I would love to read about Venkat !

- By Staff Reporter

At the Kovalam Literary Festival recently, a gentleman asked me "Whose autobiography (cricket) would you love to read?"

It was an intriguing question. The autobiographies of most players are played out in public or on television screens. Sachin Tendulkar is his cricket. It was said of Len Hutton that behind his mask was another mask.

I didn't need to think for too long to come up with my answer. "I would love to read the autobiography of S. Venkatraghavan," I said. Years ago, even before he became a successful international umpire I had told Venkatraghavan this myself. Few who have played for India have his breadth of knowledge of the game, his remarkable experiences, and yet struggled as much as he has for no fault of his own. In the pre-Rahul Dravid days, he was the Test cricketer the cricket board most loved to jerk around.

He was a world class off-spinner whose final tally of wickets - 158 in 57 Tests - did not do justice to his talent. When the Fabulous Four, the spin quartet, Bishan Bedi, Erapalli Prasanna and Bhagwat Chandrasekhar, besides himself, were ruling cricket, he was never sure of his place in the team. Tiger Pataudi preferred the more classical off spin of Prasanna, a more attacking bowler, and it must be said, a superior exponent of the craft. Venkat came into his own under Ajit Wadekar, whose Mumbai school of captaincy had a slot for bowlers who could keep one end going while more attacking bowlers took wickets at the other end.

Prasanna captured the popular imagination, especially after tours of Australia and New Zealand where he had 49 wickets from seven Tests. But - as I have argued in a recent biography of Bishan Bedi - the real choice, from a team's perspective ought not to have been between the two off-spinners. With Chandrasekhar the attacking wicket-taker and Venkatraghavan the bottler-up, the third slot ought to have been rotated between Bedi and Prasanna for team balance.

But it wasn't just his place in the team. Venkatraghavan was easily the best captain of the lot, Wadekar included (after the Pataudi era). He had a sharp, cricketing mind, was tactically better aware than most, and in the ideal world would have been a long-term Indian captain. He led in the first two World Cup, when India didn't think much of the one-day game, and earlier in a famous Test against the West Indies when Pataudi was injured.

This, after half the team turned up at the venue on the morning of the match hoping to lead! In the end, Chandra had to be dropped to make way for Venkatraghavan, and when Pataudi returned to lead in the next Test, Venkat was demoted from captain to 12th man. That he did not complain, but bore the change with professional grace speaks of a player who was rather more than the sum of his statistics.

Wouldn't you love to read about the thoughts and feelings of a man who went through such trauma? Or about the time when, after a decent tour of England as captain in 1979, he was on the flight back home with the team, when the captain of the aircraft announced with great sensitivity that Venkat had been replaced by Sunil Gavaskar as India's captain? How did he cope? What manner of man is this who can absorb so much punishment and still carry on with his sanity intact, his instincts just as sharp and with his skill at the service of the country?

There was too Venkat's life outside cricket. He was a regular at the classical concerts in Chennai and was fond of testing my knowledge of ancient Indian history by quoting Dr. Vincent Smith. He was the lone player to visit Mohenjo-daro on a tour of Pakistan.

And then the second phase of his career - after a brief stint in the commentary box and media work. As the only player to have played for his country, led them and then umpired at Lord's (and other centres), he has been at the centre of world cricket for almost half a century. He made his international debut in 1965, and was still playing in 1983 in the company of L Sivaramakrishnan who wasn't born when he made his debut!

A half century in cricket. A lead role in the transition of the game. Wouldn't you love to read his story in his own words?

Integrity all important for Kumble !

- By Staff Reporter

A decade ago, when the match-fixing scandal broke, there was a possibility that Indian cricket might be destroyed. Especially since the national captain was involved along with a few fringe players. If India survived, and survived well enough to defeat Australia in a memorable home series and then climb to the number one spot in Test cricket, it was due to the unquestioned integrity of their senior players - Sourav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar, Anil Kumble, Rahul Dravid, Javagal Srinath.

