I have been a reluctant selector. It took me months to even start this series on Tamil Nadu cricketers, because I resisted the idea of selecting an all-time State team. Why don’t I just profile 20 players I like, I pleaded. If I must pick a team across generations, why don’t I select two teams, dividing the history of Tamil Nadu cricket into two approximately 40-year chunks 1931-1973 and 1974-2013, I argued.

Finally, the Editor won, and here I am, with 16 names so far discussed and having to pick a first XI from them. Again a tough task for someone like me who would have made a lousy selector, inclined as I am to see merit of some kind or other in so many players, past and present, though I do have my prejudices as well. And as Sheridan’s Mrs Malaprop said, comparisons are odorous, aren’t they?

To start at the beginning, I am not even sure that the 16 cricketers I have so far profiled are the best 16 in the State’s eight decades of cricket, but to keep complications to the minimum, let’s go with the list compiled over the last few weeks. The players are C P Johnstone, C Ramaswami, A G Ram Singh, M J Gopalan, C R Rangachari, C D Gopinath, A G Kripal Singh, V V Kumar, S Venkataraghavan, K Srikkanth, V Sivaramakrishnan, Robin Singh, T E Srinivasan, W V Raman, Dinesh Karthik, and S Vasudevan.

Of the three opening batsmen in the list, Johnstone, Srikkanth and Sivaramakrishnan, Srikkanth is an automatic choice, given his record as an international batsman, even if his contributions to the State may not match those of the other two. He is also a contender for the captaincy of the team. The other two are very similar in that each was a left-handed opening batsman who could bowl with the new ball, and each was a brilliant close-in fielder. Johnstone wins, as he captained Madras in his time and was much appreciated for that. Besides, Sivaramakrishnan happens to be my brother.

There was a close contest for the No.3 spot as well between my late friend, the brilliant T E Srinivasan, perhaps the most colourful character Tamil Nadu cricket has produced, and Raman. I reluctantly plump for Raman because of his greater international exposure and his left-handedness in an otherwise right-hander dominated line-up. Gopinath and Kripal Singh, both State captains, are again automatic choices, with their outstanding batting records quite uncontestable, especially in the run-up to Madras’s first Ranji Trophy triumph.

How can there be a Tamil Nadu all-time XI without the two stalwarts Ram Singh and Gopalan, the greatest player from the State not to be selected to play for India and the second one of the finest all-rounders the State has produced? They both walk in. Dinesh Karthik is, I believe, still a work-in-progress, but he is the only wicket-keeper in my list for reasons I have already outlined in my profie of him, I am convinced of his merit.

Follow the two spinners S Venkataraghavan and V V Kumar, both synonymous with Madras-Tamil Nadu cricket and wreckers-in-chief of many innings and batting careers in Ranji Trophy cricket, with more than a thousand first class wickets between them. C R Rangachari is the specialist fast bowler in the eleven. His credentials for the spot are impeccable. Robin Singh, arguably Tamil Nadu’s greatest all-round fieldsman, is the 12th man in this team, with no disrespect intended towards his great contributions to the team’s cause. Double international C Ramaswami was a past great I was forced to leave out to maintain team balance. The other three players I have omitted for the same reason are my personal favourites.

Here is my final team.

A few words about some fine cricketers who do not even figure in the 16.

Among the pace bowlers regarded highly by those who played with them or watched them, N Kannayiram was good enough to be selected for India. U Prabhakar Rao and B R Mohan Rai were fine new ball bowlers I faced or saw in action in my youth; they were both in the radar of the national selectors and attended the Alan Moss bowling camp. B Kalyanasundaram was a loyal and hardworking soldier of the Kumar-Venkataraghavan era, with 100 wickets under his belt, no mean achievement with the limited opportunities at his disposal. In later years, T A Sekar and K Bharath Kumar were excellent opening bowlers in different styles. D Vasu started as a fiery pace bowler, but settled down as a fighting all-rounder, who resorted to slow bowling in the second half of his career. How can we forget L Balaji, one of the most successful bowlers in the State’s history, someone whose fighting spirit has been demonstrated time and again?

Some heroes miss out – Balu Alaganan, who led Madras to its first Ranji title; all-rounders M K Balakrishnan and P Mukund; M Suryanarayan, two wicketkeepers P K Belliappa and K R Rajagopal – extremely unlucky to miss the Australian tour of 1968 – the talented P Ramesh, accomplished Sadagopan Ramesh, exciting V B Chandrasekhar, and hard-working V Krishnaswami and C S Suresh Kumar among openers; the classy A G Milkha Singh and A G Satvinder Singh, ever reliable Abdul Jabbar and S Sharath, consistent Michael Dalvi and P C Prakash, and confident R Madhavan in the middle order are some examples.

Among spinners, I am not even taking into account bowlers of the calibre of G Parthasarathi, N Ganesan, N J Venkatesan or M K Murugesh of an earlier era or N Bharatan of a later vintage who did not get to play too many first class matches. Sunil Subramaniam was one of the most attacking spin bowlers Tamil Nadu has produced and should have found a place in the Indian team during his decade in first class cricket. Like his seniors S Vasudevan and the gifted L Sivaramakrishnan, he makes way for the four spinners in the XI – Ram Singh, Kripal Singh, Venkataraghavan and Kumar – who simply cannot be left out. I am also forced to leave out current stars M Vijay and R Ashwin, both very accomplished cricketers who have proved themselves at the hightest level. Ashwin, for one, threatens to smash all manner of records, and promises to be the elusive all-rounder India needs. I can only say that they both belong to the future!

I do not know if C R Rangachari ever led Madras, but everyone of the others in the team has been captain of the side. My vote goes to S Venkataraghavan, former India captain.