With S Ravi, Ranji debut to a Ranji Final
Injury to Umpire Shamsuddin meant that S Ravi walked on to the field to umpire along with Ananthapadmanabhan on Day 2 of the Ranji Final - In a rather unique occurence, it was a Ranji Final (on-field) debut for both Ravi and Ananthan
KN Ananthapadmanabhan, the
man from the Agraharam in Thiruvananthapuram was the first Kerala player to top
the milestone of 2000 runs and 200 wickets in Ranji Trophy. Through the 1990s, he
consistently topped the wickets tally for his State. In just his second season
in Ranji cricket, he broke into the top 5 wicket takers in domestic cricket taking 30 wickets in just 5 games and very soon for the 3rd time in four years, Ananthapadmanabhan was among the top 10 wicket takers in the domestic circuit, quite an achievement for a leggie in a phase when strong opposition such as TN and Karnataka piled up big scores against the minnows of South India. His performances led to a place in the Irani Trophy and Wills Trophy
teams in 1993 where he made immediate impact.
The 2nd half of that decade saw some
extraordinary performances - 27 wickets and topping the batting charts
with 597 runs including a double hundred and then topping both batting and
bowling aggregate for Kerala a couple of years later. He also had a successful
outing in the Challenger trophy in 1997-98 with an impressive 5 wicket haul
against India Seniors. It was a phase when he came closest to being selected for India. On the verge of national selection, Chief
selector Ramakant Desai told him that it was a direct choice between Sairaj
Bahutale and him and the scales tilted in favour of the former supposedly
because of his better batting skills.
In March 98, Ananthapadmanabhan playing for India A prized
out the scalps of Steve Waugh, Ponting and Lehmann against the touring Aussies. Within the next 12 months,
he bagged a 5 wicket haul against Pakistan in front of his home fans in Kochi. However, when Kumble got his 10 wicket haul, Ananthapadmanabhan decided that it was curtains for him and his dream of
playing for India was sealed as Kumble then became a permanent fixture in the
team.
He played for IOB in the Madras first division league for 15 years and it was under his captaincy that IOB won (another BCCI umpire Rajesh Kannan too played under him in that glorious phase for IOB) the Palayampatti shield in the 1990s.
He played for IOB in the Madras first division league for 15 years and it was under his captaincy that IOB won (another BCCI umpire Rajesh Kannan too played under him in that glorious phase for IOB) the Palayampatti shield in the 1990s.
Towards the tail end of his career, after he had lost hopes
of a national call, he got 38 wickets in the Ranji season from 7 games and helping Kerala qualify for the Elite
Group. He was the first player from Kerala to
play over a 100 matches and took close to 350 wickets. With a little more luck, he could have easily played for India in the 1990s.
Umpiring Ranji Final next week
KN Ananthapadmanabhan will, later this week, officiate in
his first Ranji Trophy Final over a dozen years after he made his BCCI umpiring
debut. In his first Ranji match as an umpire, he gave 13 decisions
prompting his partner S Ravi (http://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2013/08/s-ravi-set-for-umpiring-test-debut.html) to remark that he was bagging wickets like he was as
a bowler (Ravi will be one of his partners - 3rd Umpire - in his Ranji Final Debut as well).
Ananthapadmanabhan had in December 2016 umpired the Ranji Trophy semi final between Gujarat and Jharkhand along with JR Madanagopal (they both passed the exam in the same year). Three years ago, Ananthapadmanabhan was the 3rd umpire in
the Ranji final between Bombay and Gujarat in Pune. He has
since shot up into the top 5 umpires in India but like he was during his
playing days, he remains firmly grounded. 13 years and 75
first class matches into his umpiring career, he says that he is still learning and feels that staying in the present moment
is very important in umpiring.
Rich experience in
South Africa
Recently, in an exchange programme between the BCCI and the
South African Cricket Board, Ananthapadmanabhan went to South Africa for a 3
match (first class matches) engagement, umpiring domestic cricket there officiating
at Johannesburg, Capetown and Durban.
He views this exchange programme as a great initiative by the BCCI to send umpires overseas “It was a good experience as the 3 centers had different types of wickets. Jo’burg had pace and bounce, Capetown was more suited for batsmen and Durban assisted spinners as the match progressed.”
He worked with 3 partners who had earlier officiated in India
as part of their exchange program. Ananthapadmanabhan had umpired with 2 of
them in India and the matches in South Africa helped build that relationship.
The IPL Experience - 25 IPL matches todate
Ananthapadmanabhan is pleased with the progress he has made
over the last few years especially the experience gained in umpiring in the IPL
where he has officiated in over 20 matches onfield and been a 3rd
umpired in over 10 matches “IPL has given me a real idea of handling high pressure
on a big stage standing alongside top umpires and watching the top international umpires going about the whole process.”
Having got into umpiring (motivated early on by TNCA umpire Gururajan) soon after he retired from playing, Ananthapadmanabhan has reached the summit in domestic cricket and is all set to step on to the field on Monday morning ( the start of the Ranji Final). He is confident of making it into the next
big stage in umpiring and sees breaking into the international panel as the
next leap in his umpiring career. With the way the last few years have gone, it
will be a matter of time before this once top leggie from Kerala makes it on the
international stage in Umpiring.
Ananthapadmanabhan narrowly missed playing for the country.
He is now moving in the right direction in his umpiring career. It is likely that the dream of umpiring on the international stage will
soon become a reality for this quiet and down to earth man.
9 comments:
I wish him all the best in his endeavour
Inspiring article
Nice article.
He is the only Kerala player well known in India during his playing days. He doesn't get any support from his team mates during his playing days.He single-handedly used to manage. But he also bat reasonably if I remember. I may be wrong. Nice article and we'll deserved Anantha padmanabhan.
Devarajan
Wonderful comprehensive detaiing ofor his profile. ...
Thanks a.day best wishes
V.v.n article sir.
He is a wonderful leggie. He will shine as an International Umpire. Very unfortunate he couldn't represent India. I still remember bad wicket was prepared to take outright against IOB. Unfortunately the home team lost the game. அப் bundled them in both innings by bowling off breaks. He felt leg breaks not given much threat since the ball leaving the batsmen. He felt other way will be better. I happened to be officiated the game. Shrewd captain
We all worked together in the practice sessions, I learnt a lot from him.
Iwish him all the best for his future endeavours.
Madhavan S
RBI
Met him and Ramprakash during a Ranji game in Pune. Kerala lost outright to Maharashtra that match. Late 90s. Down to earth guy. Wish him the best for future endeavours. Shakthi.
I wish him all the very best in the international umpiring carrer
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