DECADE I

Karnataka Cricket Decade I - The 30's

To narrate the tale of Karnataka cricket, one has to be a historian, a poet and a dramatist all rolled into one. Lesser mortals, like this writer, could, at the most, only make an attempt to make it a readable hand-book The amazing degree of dedication shown over the years by the officials of the administrative wing, the adorable cultural touch being given by the players, a huge and passionate army of admirers, a remarkable sense of responsibility being exhibited by the media, and, above all, the spontaneity with which the government, the industries and business establishments often reveal their care and affection for this sport. All these jointly built an enviable image for Karnataka cricket in the Indian sports scene.

The first three decades of the 20th century saw the short, two-rung ladder –schools cricket and colleges cricket—catching the imagination of sport-watchers especially in Bangalore and Mysore. The contribution of Hubli-Darwar aspirants in this regard too was notable though they were essentially inspired by the hectic cricket activity in the Bombay-Maharashtra zone during the earlier decades. Now, for the last three decades, they are playing a commendable role in the development of Karnataka cricket. So are the other zones like Shimoga, Raichur and Mangalore. The third rung of the ladder—the most significant at that—appeared during the early years of the 1920s in the name of “private Clubs”. The Bangalore United CC (BUCC) is, in fact, older than the KSCA itself and still looks hale and healthy.

The arrival of BUCC encouraged others to form clubs not only in the famous sporting cities of Mysore and Bangalore but also in some of the district headquarters of the state like Shimoga, Chickamagalur and Tumkur. The on-the-field exploits of the collegians and the club players forced many an instinctively imaginative cricket organiser to think in terms of organising short “cricket trips” to the neighbouring cities. Soon such trips were reciprocated by the neighbouring cities. “How long should we be playing only this type of cricket? We must do something big and more purposeful”. That was a sensible thinking and thus born the Mysore State Cricket Association in 1933 and it gained the affiliation of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) in 1934.

The men behind this historic event of getting into the mainstream called the BCCI were Prof J.C.Rollo, Jastice Mr P.Medappa, Capt.T.Murari, Major YVK Murthy, capt.M.G.Vijayasarathi and a host of other devoted soldiers. Thus began Karnataka cricket’s journey on a regulated path. JC Rollo, an Englishman, was the first president of the Association. Since then, till date, popular and respected persons from almost all walks of life, held several important posts in the Association and contributed their mite to make the Association grow on a systematic pattern--brick by brick.

From a small room at the Central College pavilion to the massive structure on the MG Road—Chinnaswamy stadium—did not happen over night. The leaders and their soldiers functioned with such an admirable sense of understanding that a sort of a family atmosphere always prevails in and around the Association. This has been the speciality of Karnataka cricket that has earned it a prestigious status in Indian cricket. The trend was set in the early 1930s and is being continued till date. No wonder if it continues forever. For, such is the mental make-up and salient feature of persons belonging to Karnataka cricket. Right from the President to the last groundsman the culture is maintained in a manner born.

After Rollo, personalities like P.Medappa, S.P.Rajagopalachari, Singaravelu Mudaliar, C.S.Pitchamuthu J.B.Mallaradhya and several other prominent citizens of the state who functioned in various capacities in the Association, ensured a smooth running in those days when corporate sponsorship was an unheard proposition. In the 1950s there emerged two powerful leaders in S.A.Srinivasan and M.Chinnsawamy. The twin created a refreshing trend that suited the atmosphere prevailed in Indian cricket at that period. SAS who began as a hon. treasurer in 1953-54 became the president in 1961-62 and held that post till his death in Aug 1973. Chinnaswamy who became the hon. secretary in 1953 provided credibility and class to that post till 1978. Then from 1978 he remained the president till 1990 when Dr K.Thimmappiah, the man who scored the first Ranji trophy century for the state, took over. This multi-faceted man is one of the most popular and respected citizens of the state. His association with the game for over 60 years made Doctor Thimmappiah an integral part of the state cricket. And he is the BUCC man.

M.Chinnaswamy occupies the most glittering chapter in the history of Karnataka sport while the part played by him in the growth of Indian cricket will always be recalled with reverence. Such were this great motivator’s achievements as a cricket administrator. A fatherly figure, Chinnaswamy could be described as a democrat who willingly wore the mask of a dictator. His honesty and integrity, his passion for the game, his care for the cricketers and his colleagues helped him to function with ultimate authority. Close associates always recognised a hidden child in this giant of a man. The KSCA honoured itself by naming the stadium after him. It was a fitting tribute to this great man but for whose relentless efforts the association would not have acquired the 16.25 acres of land. The land belonged to the defence ministry and so obtaining it for constructing a cricket stadium looked like asking for the impossible. But the convincing manner in which Chinnaswamy approached the powerful politicians of those days like Messrs N.Nijalingappa, Veerendra Patil, Ramakrishna Hegde and S.M.Krishna, did the trick. The popular political personalities of the later years like Messrs D.Devaraj Urs, R.Gundu Rao, Veerappa Moily, and S.Bangarappa all considered the needs of the KSCA with great understanding. The credit for the healthy KSCA-Govt relationship, thus, must go to Chinnaswamy.

