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VOL. XXIII NO. 16, DECEMBER 1-15, 2013
Making captaincy a winning habit
The sixteenth in a series of profiles by V. Ramnarayan of cricketers who may have made an all-time Madras* squad.

S Vasudevan

As I come to the 16th and last Tamil Nadu cricketer in this list of probables of the all-time State squad, I am acutely aware of the many splendid players I have had to omit. If old timers object to the absence of Milkha Singh and his younger brother Satvinder Singh, others may find baffling the omission of such stars as K R Rajagopal, B R Mohan Rai, U Prabhakar Rao, B Kalyanasundaram, T A Sekar and K Bharath Kumar, while I have also had to jettison so many brilliant cricketers of more recent origin, such as Sunil Subramaniam, D Vasu, Sadagopan Ramesh, L Balaji, Murali Vijay, R Ashwin and Abhinav Mukund.

To fill the 16th spot, I looked at an off-spinner, medium pacer and left-arm spinner, and finally zoomed in on a left-arm spinner. Three players with this specialisation came to mind: M K Murugesh, S Vasudevan and Sunil Subramaniam. The first two played stellar roles in Tamil Nadu’s two Ranji Trophy triumphs, while Sunil was perhaps the best left-arm spinner of his era, very unlucky not to be selected for India. (Had I instead chosen an off-spinner, Ashwin would have been an automatic selection. His rise in international cricket has been nothing short of phenomenal, but Venkataraghavan and all-rounder A G Kripal Singh, both former Tamil Nadu captains, keep him out, for the moment. Ashwin may soon become the most successful international cricketer from Tamil Nadu, if he is not already so.)

Both Vasudevan and Sunil Subramaniam had longer runs for Tamil Nadu and won many matches for the State, which meant that Murugesh, with only 20 first class appearances, had to be left out. Of the three, Vasudevan came closest to being a genuine all-rounder, though the other two could bat a bit, with Murugesh playing a match-winning role in the 1954-55 final of the Ranji Trophy with 8 wickets in the match and 30 and 36 as a No. 11 batsman. Vasudevan took 214 first class wickets to Sunil Subramaniam’s 285, but was a better batsman. He too played a major part in a Ranji Trophy final – in 1987, when he led Tamil Nadu to victory over Railways, his own contribution 30 runs and nine wickets in the match, including 7/59 in the second innings. It is Vasudevan’s calm, easy-going manner and people skills (that obviously helped him in captaining the side to the Ranji triumph) that, to my eye, tilted the scales in his favour.

A more laidback cricketer may belong only to the world of fiction, but for over a decade Vasudevan was an outstanding performer for Tamil Nadu, partnering S Venkataraghavan, his captain and senior by several years. From the moment he came into the side in 1976-1977 to the time he retired from first class cricket a year after leading Tamil Nadu to its second Ranji Trophy title, he was a thorn in the flesh of Karnataka and Hyderabad, the two strong opponents in the zone. Batsmen like Brijesh Patel, Sudhakar Rao and G R Viswanath repeatedly faltered against Vasu’s accurate, sharp spin. On the best of wickets, he made the ball hurry on after pitching, and on a bad one, he was well nigh unplayable. He had a decent arm ball, too.

Vasu was a delightful batsman too, though he often gave the impression that he was not interested in batting. Perhaps, it came too easily for him to take too much trouble over it, or he possessed a bowler’s mind, like so many others before and after him, but whatever the reason, the upshot of it all was that he never fulfilled his batting potential. Two first class hundreds, one in the Ranji Trophy and another in the Gopalan Trophy, do not reflect his true batting ability. The century against UP was made when the frontline batsmen fell in a heap, and he rescued the team from disaster.

Vasu gave notice of his exceptional ability in university cricket. He was slightly overshadowed by fellow left-arm spinner and teammate S K Patel who broke the record for most wickets in a single Rohinton Baria season (1975-1976), but soon Vasu left his own imprint on university cricket. Succeeding Patel in the State team, just after V V Kumar quit the scene, Vasu established himself firmly in the side. He was unfortunate to belong to the South Zone, when the zone had an embarrassment of spin bowling riches, and therefore did not get to play Duleep Trophy cricket. When he was at his best, India was well served in his department, the younger Maninder Singh replacing his senior Dilip Doshi. With Ravi Shastri too contributing with the ball, Vasu was never a serious contender for a place in the Indian team, though, quality-wise, he was inferior to none.

Vasudevan’s greatest moment was when he led Tamil Nadu to the title triumph in 1987-1988.

In the league, Vasudevan was the lead spinner for Alwarpet Cricket Club for a few years, before he switched allegiance to SPIC, which team he served for over a decade with distinction. For a while, with its powerful batting line-up that included V Sivaramakrishnan, P Ramesh, P C Prakash and Ravi Mishra and an all-round attack that at different times consisted of N Bharathan, T A Sekar, K Arun Kumar, Ravi Mishra, Vasudevan and Sunil Subramaniam, SPIC dominated the league scene. I have enjoyed several moments of friendship and good-natured competition with him on the field.

A software professional, Vasudevan belonged to a generation of cricketers who often had an alternative career to fall back upon after their playing days. He made a successful transition from cricket to a rewarding professional career.

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In this issue

Living in fear of heritage
Is Pre 1947 Architecture Entirely British?
Discovering Mylapore
The Tamil Film in 100 Years of Indian Cinema
Passengers on the Buckingham Canal
The Trees of Chennai
Chuckle with Ranjitha
Making captaincy a winning habit

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