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VOL. XXII NO. 5, June 16-31, 2012
More Iyengars of cricket

There was a heap of letters on the article 'Tamil Nadu's Iyengars of Cricket' (MM, June 1st), all pointing out several omissions. The most interesting letter was from A. Krishnawamy, E-7, 28 (Old 12-B). M.G. Road, Tiruvanmiyur, Chennai 600 041, who selected an All-Time Iyengar Test Team (in batting order):

K. Srikkanth

Dr. S.V.T. Chari (wicket-keeper)

Sadagopan Ramesh

T.E. Srinivasan

W.V. Raman

Robin Singh

S. Venkataraghavan (Captain)

M.J. Gopalan

M.O. Srinivasan (another wicket-keeper who had represented India in unofficial Tests)

C.R. Rangachari

T.A. Sekhar

As Robin Singh is married to an Iyengar, I have added him to the list, writes Krishnaswamy.

Able administrators Chinnaswami (hailing from Tamil Nadu but settled in Karnataka) and S. Sriraman served with distinction as Presidents of the BCCI. And Venkataraghavan and K.B. Ramaswamy stood as Test Umpires, Krishnaswamy adds.

To this list, S. Sampathkumar of B-17, Vijay Avenue, 37 Venkatrangam Street, Triplicane, Chennai 600 005 adds M.O. Parthasarathi, R. Vasudevan, Murali Vijay and P. Mukund.

And G. Ram Mohan, 'Akshaya', 1, Sriramnagar South Street, Alwarpet, Chennai 600 018, contributes a note on the "two great Iyengar wicket-keepers of Madras." He writes:

Dr. SVT was a member of the Madras Ranji Trophy team during the 1930s and played one 'Test' against Jack Ryder's Australian team. After retiring from cricket he went back to his medical practice, opened a clinic in Mambalam and commanded a flourishing practice. He was our family doctor for some time, and I remember a visit to his clinic as a little boy when I stood on my toes on the benches in the waiting room to have a better look at the cricketing photographs displayed on the walls. I was running 103° F fever at the time and was scolded by my mother and asked to behave.

I saw 'Money Order' Srinivasan in action during the 1940s, playing for the Madras Ranji Trophy team. He would stand so close behind the wickets even to Rangachari's 'rude' bowling (as we used to call fast bowling in those days) and expertly gather the ball. He was stone deaf in one ear. It used to be said that he had to be prodded by the fielder at first slip to appeal when he took a catch coming off the outer edge of the bat and wouldn't know that there had been a 'snick'. When I last heard of him in the 1990s, M.O. had settled in Bangalore and was spending his time teaching Sanskrit slokas to schoolchildren.

A common factor Dr. SVT and M.O. shared was that both were full-time wicket-keepers and were very poor batsmen who usually batted at No. 11.

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In this issue

Welcome restoration approach by Government
Garbage collection plans go awry again
Looking back
Driving Down Memory Lane
Masters of 20th Century Madras science
Three looks at heritage
There's heritage in idlis & sundal
The plight and the challenge
More Iyengars of cricket
Butterfly tricks

Our Regulars

Short 'N' Snappy
a-Musing
Our Readers Write
Quizzin' with Ram'nan

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