C.Nagaraj became the hon.secretary in 1978 with Chinnaswamy taking over as the president. He held that post till 1998 when Brijesh Patel a former Test cricketer, defeated him in elections. Nagaraj who had served the KSCA in various capacities (committee member, team manager, asst.secretary) during his long association with the KSCA was also served the BCCI as joint.secretary and hon. secretary. During his 20-year secretary ship (1978-98) the entire Indian cricket was keen to keep pace with the changing time. The sponsors were showing enough signs for having come to stay with cricket on a long-term basis. Thus the demands of running a state cricket association and staging international matches became very high and thereby challenging. From this angle, Nagaraj’s contribution could be hailed as huge and commendable. No doubt, when a set of persons rules an association for decades in succession, there bound to be detractors. Yet the fact remains that Nagaraj would go down in the history of Karnataka cricket administration as an important personality.

The 1996 World Cup came as a great boon to the KSCA.The floodlights, and other basic facilities at the stadium had to be improved and KSCA covered itself with glory by conducting the India—Pakistan quarterfinal match in a grand manner. Nagaraj and his men can take full credit for this unprecedented success. Ironically enough, Nagaraj who was hailed as the “cricketers' man” almost throughout his tenure, was beaten in the 1998 elections by a team of cricketers headed by Brijesh Patel. But then, the 1998 election results clearly showed that the KSCA firmly believes in democratic methods and both the victors and the vanquished deserve lofty praise for the smooth take-over. K.M.Ramprasad, a former Ranji trophy player won the president’s post from Dr K.Thimmappiah, and, Brijesh Patel won the secretary’s slot from Nagaraj.

The new team is just three years old. Yet its performances till date are highly impressive. The team’s very first assignment was a match between India “A” and the West Indies “A”. That was a sponsor less match. Yet the KSCA office-bearers and committee swung into action and made the assignment a financial success. That match could be termed as the morale-booster to this new team. That success gave the needed confidence to the KSCA. A series of sponsors are now associated with the KSCA. That is a good sign in modern sports administration. Blue prints are being prepared to make cricket in the moffusil centres more active and competitive.

Running a state sports association (particularly that of cricket) is like running a huge joint family without affecting anyone’s sentiments and sense of freedom and importance. This the KSCA has been doing exceptionally well right from the day it was formed in 1933-34 and it looks certain to maintain it for many more years to come.

Mysore state (it became Karnataka in 1974) played its first Ranji trophy match on Nov 4 1934 against Madras (now Tamilnadu). In fact that was the first ever Ranji trophy game. Mysore had the dubious distinction of losing that tie on the first day itself. Till date no Ranji trophy match ever had got over in one day!

Mysore was skittled out for 48 and 59. Madras that made 130 in its fist knock thus won the encounter by an innings and 23 runs. Madras’s hero was left-arm spinner A.G.Ram Singh who took six for 19 and five for 16. For the loser M.G.Vijayasarathi with his fast off-breaks bagged 6 for 23 and returned as the tragic hero.

Those were the days when newspaper addicts used to rush to the Railways station to obtain a copy of the newspaper (The Hindu) from the train that comes from Madras in the morning. On Nov 5, 1934 most cricket lovers were surprised to see the Mysore Ranji trophy team also arriving by that train after having completed the match in one day! “Everything is there in the paper”, said one of the players when asked why the team had returned on the “second day” of the match itself.

Mysore state’s first ever Ranji trophy team comprised M.S.Taversham (captain), N.Curtis, P.McCosh, K.S.Ramamurthy, T.Murari, R.Nailer, M.G.Vijayasarathi, S.Darashah, Buttenshaw, B.R.Nagaraj Rao and Y.S.Ramaswamy.

Those were the days when the south zone competition was played on a knockout basis. Thus there was nothing significant happened to Mysore cricket.

DECADE II

Karnataka Cricket Decade II- The 40's

The 1940s began on a grand note for Mysore. Safi Darashah and his men had beaten both Hyderabad and Madras in the south zone knockout and went on to finish runner-up to the ultimate national champion Bombay. That was in the 1941-42 season. That was the season when Dr K.Thimmappiah (he later went to become the President of the KSCA) scored the first Ranji trophy century for the state (127 against Madras in Bangalore). C.J.Ram Dev, a stylish batsman, B.Frank, who adopted the West Indian style of batting, B.K.Garudachar, a superb all-rounder, were some of the heroes of this decade. Also popular were Y.S.Ramaswamy (later the KSCA instituted a trophy in his name), S.Rama Rao, and Ranga Iyengar with their natural talent. P.E.Palia, who had played for India in 1932 and 1936-total two Tests) was in top class form during the second half the decade notching up a brilliant 135 not out apart from taking 4 wickets for 39 against Madras in the 1946-47 season.


