Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Swami Vivekananda on Lord Parthasarathy


“Lord Parthasarathy is there for us, ready to be our Sarathy in Life and guide us all the way through if we are ready to offer selfless service”

Calls for 'Life-long sacrifice' to uplift the Poor and the Oppressed 

A Sacrificial Journey will be full of 'Deadly Thorns' but believe in Lord Parthasarathy and you will succeed 
This day 120years ago (August 20, 1893), Swami Vivekananda sent a letter to Alasinga Perumal of Triplicane wherein he showered heaps of praise on Lord Parthasarathy.

Calling Lord Parthasarathy as a friend of the poor, he directs us to the Parthasarathy Perumal temple to seek the Lord’s blessings. 'Take a bow before Lord Parthasarathy of Thiruvallikeni and give an undertaking before Him of a great sacrifice, one of a whole life for the poor, the lowly and the oppressed - for whom Lord Parthasarathy comes from time to time and whom he loves above all.'

Swami Vivekananda asks us to take a vow to devote our whole lives to the cause of redemption of the 300million poor 'who are going down and down every day.'

Sacrificial Journey will be full of deadly thorns
While he cautions us that this is not the work of just one day saying that the path is full of most deadly thorns, he gives us the confidence that Lord Parthasarathy of Thiruvallikeni is there for us ready to be our Sarathy in Life and guide us all the way through if we are ready to offer selfless service.

Swami Vivekananda wants us to have eternal faith in Lord Parthasarathy and asks us to set fire to the mountain of misery that has been heaped upon India for ages. He says  'the misery can be easily burnt down.'
Despite the task ahead of each one of us being a grand one, especially in light of the fact that 'currently we are all so low',  he reminds us that we are the sons of Light and children of God. Belief in Lord Parthasarathy and reposing trust in Him will help us succeed in all our endeavours, concludes Swami Vivekananda.

Saturday, August 17, 2013

S Ravi has it in him to become No. 1 Test Umpire in the World


Former Board Umpire and Ravi’s Umpiring Mentor R Radhakrishnan believes Ravi will 'Hit the Sky' in Umpiring  
R Radhakrishnan was one of the most respected umpires in the domestic circuit having umpired over 100 Ranji Trophy matches in a career spanning three decades - 1980s- 2000s. In all he umpired for 38years. He was also the 2nd youngest ever umpire from Tamil Nadu having passed the exam when he was only 18years. He was unlucky not to have got international recognition despite once being reported to the BCCI by a match referee as one with great potential and as one who should get into the immediate elevation into the international engagements.

Radha, as he is known in the cricketing circles here, was the one who spotted the true potential in Ravi and mentored him in the late 1990s and created the confidence in him to make it big as an umpire. He was so impressed with Ravi and his umpiring capabilities that he took leave of absence from his employer SBI for over a month and took it as a personal challenge to coach Ravi for the board umpiring exam.

Radha recounts those days of association with Ravi:

“As a player in the 1980s, Ravi would never give up and would always fight tooth and nail for his team. It was around 1996-97 that I was assigned the task of coaching umpires for the board exam. Immediately after a few sessions, I found Ravi had the acumen to understand law in its entirety. On-field he was really extraordinary.”

Radha told himself in late 1990s after umpiring with Ravi in a local league match that this man would one day ‘Hit the Sky’ in umpiring.

“Those days, Ravi was a little aggressive in his style for my liking. I kept instilling in him that while being authoritative was fine, it was important to know how to execute one’s authority as an umpire. His implementation was crude in the beginning and he had a few rough edges that had to be sharpened. In those early days, while he was a humourous person, he was not really easily accessible to everyone and was almost headstrong given the enormous confidence he had in his umpiring abilities.”

Fast Learner
Radha sat with him for hours at the end of many matches that they umpired together and inculcated the match management skills in Ravi initiating him with the importance of relationships with players, authorities, grounds men and sometimes even the spectators.

The quality that impressed Radha the most was Ravi’s ability to learn. “He was a fast learner. He adapted very quickly. In those few years, I could see him palpably mellowing down in his authoritative style. Every year, his performance became better  and reached a new level. Very quickly, he started gaining the respect of the players.”

‘Ravi’s forte is his decision making ability.  I was amazed at his perfection. In tricky situations, he was always bold and was truly outstanding. I could clearly see that he had the potential to grow into an internationally respected umpire.”

