CS Suresh Kumar India Schools TN Opener NCA Coach

He had a meteoric rise in the late 1970s rising from beach cricket to India Schools and to five Ranji Centuries in his first 9 matches in the early 80s but the India call remained elusive

The  first batting coach of DK and M Vijay, Suresh Kumar is passing on his batting knowledge to the Next Gen of players as a Level III coach

Into his mid-teens the boy from Thiruvallikeni was more interested in cover ball cricket on the Marina Beach than TNCA schools cricket. Unlike most others from that historical location that is home to the Parthasarathy Perumal Divya Desam(https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2022/07/thiruvallikeni-sripatham-thangis.html?m=0) he joined Adarsh School. The PD’s visit to his house transformed his cricket and he had a meteoric rise playing against the likes of Derek Pringle and Rameez Raja. He was soon on the verge of an India call. But his fall was just as sudden as the rise and he went out of favour quickly. In his second innings in cricket, he is trying to make his mark as a Level III Coach. Here is the story.

CS Suresh Kumar spent all his schooling days in Thiruvallikeni. It would have been normal for a boy from that location to have joined the Hindu school but his appa, a state TT player, was keen on convent education for his son and got him admitted to Adarsh School in Royapettah!!!While the school laid a strong foundation for his extrovert nature, the English language and communication skills that were to come in handy in his second innings in cricket, it did not possess a strong team in cricket.

From Beach Cricket to India Schools

And thus, into his teens, a lot of his cricketing time was spent at the Marina beach playing tennis ball tournaments with his friends.  He was ignored at the city schools selection for two years and he was not keen even to play cricket for the school. He recalls the transformational event at his home in the 2nd half of the 1970s that led to his meteoric rise in cricket “I skipped the school match but much to my surprise a hat trick from one of our bowlers (Naveen) led to a shock upset and we were into the next round. I still was not keen to go as I had been ignored in the TNCA selections but on the morning of the match, the PD (Mohana Krishnan) came home and asked me to come for the match as he was confident that I could make a match winning contribution. When I expressed my disinterest, he convinced my appa to send me for the match.”

‘When I reluctantly agreed and promised to be at the ground, he would not leave. He wanted to take me along and held me by hand to the ground.’ 

Suresh Kumar scored a big hundred against RKM North, a knock that shot him into limelight. It was one of the several big hundreds he was to score in the coming years. He continued to amass runs for Adarsh in 77-78. The century got him a place in the city schools and in no time he was playing for TN schools. In November 77, he scored a century against Karnataka in the Ghulam Ahmed Trophy in Trivandrum.

When the schools team from England visited India in 1977-78, he was in prime form having scored plenty of runs for TN and South Zone Schools. In the four test series, he scored quality runs in three displaying great patience that was to become a hallmark of his batting in the coming seasons when he graduated to the senior level. In each of the Junior Tests, he helped Indian Schools recover from a tricky situation. In the first test at the Wankhade Stadium in December 77, his half century helped India from 38/3. In the second test in Delhi, he scored 62 watched by Robin Marlar. 

In three tests, Suresh Kumar scored 178. The renowned cricket writer who was covering England’s Test Series in Pakistan made a quick trip to India to check out the English prospects (Future England players Derek Pringle, Paul Terry and Kim Barnett were part of that team). He wrote in January 1978 that India had found a solid top order batsman for the future referring to Suresh Kumar particularly pointing to his correct technique and temperament to play long innings and said that he had everything a coach could ask for from an opener.

Playing for SZ schools, he scored a half century against England in Hyderabad in January 1978.

Against Pakistan U19 in 78-79

Later that year, in December 1978, captaining TN, he scored a double century against Andhra in the South Zone inter-state schools tournament. His consistent run of scores in 1978 followed by an unbeaten half century against North Zone in the Cooch Behar Trophy was to earn him a place in the Indian U19 team in January 1979 but not before he had a bit of jitters at the selection.