YS Ramaswamy played his last match for the state in 1945 and died in the year 1956 at the age of 40. YSR as a schoolboy had taken all the 20 wickets in one of the matches. He had also played for the Hindus in the Quadrangular in the 1935-36. He was a highly respected cricketer even in the Bombay cricket circles. The YSR trophy tournament is the most popular tournament in KSCA’s annual programme.

DECADE III

Karnataka Cricket Decade III- The 50's

The 1950s saw some of the outstanding players like G.Kasturirangan (now one of the vice presidents and the curator of the Chinnaswamy stadium) A.S.Krishnaswamy, L.T.Adhisesh, L.T.Subbu, T.D.Krishna, Dr S.Krishnamurthy (now a vice-president), P.S.Viswanath, K.Vasudeva Murthy, P.R.Ashok Anand, and S.Nazarath. Among the above G.Kasturirangan (paceman), A.S.Krishnaswamy (all-rounder) and T.D.Krishna (leg-spinner) looked all set to make it to the India team. But then that just did not happen. But in general this was the decade that saw the emergence of some of the best natural talent that entertained the cricket lovers. Balaji. K.Srinivasan, a wicket-keeper-batsman, who had played for the state between 1949 and 58 had the distinction of playing for Indian against SJOC and the MCC during the first half of this decade. He is a brilliant writer and a classic orator.

This decade also saw off-spinner V.M.Muddiah and wicket keeper batsman B.K.Kunderan (Railways) donning India colours. These two also played for the state. Muddiah played for the state from 1951-52 season (four matches) and Kunderan from 1965-66 (20 matches). With the Ranji trophy being played on a knockout basis players of these decades were provided with a very limited scope to show their real worth. And towards the end of this decade (1957-58) the league format was introduced in zonal competition. In the last season of this decade (1959-60) a brilliant talent answering to the name V.Subramanyam made his Ranji trophy debut. He was mainly responsible for building up a competitive team in the mid 60s.

DECADE IV

Karnataka Cricket Decade IV- The 60's

This should be considered as the most significant decade in the history of Karnataka. EAS Prasanna (Ranji debut 1961-62), B.S.Chandrasekhar (Ranji debut 63-64), G.R.Viswanath and S.M.H.Kirmani (Ranji debut both in 67-68) and Brijesh Patel (Ranji debut 69-70) all went on to play for the country. And V.Subramanyam (Ranji debut 59-60) made his Test debut in 1966. The hero of this decade was V.Subramanyam.

He was the man who built a young, enthusiastic team during this decade and it could be side without any fear of contradiction that the state players began to show their competitive spirit in a telling manner. “Always play for a win and never lose meekly that was the mantra of Subramanyam.And the boys followed like a set of studious students. No doubt, the state did not win the Ranji trophy under Subramanyam’s captaincy. But then, the nucleus of a title-winning combination was formed under his leadership. In the late 60s he left for Australia and settled down there. Young and resourceful talent like V.S.Vijayakumar (67-68), B.Raghunath (68-69) and B.Vijayakrishna (68-69) all made their Ranji debut during this decade.

DECADE V

Karnataka Cricket Decade V- The 70's

With the arrival of two more talented lads in A.V.Jayaprakash (71-72) and R.Sudhakar Rao (72-73) Karnataka became a force during this decade. In fact the state was hailed as one of the giants of Indian cricket. The greatest moment in the history of the state cricket came in the 1973-74 season. Prasanna and Chandrasekhar were already reached the international glory and the little master GR Viswanath had become a household name.

The trio inspired the team of dedicated soldiers to win the National title—the Ranji trophy—this season beating Rajasthan by 185 runs. The other members of the team were: Brijesh Patel, S.M.H.Kirmani, V.S.Vijayakumar, Sudhakar Rao, B.Vijayakrishna, K.Lakshman and Sanjay Desai. The team went on to win the Irani trophy too to make it the proudest season.

Though Karnataka had to wait till the 1977-78 seasons to regain the Ranji trophy, the performances of the team in the national championship had a terrific impact on the spectators and the critics as well. Watching this team in action inspired hundreds and hundreds of aspiring talent in Karnataka. With the top stars often on international assignment more talented youngsters earned the Ranji Cap and kept Karnataka flag flying high. But once the top stars returned home, there was hardly any spot for new comers in the playing eleven. One needed extraordinary talent to get into the playing XI during this period.

