C.R. Rangachari.

C.R. Rangachari's exploits for Madras were good enough for him to lay claim to being the best fast bowler his home state has produced.

With M.J. Gopalan, he formed a deadly pair of opening bowlers, Gopalan growing with the years into a seam and swing specialist and Rangachari himself remaining wedded to sheer pace for most of his career.

Born on April 14, 1916, Rangachari learnt his cricket on the streets and bylanes of Triplicane, very much as his senior, M.J. Gopalan, had. Strongly built, Rangachari wanted to be a genuine fast bowler from the time he was a child and succeeded in generating considerable pace throughout his career. He was also a willing bowler of long spells.

As a bowler with the Pachaiyappa's College team, the young Ranga was quite erratic, but improved his accuracy under the watchful eye of his college captain Mohan Rangiah. When the Madras league began in 1932, the fast bowler played for a team called Chepauk Club, but switched to the Triplicane National Recreation Club in the second division. When he finally shifted to Triplicane Cricket Club, he struck a fearful combination with M.J. Gopalan. It was in the Buchi Babu Trophy, initially a tournament for clubs, that he first turned out for TCC. Under the captaincy of B. Ramanujam, TCC won the trophy that year.

Rangachari first caught the selectors' attention with a fine 9 for 45 against Mysore in the inter-association junior match of 1938. He made his Ranji Trophy debut the same year and performed reasonably well, taking 3 for 26 and 2 for 43 against Hyderabad and contributing his mite to his team's score in a last wicket stand with W.V.H. Robins that gave Madras the first innings lead.

In the very next season, Rangachari took 4 for 38 and helped bundle Mysore out for 108 at Chepauk. In his third season, he had figures of 3 for 37 against Mysore, and one for 20 and 2 for 41 against Hyderabad, followed by some splendid bowling against United Provinces. Madras won by 25 runs and Rangachari played a prominent role in that win, capturing 5 for 75 and 3 for 31.

In the very next round, Rangachari, left arm spinner A.G. Ram Singh and leg spinner N.J. Venkatesan had formidable Maharashtra reeling at 56 for 5, before Vijay Hazare (137) and C.T. Sarwate (33) took the score to 284, gaining a match winning lead in the process. Ranga's 4 for 71 included the scalps of both the openers Bhalekar and Sohoni, as well as the redoubtable Prof. D.B. Deodhar.

In the second innings, he had the prolific Babu Nimbalkar caught behind by J.A.G.C. Law, but Maharashtra won by six wickets. That season, Ranga also distinguished himself in the Presidency match, in which he took 4 for 41 and 4 for 30, helping the Indians win by 97 runs.

Rangachari joined the Police, and his cricket career developed nicely. Being naturally fit and healthy, he found in his official training new ways of keeping extra fit. He soon gained a reputation of being a tireless fast medium bowler and brilliant close-in fielder. He took several smart catches off the bowling of Ram Singh, fielding at silly mid-off. He also batted stubbornly towards the end of an innings.

Rangachari was selected as a member of the Indian team that toured Australia under the captaincy of Lala Amarnath in 1947-48. He forced his way into the Test side following some good performances in the first class matches, including a hat trick against Tasmania. In his first Test at Adelaide, he bowled well without luck, beating Don Bradman a few times, and winning the appreciation of the great Australian. He dismissed Keith Miller, Neil Harvey, Ray Lindwall and Ian Johnson to emerge as the most successful Indian bowler with four for 141 off 41 eight ball overs.

The Triplicane Express's best Test performance was his 5 for 107 against the West Indies in the New Delhi Test of the 1948-49 series. He claimed the wickets of Allan Rae, Jeff Stollmeyer and George Headley in a fiery opening spell and the West Indies were reduced to 27 for 3. He also played in unofficial 'Tests' against the Australian Services team in 1945 and the first Commonwealth team in 1949-50.

In the Ranji Trophy, Rangachari led the Madras attack for many years and his 104 wickets cost him only 20.79 apiece. In a first class career that stretched from the late 1930s to the mid-1950s, Rangachari took 200 wickets at an average of 25.98.

As a selector, coach and manager after his retirement as a player, Rangachari was known to be a good sport who spent considerable time mentoring his young wards, and lightening the mood in the dressing room with entertaining, if apocryphal, stories from his own youth. As manager of the South Zone team in the late 1970s, he created some interesting situations when he discussed the merits and demerits of some of the players with a rare measure of candour, but not always with the player concerned. The result could be explosive, as when he told one player that Roger Binny was a poor new ball bowler and another that Binny was an ordinary opening batsman. After the team decided to pull the manager's leg, Binny pretended to be greatly hurt by the manager's insults, and knocked for hours together on his door calling out his name in his loudest voice.

During the same match, a young cricketer asked him if he was quicker than Kapil Dev. "Have you seen Wes Hall? Same speed!" was Rangachari's instant response. Only it sounded like shame shpeed, thanks to the tobacco he was chewing. The resultant giggles and tittering were understandable, as the young listeners had never seen him in action or even read about his sterling deeds in first class cricket.

Those who actually did, remembered him as a very sharp speed merchant, tireless and persistent, even on dead wickets. In today's language, he was his captain C.P. Johnstone's go-to bowler in all manner of situations. He was a brave soldier of Madras cricket.

* Madras Province/State/Tamil Nadu.