At the trials to select the team to play Pakistan U19, Suresh Kumar was not given a chance to bat. A shocked Suresh gathered courage and went up to the selector Chandu Borde to make a polite enquiry “We have seen enough of you” Suresh Kumar recalls Borde telling him that day.  

He was in the team alongside future Ranji team mates R Madhavan and captain K Srikkanth. The team also included Chandrakant Pandit, Kiran More and Saad Bin Jung. In the second test at Chepauk, he scored 30. Continuing his good form, playing for South Zone against Pakistan U19, he contributed in both innings including another half century.

By this time, Suresh, who had made his league debut for Ranji CC, in the lower division league received offers from all the first division teams including from Sriraman. He joined YMA to play under the captaincy of legendary S Venkataraghavan (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2020/04/venkataraghavan75.html?m=1) for the first time. 

He recounts the change in his cricketing mindset between 1976 and 79 “While I did not have big cricketing hopes till I was 15, playing for Indian Schools and India U19 against visiting overseas teams led me to dream big and to play for India. My appa too who was not encouraging of cricket in the earlier phase began to acknowledge that I could make it big in cricket.”

However just when his cricketing fortunes were looking up in his late teens, financial challenges in the family led him to accept the job offer from SBI before he had graduated and thus missed out on College and University cricket. He moved from day to evening college (6pm to 9pm) at Viveka. In the three years at SBI, he shone enough to figure in the all India SBI team alongside GR Viswanath, Goel and Roger Binny, among other greats.

In that phase, he opened alongside the more stylish S Kedarnath (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2021/06/kedarnath-s-opener-from-1970s.html) who remembers him from the early 1980s "Suresh was a rock solid opener. He had a good temperament and penchant for long innings. He played several big knocks for SBI. At a time when he was doing well for the state in Ranji cricket and playing alongside legends such as GRV for the bank, he took the call to quit. We all tried to convince him but he would not listen."

U22 - Century 

In October 1981, by when he had already joined SBI, he scored a century for TN U22 against Hyderabad after coming in to replace K Srikkanth who had gone to play a Duleep Trophy match. He had already played for SZ the previous year but was dropped by TN. "After being dropped by TN having played for SZ, I was determined and showed grit to score the century."

By 1982, he had played for India Schools and India U19 and also starred in U22 cricket. He had been in line for a Ranji debut but that proved elusive for quite a while. 

It was his knock in November 1982 in the city vs districts match that finally got Venkat to have a final word on his entry into Ranji cricket. After big knocks from R Madhavan and S Balaji (century) for the districts had helped them post close to 400, city was bundled out for less than 150 and forced to follow on. Suresh Kumar shone through carrying the bat scoring 59NO. In the second innings, once again he scored a half century. 

Venkataraghavan's contribution

He remembers the strong words from Venkataraghavan.  “Venky saw me bat, was impressed and picked me for Ranji. It was he who believed in my potential (and R Madhavan’s) and encouraged us big time in the early 1980s. However, harsh he sounded, he always had the wellbeing of his teammates in his mind. He always told me that I had it in me to play for India.  “Cricket at the top is extremely challenging and one cannot take anything for granted. He inculcated the toughness in me that has helped right till this day.”

He told me that he had experienced the worst in his times and that he wanted every teammate of his to be at their strongest mentally. “He brought me out of any complacency I may have had at that time after a few good innings for TN.”

Suresh Kumar had a sensational couple of years in Ranji cricket. After debuting with a duck he was dropped for the next match. He recalls those few years with TN “I knew even a 50 would not be enough to survive in that TN team. I had to make big runs to keep my place.”