Radha is sure that Ravi will go the full distance in umpiring. “I am confident that he will grow fast in the ICC Panel. I do think he has it in him to be the best and I expect him to become the Number One Umpire on the ICC Panel in the future.”

S Ravi set for Umpiring Test Debut

Ravi took up to umpiring at 19 to take care of his monthly expenses. 25years later, he is now in ICC’s Emerging Panel 1 with the potential to be on the Elite Panel
First Umpire from Tamil Nadu after Venkataraghavan to officiate in a Test Match

S Ravi, who began umpiring at the age of 19years in 1985, is all to make his Umpiring Test debut in October this year when he will officiate in the Zimbabwe v Sri Lanka Test Series, becoming the first umpire from Madras after S Venkataraghavan to officiate in a Test Match.

My first insights into Ravi date back to July of 1987 a period when he would finish his first division league match and come to the Somasundaram ground in T. Nagar for long hours of chat with his set of friends - those discussions would always include a debate on how he got out that day or how he bowled at the match. Those fiery conversations also included topics such as : 'Should great batsmen wear helmets' - Richards never wore one all his life would be one part of the argument for the evening. Those days he also played tennis ball cricket under the lights for Jolly CC.

I first saw him umpiring in 1989 in a college match between Vivekananda College and Pachaiyappas College at the Vivekananda College ground.  The thing that struck me that day was the serious way in which he went about his job.  No match was an ordinary match for him. He was just 23 then, but it was always a No- Nonsense approach to umpiring. During that phase he adopted an aggressive and authoritative style of umpiring. And come what may, he always stood by his decision and very rarely one could argue with him in those days.

A year later I was with him in Bangalore in a not so memorable match at the IISC ground. Captaining the YMCA TSR team against Chemplast in the Brijesh Patel conducted annual summer tournament, Ravi, normally a safe fielder, dropped a sitter at slip when Sadagopan Ramesh (still in his teens then) had just come to the crease. Ramesh went on to score a century securing victory for Chemplast. 

(15years later, the two of us played together in a fifth division league match and he helped the team with a fighting unbeaten knock that secured victory for our team. Despite having got away from active league cricket, he showed his commitment and determination in this match, a quality that has kept him in good stead in umpiring as well)

2nd Youngest to pass the Umpiring examination in TN
Interestingly, Ravi who started playing 3rd division league cricket when he was in Class 8, passed the umpiring exam when he was just 19years old, not an age that one would normally associate with umpires in India, driven by the need to earn some money to meet his monthly expenses!!! He is also the 2nd youngest in Madras to pass the umpiring exam after R Radhakrishnan.

As a player, through the 1980s, Ravi was a solid bat scoring over 500runs in 3out of the 6years of 1st division cricket. He was also a competent left arm spinner. However, destiny had it that he would achieve international success as an umpire than a player. Having got a secure bank job with RBI, Ravi's focus slowly began shifting from playing to umpiring. In India, in the 1980s and 90s, umpiring examination were organised by the BCCI only once a decade!!! While Ravi had begun umpiring in his teens, it was not until the end of the 1990s that he had the real opportunity to get through the Board exam.

Authoritative and Arrogant
The first half of the 1990s was spent umpiring first division and college matches. Throughout that period, Ravi’s strict and authoritative ‘rule book’ model and his strong knowledge of the laws of the game was often on display. Once in a league match involving India Cements, he refused a substitute after lunch for an injured Rahul Dravid (he was already playing for India at that time) on the grounds that the ball had not touched Dravid’s hands even once in the first session of play leaving Dravid furious for the rest of the match about Ravi's interpretation of the rule book (well over a decade later Ravi failed to give a leg side wide in an IPL match involving Rajasthan Royals infuriating Dravid once again).

In another match in the 1990s, Ravi suspended SBI’s wicket keeper batsman CK Venkatraman for abusing his umpiring colleague for an LBW decision that went against the SBI batsman, something that was rarely done in those days in the local league and almost never heard off against a batsman. SBI had to field with ten for the rest of the match, despite strong protests against Ravi's approach.

Ravi firmly stood by his decisions that largely marked the first phase of his umpiring career- authoritative decision making bordering on arrogance. It did not matter to him the greatness of the players involved in the game. For most part, he went by the rule book. 

