K.S. Narayanan.

In 2012-2013, cricket season has been a triumphant one for the Sanmar Group, for the Chemplast cricket team won a major national level title when it defeated India Cements team to win the BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) all-India Corporate Trophy. And Sanmar-sponsored Jolly Rovers beat Vijay CC to win in the TNCA first division league for the Palayampatti Shield for the 17th time.

In Chennai, business houses and banks have played a major role in supporting the game by offering stable careers and excellent facilities to cricketers, but Sanmar has been the only corporate group in India to consistently promote cricket and cricketers for well nigh fifty years, starting with Jai Hind CC and Jolly Rovers in the 1960s. Besides Jolly Rovers, Alwarpet Cricket Club is the second team at present supported by Sanmar, assuring some 40 cricketers and support staff of the opportunity to fulfil their professional career ambitions. And from the two clubs, there emerges the Chemplast team.

For Sanmar, cricket has been a way of life since the time the late Chairman Emeritus K.S. Narayanan (KSN) was instrumental in India Cements taking Jolly Rovers under its wing in the 1966-67 season of the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association league after S. Rangarajan of The Hindu founded it. Jolly Rovers won the first division league that same season.

KSN was the one who pioneered the idea of scouting for talent from outside the State.

KSN was himself a constant and inspiring presence in the matches the Sanmar teams played in the 1960s, as were his sons Sankar and Kumar in later years.

And KSN not only had the knack of talent-spotting, but was a great motivator of men as well. He would personally bring players Gunn & Moore, Gray Nicolls or Autograph bats (the best known brands then, not easily available in India) from abroad.

Sanmar Group has also ensured that the players enjoy the best facilities. With its lush green outfield and a red-bricked English village type pavilion, the IIT-Sanmar ground is Chennai cricket's pride.

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Partab Ramchand adds: There can be little doubt that over the last half a century Jolly Rovers has been the dominant side in Tamil Nadu cricket. Think of Tamil Nadu cricket and inevitably the name that springs to mind is Jolly Rovers, the most feared and respected opponents in Chennai that was Madras. Moreover, they have held aloft the banner of Tamil Nadu when battling it out with top teams from other states in various tournaments around the country.

The sheer professional approach of the players ensures that no competition is taken lightly. The skills of the players have made Jolly Rovers the champion in all types of cricket – "instant cricket", like the Hindu Trophy and the Calcutta T-20 tournament, the senior division league games which have been played over one, two and three days, and various competitions like the Buchi Babu Trophy, KSCA Trophy and Moin-ud-Dowla which are played over three days.

What makes Jolly Rovers the most attractive team for promising youngsters? By far the most important reason has been the sponsorship of the parent company, be it India Cements, Chemplast or the Sanmar Group. Over three generations from K.S. Narayanan to N. Sankar and N. Kumar to Vijay Sankar, the Company has been fortunate to have people at the helm whose interest in sport is intense and who have had a far-sighted approach. Moreover they have kept pace with changing times.

From left to right: Vijay Sankar, N. Sankar and N. Kumar who ensure trophywinning is part of the Sanmar-Jolly Rovers' DNA.

Aware of the importance of turf wickets the Sanmar Group was the first to sponsor a pitch – at the University Union ground – in the 1980s. But its most important contribution in this aspect has been the scenic ground at the IIT that has earned praise from international cricketers.

A significant phase in the Sanmar Group's cricketing growth commenced in 1982 when former Test stumper Bharath Reddy joined the Company. The team's fortunes soared and the number of trophies it won increased. Reddy was quick to sense the changing face of the game. It was no more a genteel game played in a leisurely way on weekends. Cricketers were now required to be professional in their attitude, willing to play every day – if need be – for a price. Reddy roped in the best players, offering them terms, incentives and allowances that could not have been dreamt of a decade earlier.

Sanmar's has been a unique model of sports patronage with many sides to it. It helps young cricketers through school and college, conducts tournaments for them and provides adult cricketers employment or professional cricket contracts. The result is a steady stream of talented recruits.

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One man has been responsible over the last three decades for translating the top management's cricketing agenda into action: Bharath Reddy, former India wicketkeeper and Jolly Rovers' captain who, as a vice-president in Chemplast, oversees cricket affairs in Sanmar.

Bharath says, "My job is to spot talent, and I think I have a good eye for it, and make all the best facilities available for its growth and development. Thanks to Sanmar's readiness to invest in our cricket infrastructure, we have the best coaches, trainers, net practice and training facilities, including different types of wickets and bowling machines. When I come across a good prospect, I invite him to our nets and take a good look at him for a couple of days. Once I find him good, I turn him over to our physio Shyam Sundar – one of the best in the country – who analyses the player's physique and then hands him to our trainer Dhanasekharan, again one of the best in the country. Our cricket coach Jaykumar is responsible for the development of our recruits into fine cricketers. Test opener M. Vijay is one such player."

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K. Balaji of Kasturi & Sons and a former Ranji Trophy player writes: The string of trophies and titles under the Jolly Rovers or Chemplast banner – the most recent being the BCCI Corporate Trophy earlier this year – won in different formats of the game and in diverse conditions make for an impressive record. The statistics quite clearly show how successful Jolly Rovers has been as a cricket club. They don't, however, reveal the role the club has played over the decades in improving the lot of the humble Madras/Chennai league cricketer.

Under the late K.S. Narayanan and his son N. Sankar, the status of the club cricketer had risen from that of a mere company employee to that of a valuable resource. What set him apart from the other patrons of the sport was the professionalism and consistency that KSN and Sankar brought to seeking out cricketing talent and nurturing it. In accomplishing this, Sankar found Bharath Reddy a reliable "lieutenant" with a keen eye for talent-spotting. A great many Chennai cricketers owe a great deal to Bharath for the opportunities that Jolly Rovers (and, as a consequence, other clubs) presented them.

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Saad bin Jung, a talented cricketer of yesteryears, now writes regularly on cricket. He says: The Sanmar Group's undying love for sport has seen it achieve many accolades. This has been possible because the Group has recognised young talent and invested both time and money in it on a timely basis. For many decades now, the Group has established a system that scouts for talent and absorbs it in its embrace, moulding it with the best of cricket support in the form of a professionally managed team and excellent back-up support both on the field and off it. One has to only visit the IIT-Sanmar cricket ground to see the great facilities provided by the Group. It is a showpiece and arguably one of the best grounds in India. It offers four practice wickets and six centre tracks offering varied playing surfaces.

Even Sachin Tendulkar remarked on the ground, "The quality and atmosphere of the Sanmar cricket ground are excellent. I enjoyed playing in the ground nestling in the sylvan IIT Campus." And Sir Richard Hadlee added, "The IIT-Sanmar Ground is an outstanding one, the pitches and pavilion can compare with the best anywhere."

Cricket contracts, employment, good cricket grounds, an excellent pavilion, comfortable dressing rooms and trophies are synonymous with a dedicated set of people sharing the same vision, making it a challenge in their busy schedules to firstly hiring people of similar vision and then combining the united knowledge and efforts of each individual to ensure that the company achieves harmony and perfection – not perfection in the winning trophies sense but perfection in playing the game in the true spirit of the game sense. The trophies would come later. And they have been coming.