A glorious Ranji run

Suresh Kumar had a sensational couple of years in Ranji cricket. Both his under 19 team mate from the late 70s R Madhavan and he debuted in the same match in Ranji against Hyderabad in rather contrasting styles. While Madhavan scored 96 (the story goes that TNCA’s Santhanam prayed continuously for Madhavan to not score a century on debut for those that did previously did not do well in cricket), Suresh Kumar scored a duck. Madhavan looks back at that season “He was dropped for the next match against Andhra after failing on his debut. When he was brought back for the game against a strong Karnataka bowling attack, he was all grit and determination.”

Madhavan and Suresh put together a 75run partnership that took TN close to Karnataka’s first innings score of 180+.  Against Raghuram Bhat and Vijayakrishna, Suresh Kumar show great patience to score 146. Both Madhavan and Suresh Kumar had one of the fastest to 1000 runs in Ranji cricket for TN. Southpaw  Madhavan (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2020/10/r-madhavan-tn-cricketer-1980s.html?m=1) who played alongside Suresh in the India U19 series against Pakistan in the late 70s and who was on the verge of an India call against David Gower’s England in 84-85 recalls Suresh from those years  “There was no looking back for Suresh after that great century against Karnataka. He scored back to back centuries and had one of the best runs for a TN bat. His five centuries in 9matches was sensational performance” says Madhavan.

Suresh followed his maiden century with another big one (162) against Kerala in the next match once again posting a big opening partnership with V Shivaramakrishnan. Though he failed in the first knock out game against UP, famously known for centuries by two SVPB Udumalpet players, S Srinivasan and NP Madhavan(https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2016/05/np-madhavan.html?m=1), Suresh Kumar ended his debut season with a century against Delhi that helped TN avert an outright loss. He easily topped the batting aggregate for TN that year having scored close to 500runs.

The remarkable debut season led him to being awarded the State cricketer of the year and the journalists' cricketer of the year.

Though he began the next season with a duck in that famous match against Karnataka when TN’s top three were back in the pavilion in the first few minutes on an almost unplayable swinging first morning in Bangalore before R Madhavan shaped a great recovery along with S Srinivasan and Abdul Jabbar, Suresh Kumar came back with a bang in the 2nd match with yet another century. He ended the league phase with another century against Kerala and once again involved in a century stand with R Madhavan.

“I knew even a 50 would not be enough to survive in that TN team. I had to make big runs to keep my place and hence I focused on scoring centuries” says Suresh Kumar looking back on his first two seasons.

Symbol of Great Patience

PC Prakash (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2022/04/pc-prakash-tn-ranji-1980s.html) was in the same mould as Suresh Kumar in batting with both displaying strong defence and a great temperament to play the long innings. They were teammates and good friends right from the U22 days "His basics were strong. He had a sound technique and was a solid opener in those days. He was a very quiet and serious cricketer (became outspoken much later). While I did not play the match against Bombay, his century away from home was an outstanding effort. He was a symbol of great patience and it was an extraordinary innings that everyone took notice of."

                                      

Against the rampaging West Indians

These runs were not enough to get him a place in the Duleep Trophy team. His selection for South Zone and the Board President’s XI teams to play a rampant West Indies a few months after their World Cup loss leads Suresh Kumar to reflect on destiny that shapes one’s life.

“When I had no interest in serious cricket after joining Adarsh, the PD’s proactive visit to my home led to a cricketing transformation. Here when I was scoring runs aplenty in Ranji cricket, I was thrown in against the fastest bowlers in the world. They were relentless ball after ball, bowler after bowler.”

Selector Hanumant Singh had told Suresh that he was in contention for the tests if he made runs in the lead up games, especially in light of the fact that Gavaskar had chosen to go down the order “TA Sekar was the fastest I had faced until then but here was a battery of them relentless in their pursuit. Roberts and Marshall were almost unplayable. You could see the anger in their eyes after the World Cup loss. They were on a mission. I did not even have a helmet with me.’ 

PC says that a couple of big knocks against the West Indies could have been a turning point for him “In those days performing against the visiting teams was crucial. It was the stepping stone to playing for India. Unfortunately Suresh failed in those two matches. A strong performance against the Windies may have elevated him to the next level but sadly he missed out on those opportunities.”