Kumble and Srinath from that group went on to contest the election for posts to a state cricket association, which was the tougher option given that media and coaching contracts are more lucrative and less fraught with tension.

Kumble, as the outstanding Indian bowler of his generation and an all-time great, has the public image of a tough team man, willing to sacrifice his all for a cause, uncompromising in attitude, and the man, as the advertisement line goes, you would trust enough to buy a second-hand car from. In fact, the endorsements they do are good indicators of the public image of the individual sportsman. Thus there is something of a maverick about Harbhajan Singh in his various ads, something about a voice speaking from Mount Olympus about Tendulkar's pronouncements about the products he endorses.

With Kumble, it has always been about integrity, trustworthiness, and a no-nonsense approach. It is a fair assessment.

Which is why his abrupt descent into the world occupied by Board President Srinivasan, chief selector Srikkanth, commentators Sunil Gavaskar and Ravi Shastri - the key phrase being 'clash of interests' - has been baffling.

No one is making the case that by signing up two players who have just made it into the national team, Kumble is on the road to influencing all selections to the state or national squads. After all, such is his stature that even without official posts in the national bodies that he heads, his word will be listened to, his advice taken. You don't dismiss the Tendulkars and Kumbles of the world so casually when they have something to say.

Kumble has a passion for mentoring young players, and has a plan ready for the education and proper counselling of players, especially youngsters who suddenly find themselves incredibly rich, insanely sought-after but without the equipment to handle success or failure. Tenvic, his company at the eye of the storm, has signed up men like Prakash Padukone who will play the role of mentor alongside senior players.

But - and this is the nub of the argument - however good the intentions may be, once commerce enters the picture, questions about clash of interests will be asked.

The stakes in the Kumble case are higher than are immediately apparent. Here is a man who is a natural choice as the President of the Board of Control for Cricket in India. And some years hence, an equally obvious choice to run the International Cricket Council. If in the years to come, thanks to the politicking of the politicians, the cry, 'Leave cricket to the cricketers' gains ground, then it will be players like Kumble who will be charged with the responsibility of ensuring the growth and development of the game they once served with such distinction.

It is necessary to have a clear vision of the future in order to overcome the hurdles of the present. We expect a higher standard of behaviour from our sportsmen than from our politicians or judges.

If Kumble sees no clash of interests, that is not difficult to understand. In his book, he is taking players under his wing for mentoring - and hoping that someday it will be a feature of the Board's approach to players. Even the fact that he is in effect a players' agent is good for the players who are thus in the hands of a professional who knows his job, and not as is often the case, slimy middle men with no love for the game or the individual.

But in a high-profile job, public perception is important. There is too much at stake for Kumble to embroil himself in needless controversies. We haven't heard his side of the story. But he has been presented with an opportunity to do the right thing - even if that means a temporary commercial loss.

We must remember this was the man who recently pulled out of a lucrative television deal when he discovered he would have to share screen time with a colleague who was involved in match-fixing. Integrity is indivisible.

INTERESTING RULES OF THE GAME

Courtesy Thilak Wijedasa

1.      If a player returns without permission and touches the ball!

The penalty is 5 runs to the batting side. The ball is dead. Additional runs completed plus the run in progress is added. The ball does not count in the over.

2.      Deliberate short runs!

When the ball is dead in form the batsman, it is unfair. It is the 1st and the final warning, which apply for the full innings. Disallow all runs other than penalty runs.

3.      Timed out!

After a fall of a wicket or retirement of a batsman, the next batsman must be ready to receive the next ball within 3 minutes.

4.      Deliberate attempt to distract the striker!

First time call 'Dead ball" First and final warning.   Neither batsman is out. The ball does not count in the over.

5.      Practice on the pitch or rest of the square during a match!

Penalty - 30 minutes of playing time, he cannot ball. If it was during an over take the bowler out.

Mr. Thilak Wijedasa is a former International Umpire and one of the senior Umpires of the Sri Lanka Board of Cricket.