RMH Binny, a natural athlete, with his outstanding exploits in the schools and juniors cricket made his Ranji debut in 1975-76. In that triumphant 1977-78 Ranji season, Binny and Sanjay Desai covered themselves with glory by creating a national record for the first wicket (451—it was recently broken) at Chickmagalur against Kerala. Binny and Desai scored a double hundred each. The top stars (Prasanna, Chandrasekhar, GR Viswanath, Brijesh Patel and Kirmani) were in Australia during the south zone league of the national championship. They came back for the knockout stage and scripted a title triumph (beating UP in the final by an innings and 193 runs in just two and a half days). GRV scored a double hundred (247), and Brijesh a century (100). The great Chandrasekhar mesmerised the UP batsmen accounting for taking12 of them (6 for 57 and 6 for 24). UP could muster just 129 in the first innings and 112 in the second.

The West Indies, under the captaincy of Alvin Kallicharan came to India in 1979. They took on Karnataka, the national champion, in a match at Ahmedabad. And Karnataka won the match. G.R.Viswanth was the captain and B.Vijayakrishna the lion-hearted left-arm spinner was the hero. Karnataka became the first Indian state team to have beaten an international side. This decade ended on a sentimental note with the spin-duo of Prasanna and Chandrasekhar retiring from first-class cricket in successive seasons.

DECADE VI

Karnataka Cricket Decade V- The 80's And 90's

As it had happened in the case of the great spin-twin in the earlier decade, Karnataka saw the exit of its famous batting-twin of GR Viswanath and Brijesh Patel towards the end of the 80s. However, the active presence of SMH Kirmani and Roger Binny kept Karnataka’s hopes of a re-building alive. Jeswanth (1985-86), a skilful left-arm all-rounder proved to be an ideal replacement for B.Vijayakrishna. And with the arrival of fine bowlers like Kumble, Srinath and Ananth was highly encouraging.

Venkatesh Prasad the lanky paceman made his debut in 1990-91 season, while two young batsmen in Rahul Dravid and Sujith Somasunder (90-91) clearly suggested that they had come to stay for long. Raghuram Bhat, after amassing 343 Ranji trophy wickets, announced his retirement and an ebullient left-arm all-rounder from Dharwar Zone made his debut in the 1992-93 season. In the 1993-94 season J.Arun Kumar, an adventurous opening batsman made his debut. His deeds as a junior international star provided him a special status.

Soon the terrific trio of Vijayakrishna, A.V.Jayaprakash and Sudhakar Rao left the scene and the re-building work had begun in Karnataka cricket. The achievements and contributions of these three players must be written in letters of gold. They had won several matches for the team and saved several matches. More than that they always remained a great source of inspiration to the younger colleagues.

This was the decade when Karnataka spotted worthy talent like Carlton Saldanha (80-81), Sadanand Viswanath (80-81), M.R.Srinivas Prasad (79-80), Karthik Jeswanth (85-86), Prakash Rathod (83-84), Ranjit Kanwilkar (80-81) (he died in a train accident at a very young age) and J.Abhiram (79-80). Towards the end of this decade off-spinner R.Ananth (88-89), Anil Kumble and Javagal Srinath (both in 89-90) made their respective debut and Karnataka seemed certain of forming a formidable attacking line. And it turned out to be so.

The retirement of the two all-time great spinners Prasanna and Chandrasekhar was a terrible blow for Karnataka cricket. But then the state did not lose heart. It took the inevitable event in its stride and was quick to settle down to work for the future.

The presence of GR Viswanath and Brijesh Patel and their active participation served as powerful motivation for Karnataka cricket at this juncture. If Karnataka cricket had gone through the 80s with grit and determination, that was mainly due to the laudable approach work of these two stalwarts. To say that they had inspired the entire cricketing generation of the state during the 80s is an understatement. Seniors like Kirmani, Vijayakrishna, Jayaprakash, Sudhakar Rao and Roger Binny were always there to contribute handsomely while the younger lot worked diligently.

There was a left-arm spinner B.Raghuram Bhat who was hitting the headlines at the schools and juniors level of cricket. He made his Ranji trophy debut in 1979-80 season. In the absence of an effective off-spin bowler, Karnataka was forced to depend mostly on the double-left-arm-spin combination of B.Vijayakrishna, the man who gave his heart out ever since he made his debut in 1968-69, and Raghuram Bhat.

This combination did work effectively. Bhat made history by taking a hat-trick against Bombay in Bangalore in the 81-82 season and GRV and his men went to New Delhi for the 1981-82 final against Delhi. But due lack of a match-winning bowling combination, Karnataka had to surrender the first innings lead despite making 700-odd runs. However in the very next year (82-83) Karnataka, thanks to the perseverance of its men, struck gold, winning the title beating Bombay in Bombay under the captaincy of Brijesh Patel.