Turning Point in his career
The turning point for Ravi came when he came into contact with R. Radhakrishnan (Board Umpire and the then Chairman of the TNCA Umpiring committee) in the 2nd half of the 90s. That changed Ravi’s perspective and led him to mellow him down dramatically.

It was Radha who inspired Ravi to take the next big leap in umpiring - from a league umpire in Madras to taking up the Board exam and getting into the next phase of umpiring.  It was from Radha that Ravi learnt the ‘match management’ skills that is so crucial for an umpire. Radha would spend hours with Ravi and soon became his mentor helping him come out in flying colours in the Board exam. From the initial interactions of those days, Radha was confident that Ravi had it in him to make it big in the international league.

Ranji Debut and Umpiring Mistake
Ravi umpired his first Ranji Trophy game (Saurashtra v Maharastra) in December 1999, 14years after becoming an umpire. 
  
The first morning of that game in Pune was an eventful one for Ravi- first he lifted his finger to send off Saurashtra captain Kotak caught behind when the ball had hit the batsman’s shoulder - the batsman almost refused to leave the crease. But before lunch, he had given an outstanding decision negativing a caught behind appeal that led the Maharashtra skipper Shantanu Sugwekar to give him a 1-1 verdict during the lunch break.

Over the next 7-8years, Ravi continued to umpire Board games but he had to wait until 2008 for the real break.

The IPL break
The launch of the IPL in 2008 presented Ravi with an opportunity to umpire alongside Elite international umpires. That season he was the fourth umpire in 7games. Later that season, he got an opportunity to umpire the first four matches of the Ranji season and broke into the top 30 umpires list in India, a gradation system that had just been introduced for the first time in India for domestic umpires. It was also the first time that Venkataraghavan sat one on one with Ravi to review his season’s performance and gave him a clean chit. Within a couple of years after introduction of the gradation system, Ravi had shot up into the top ten. 

In 2009, Ravi made his first overseas trip to South Africa for IPL 2. He had good exposure there getting 5 on-field games.  A year later Ravi went to South Africa as part of the exchange programme, where he umpired two Super Sports games. He also went on an exchange programme to the UK to umpire county games there. As part of his moving up the league, Ravi also officiated in the U19 World Cup in Australia. 

Bold Decisions continue
Ravi’s bold decision making skills that was a feature of his early umpiring years, were in full display in the IPL match involving KKR when he made the end of match no ball call as a square leg umpire (for having only 3men inside the circle), a decision that made McCullum furious. Ravi stood by his decision, one that was later endorsed by everyone and appreciated all around. It was also Ravi, who as the TV umpire gave Dhoni out on 99, another decision that showcased his fearless umpiring skills.

Ravi’s association with Simon Taufel          
In December 2012, ICC appointed Taufel as the mentor for the Indian umpires on the ICC panel. And that was a God sent gift for Ravi. If Radha was the first mentor for Ravi in the first phase of his life helping Ravi get national recognition, Taufel was to now play the role that could take Ravi into the highest pinnacle of umpiring. Over the last 9months, Taufel has been a great source of strength through constant interactions and motivational sessions that has helped transform Ravi’s mindset to equip him face the high pressures of international umpiring.

A constant learner
A thing that has remained constant in Ravi’s umpiring career has been his ability to learn from every game and to give every game its importance. Despite being into the ICC panel ( and he will soon be boarding a flight to the UK), Ravi was seen this week umpiring a first round of Buchi Babu Match at the IIT Chemplast ground in an endeavour to keep in touch with the game and to see each game as an opportunity to learn and improve, a quality that will stand him in good stead as he moves into his most important phase of his umpiring career over the next 12months.

Biggest moment in his cricketing career
While Ravi’s biggest moment yet in his cricketing career will come in a few months when he makes his international Test Debut in October this year, he has a more pressing immediate engagement coming up a fortnight from now. He will fly into England end of this month to officiate in the high profile one day series between England and Australia that will take place after the 5th test at Oval.

The next one year is crucial for Ravi. If he comes through the next one year unscathed, there is a good chance he will get into the next higher league and jump into the Elite Panel. If that happens, it will just be the icing on the cake for the man from 'Kodambakkam and Besant Nagar' who got into umpiring to meet his monthly expenses way back in 1985.