Sidhu made a half century for BP XI and was in the test squad later in the series.

After a not too impressive league phase, he scored a century in the knock out game against Bombay in yet another big century stand with V Shiv in 1984-85. It was back to back century stand between the two after they have helped TN chase out the victory target of close to 200 against Bihar in the previous match. But really that was the end of his glorious run in Ranji cricket. He failed the entire season in 1985-86 and the selectors move to focus on the next gen of players saw the end of Suresh Kumar sooner than he may have expected given the rich vein of form he had been between 1982 and 84 “It felt like I was on top of the tower with a crown and then had a sudden fall.”

Also, in this phase, he fell in love with a young journalist who he later found resided in the same street. His wife,Latha, went on to become a high profile journalist in the fashion space(bureau chief magna) mingling with the who's who (Elite) in the city. Interestingly, she has turned spiritual now making frequent trips to Brindavan (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2016/01/andal-brindavan-nachiyar-thirumozhi.html?m=0) and the pressure is on him to follow in her spiritual endeavours.

Protege of Rajan Bala

Cricketer turned Enterpreneur Promodh Sharma(https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2020/05/promodh-sharma-cricketer-turned.html) remembers opening alongside Suresh Kumar in the summer practice matches in the mid 1980s organised by Rajan Bala in T Nagar. "The friendship was so close that Suresh would come and play with us (young boys). It was of course a great experience for all of us to be batting alongside someone who had big hundreds in Ranji Cricket.”

A TN team mate from the 1980s says that this may have backfired on Suresh “When a story on the lines of Suresh being TN’s Gavaskar, the legend during one of his visits to Madras sarcastically asked me ‘if he is TN’s Gavaskar, am I Bombay’s Suresh Kumar!!!’ "

A long time resident of Thiruvallikeni too felt that he had become too close to Rajan Bala for cricketing comfort "He was RB's protege and spent a lot of time with the cricket writer."

Of course, Suresh Kumar himself was proud to state that he had based his game on the legendary opener. “When I asked Gavaskar ahead of the tour match against West Indies on how I should handle the fast bowlers, he quipped ‘don’t give them time to think. Be ready when they are at the top of the bowling mark.’ That showed his greatness. He was always thinking as to how to tackle the best bowlers in the world.”

After his three good seasons in Ranji Cricket, even Venkataraghavan tipped him to go with the Indian team to Sri Lanka in 1985-86. But alas it was not to be. That was the final nail in the coffin for Suresh and he did not stage a comeback after that. 

Into Coaching

By mid 1984, Suresh Kumar had quit SBI and joined India Pistons. He was there for almost 25years. At the turn of the century he was one of the earliest to accredit himself with Level 3 coaching in India. For a long time he had a coveted role with the NCA. He launched his own academy 'CS Suresh Kumar Cricket Academy' at the Vivekananda College. He was also the one who was the first coach for both Dinesh Karthik and M Vijay when they were not yet into their teens. He has also been the coach for Kerala and Pondicherry Ranji Trophy teams.

PC Prakash, who himself is the coach at the TNCA academy and has been the TN state coach in the past, rates him as a good batting coach "Suresh is very good batting coach. He speaks his mind and does not hold back. He has good command both over the language as well as the game, especially batting.'

From nowhere in the mid 70s studying in an unfancied school for cricket, he made it to the Indian Schools playing against England and Pakistan in Junior cricket, and had a sensational couple of years for TN in Ranji cricket in the early 1980s. In the form of his life, most thought that he was just a step away from making it to the Indian team. S Venkataraghavan repeatedly said in that phase that he was one of the most solid openers in domestic cricket and that a place in the Indian squad was not far away. But that remained elusive. Now two decades into his second innings in cricket, Suresh Kumar is looking to pass on his cricketing knowledge to the next generation of cricketers.