late 1989 to a famous series draw in Pakistan, something that had not been achieved in earlier periods, though he himself was woefully out of form with the bat.
Once again, like with his batting, he credits his approach for his success in captaincy "As a captain, you need to show confidence in the team given to you. I trusted the players and had faith in them and allowed them to express themselves without any restrictions. It was the same reason that we were able to chase the huge target in the fourth innings in the Irani Trophy match in 1988. When they did not enforce the follow on despite a lead of over 200, I told my players that we have it in us to chase whatever target they give us and instilled the belief that we could do it come what may. And it rubbed off on VB who played a once in a life time innings."
Not changed one bit in four decades
TN opener of the time NP Madhavan (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2016/05/np-madhavan.html), who later moved to SVPB Udumalpet first opened with Srikkanth at the U22 level in the late 1970s and also opened with him later in Sri Lanka in the Gopalan Trophy match. He met his opening mate at the 1970s cricketer meet organised by SM Krishna Kumar at the MCC in January (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2024/01/1970s-madras-cricketers-meet-mcc.html) and is surprised at how Srikkanth has remained unchanged over four decades “Cheeka is still what he was and remains a very good friend. There is no change in his attitude or mannerism. He had always been lively and helpful to anyone. He never held grudge against anyone and never complained or spoke a bad word about any cricketer. Whenever he meets, he never forgets to enquire about the well being of the family. For a player of his stature, it is amazing that he has not forgotten his early days in cricket and the players he played with before he became an international star."
Unfortunately, a rift with the BCCI cut short his captaincy stint and that remains one of his regrets. He had been unanimously praised in the way he handled his players and the way India came back with their heads held high after the Pakistan tour but he had to let go his captaincy when he believed he had it in him to captain the country a bit longer.
Another special knock against Windies' quicks
At the tail end of his career, he gave one final reminder to his fans. In the triangular WSC match at Adelaide in December 91, he scored 82. He counts that as one of his best innings in one day cricket “It was a pretty fierce attack comprising of Marshall, Ambrose and Patterson and once again I scored a run a ball 82. That knock gave me a lot of satisfaction for I could show the cricketing fraternity that I could still hold my own against the fastest bowlers in the world.”
Displayed great warmth and was genuinely affectionate
With his international success, he was wanted by every club in the city in the 1980s but he would never leave the TVS group and Alwarpet right till the end for he believed that they backed him all the way and at the top of his career. Srikkanth told this writer in May 2022 that very early in his domestic career, Jolly Rovers had reached out to him but in his mind he had provided a lifetime commitment to the TVS Group and would not move away from them irrespective of the lucrative offers.
A day after he was with the PM of India at the MSME event organised by his firm in Madurai, TVS’ R Dinesh spoke to this writer on how he himself learned a lot of positive things from Srikkanth “For all his big achievements at the international level, he displayed no ego. He was genuinely interested in the game and enjoyed playing cricket at any level. He simply gave his heart and soul to the game.”
International Cricketer - By Train to Virudanagar to play a match!!!!
Dinesh is still awe struck with the simplicity of Srikkanth “In the 1980s, soon after he returned from an international match, he took a train from Madras and played a match in Virudanagar. It was mind boggling to see 10000 people come to watch a match in that town and every single person came just to see him. That was the kind of positive impact he had on people in that phase.”
“His biggest differentiator was the ability to connect with everyone. He could relate to the fan on the street and get into an engaging conversation with him. And the next minute, he could be talking serious intellectual stuff with the CEO. And his friendly Chennai lingo was a big hit with the cricketing community.”
"Even when you met him after a year’s break, the way he engaged with you made it feel like he was there with you the previous day. For a man who achieved such great success at the international level with the greatest cricketers of the time being spell bound with his approach to batting, he displayed great warmth and was genuinely affectionate as a person off the field even when he was at his peak for India. Even today we are good friends because of that."
"I learned a great bit from the way he conducted himself and imbibed a lot of the positive qualities from him."
THE GREAT ENTERTAINER
Srikkanth went on to become the only Indian to win the World Cup both as a player and a selector. He provided a dashing start in the fourth innings chase in the tied test in Madras in 1986. He was a trend setter in international cricket in the 1980s with his dashing style of play at the start of the innings. It was only towards the end of that decade that New Zealand opener Mark Greatbatch followed his model in one day cricket. And it took another decade for Adam Gilchrist and Virendra Sehwag to adopt the aggressive model that Srikkanth had kicked off in the early 1980s. He was an extra ordinary fielder in the outfield as well as at short leg.
His biggest contribution was the cheer he brought to everyone around - his teammates, the opposition and the crowd alike with that incident in the 1985 WCC semi final being testimony to the way he played cricket and entertained everyone. With Cairns going great guns in the final few overs to take NZ past the 200 mark (which was a big deal in those days in one day cricket), Srikkanth dropped a sitter at deep mid wicket. And then the next ball, he refused to go for the catch when Cairns hit another big one. In front of that huge crowd at the SCG, an angry Gavaskar, unhappy with his effort, dismissed Srikkanth away to square leg much to his anguish. But Srikkanth had the last laugh and with him the entire cricketing world too as the next ball was skied once again in his direction this time high to square leg and the great judge of a catch that he was, he held it with ease. Even as he was explaining the twilight as a reason for not being able to spot the previous ball, the cameras shifted its attention to a blushing Gavaskar who covered his face with his hat to hide his sheepish smile. That was Krishnamachari Srikkanth for you – always an entertainer.