Highlights

1979- Makes his debut for UFCC T Nagar in a league match

1984- First Division for YMA

1984-85- Qualifies as an umpire

1989 – Joins RBI (where he has been for the last 24years)

 1996- Has his first real lessons from his Umpiring Mentor Radhakrishnan

1996-97- Becomes a Board Umpire

1999-  Officiates in his first Ranji match

2008- Fourth Umpire in IPL - I matches

2011- International One day debut

2012- Umpires in his home ground (Chepauk) the India v Pak one dayer

Coming Up
September 2013 - England v Australia One Series in England

October 2013 - Test Debut in Zimbabwe v Sri Lanka series

Sunday, August 11, 2013

Vivek Razdan on TA Sekar and the Pace Foundation


‘TA Sekar was the lifeline of the Pace Foundation. He was the ‘Foundation’ of the Pace Foundation’ – Vivek Razdan, part of the first batch of trainees at MRF Pace Foundation in 1988

Vivek Razdan was part of the first batch of fast bowlers to be trained at the pace foundation in Madras - there were 12 of them from outside Madras, prominent among them being Harvindar Singh Sodhi and Subrato Banerji. Ashish Winston Zaidi joined a little later. Razdan had a three year stint with TA Sekar starting 1988. He joined Vivekananda College in Mylapore and played for the college and the Madras University.  He also played first division league here in Madras. In fact, Razdan made his Ranji debut for Tamil Nadu before moving later to Delhi.

Within a year and a half of joining the MRF Pace Foundation and working with Sekar, Razdan had found a place in the Indian team that toured Pakistan (the debut series for Sachin Tendulkar) under Srikkanth’s captaincy. It was a meteoric rise for Razdan from a raw fast bowler when he first came to meet Sekar to a Test cricketer within a period of 18months. In his debut series, Razdan had a 5wicket haul in the last test.

Razdan who currently does regular TV commentary on the Indian domestic matches spoke from Delhi recounting those days in the late 1980s.

“We came in from different parts of the country. We were all still in our teens. Early on, it was a cultural shock for us there in Madras.  But the kind of personal care that Sekar took of us, throughout that three year period we felt we had an extended family out here. He showered brotherly love on all of us. We were truly blessed to have interacted with Sekar and Lillee at that young age. The three years went off so quickly and so smoothly.”

On the specific cricketing contribution made by Sekar, Razdan says, “The pace foundation could not have reached the heights today without Sekar. All the improvements in us were enforced (and reinforced) by him. (Dennis) Lillee was there at the camp for a week to 10days twice a year and played an invaluable role in sharing insights that only he was capable of. But Sekar was with us all through 365days guiding us all the way through. He got us the opportunities to play in the TNCA first division league. Till then, all of us had played only 40over matches. For the first time, we were playing 2day league matches. We had the opportunity to bowl regularly at batsmen such as Robin Singh and WV Raman.”

In those early days, he brought in Jatin Paranjpe, Venkataraghavan and Raj Singh Dungapur to take a look at us in the pace foundation camp.

On the coaching methodology, “Sekar had a specific chart for each of us, something that was not in vogue in India at that time. He wanted to see specific improvements in us on a periodic basis and would be behind us to ensure that we implemented those. It was not just theoretical. He made sure we understood that finer aspects. He was particular on every step of the process- the run up, the bowling action, the follow through, line and length, accuracy. He would video tape us and sit with us to discuss specific aspects and guide each of the bowlers on the corrective steps. Some of the theoretical steps are easy to preach but Sekar would actually show us himself as to how to implement it- for example side on bowling.”

He brought Video tapes of some of Lillee’s best spells and would personally sit with us and discuss the finer points of fast bowling with Lillee as the example. We also used to sit and discuss steps to get each batsman out.

‘Not just bowling, his fielding drills were difficult to match at that point of time. He wanted us to be the best of fielders and also wanted us to contribute with the bat.”

In the mornings, we were out in the Marina for 90minutes as part of our fitness regime.

“Sekar was the man we looked up to for everything. He would share with us feedback from Lillee and would get us all that we wanted on the MRF front, from Mr. Ravi Mammen. For us, the first batch of fast bowlers who worked with him, I can say that he was just such a wonderful human being and guide. And we owe everything to him for what he did for us in those formative years of our cricket.”

To me, TA Sekar was the ‘Foundation’ of the ‘Pace Foundation’. He was the lifeline of the Pace Foundation. Without him, it would not be where it is now.'