Vijay Nirmal Cricketer Don Bosco

The TN U22 cricketer from the 1990s is now one of the most successful wealth managers

For a ‘Cricketing Rebel’ in his late teens, Vijay Nirmal has made a great transition into the corporate world managing the wealth of the who's who in the corporate world

N Vijay Nirmal had the makings of a solid opener in the second half of the 1980s and early 90s. He had a strong foundation at Don Bosco. He was a talented off spinner as well.  Coached by Chandrasekar Rao, Audi Chetty and Umapathy, he made rapid progress in age group cricket at the city and state schools level. He shared the room with Rahul Dravid for South Zone at the U15 level. At that time, it seemed that cricketing glory beckoned but he turned a rebel in his late teens and did not progress beyond the U22 level. The cricketing lessons did not go waste and he used it in his corporate life. Touching 50, he now manages the wealth of the who’s who in the corporate world. Interestingly, seeking ‘Enlightenment’ and adopting ‘Saraganathi’ as a way of life, he has turned extremely spiritual and spends a lot of time every day at the Arunachaleswarar Sannidhi at the Kapaleeswarar temple. Here is the story.

Vijay Nirmal did his entire schooling at Don Bosco. His appa Nandakumar hailed from Coimbatore and was a cricket fanatic. Unfortunately his own cricketing interests had been crushed by his appa. For a large part, Nandakumar had to play matches without his appa’s knowledge and even had to hide the paper scores.  But Prof Nandakumar could not be kept away from his passion and started Prasad CC in Coimbatore and another one by the same name in Chennai later. What he could not achieve as a player he was keen for his son to. In this endeavour, he entered the cricketing life of his son right at the beginning when Vijay Nirmal was just 11. He would bowl to Vijay Nirmal at the BS Nets and shaped his early batting style.

Vijay Nirmal looks back at those early days in cricket “My appa wanted to live his cricketing dream through me. His intention was noble but he did not know as to how it affected me, emotionally.”

Emotional Challenges of a teenager

When Vijay Nirmal came to play a practice match in the late 1980s for DB against YMCA TSR for whom this writer played, his appa’a voice was heard every ball that he faced. He was also a beneficiary of some special privileges early on though he did not ask for it. His appa’s powerful presence in the TNCA led to him being given extra batting in the nets at the selection trials, something that eminent cricket writer of the time Rajan Bala pointed out in the Indian Express in the 1980s. As a teenager Vijay Nirmal was blissfully unaware of what was happening around him except that he was under the total control of his appa. It was a phase when he was fully into cricket.

The 'cricketing model  led to emotional challenges in his teenage phase “I could not hit any ball in the air. His drilling made me focus on not getting out under any circumstance as I feared facing his wrath the next minute. Mind did not function optimally during my cricketing days.”

Instead of enjoying the sport, he was drained emotionally. He looked around him and found cricketers enjoying their game. Added to this was the tag of being a TNCA official’s son which always made his inclusion a questionable selection. There were always murmurs around in the cricketing circles. 

The Only Emotional Support – Tanvir Jabbar

TN cricketer from the 1990s Tanvir Jabbar played along with Vijay Nirmal through the late 80s for Don Bosco and for city and state schools. For a few years, they spent morning and evening together at the cricket nets and knew each other well. While Vijay Nirmal was a slow starter and a steady player, Tanvir was flamboyant. The two forged several big partnerships during the period and helped win matches for the school. He was one cricketer who stood by him in that difficult emotional phase in cricket. He told this writer that Vijay Nirmal was a very dedicated and disciplined cricketer “He was always willing to learn but unfortunately he could not do what he wanted to do. His father adopted an autocratic style and the conversations were always one sided.”

“We had a good understanding of each other. I knew exactly as to what he was going through and tried my best to show compassion and empathy towards his feelings. He let out all his frustrations in our long conversations.” 

Turns a rebel at 18

In another story seen in this section earlier, Mayura Kumar(https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2020/11/sanmar-mayura-kumar-swimming-tennis.html) too was initially pushed into tennis by her appa and uncle (late N Sankar) - https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2020/11/jolly-rovers-n-sankar-75.html- but she quickly got away from living their tennis dream and went on to become a national champion in swimming. But Vijay Nirmal did not take such a quick call.

Into his late teens, he turned a rebel with his new physical appearance being testimony to a new way of life. From a short summer hair cut earlier he became a hippy growing his hair long. He joined a rock music band moving away mentally from cricket. “At 18, I turned a rebel. I made new friends outside of cricket. It was a phase where nobody asked me any questions. I had also become a devotee of Ramana Maharishi and the spiritual experience continues to this day.”

Between all of these, he had turned in some very good performances first for his school and also for the city and state in age group cricket. In 1986 he bowled in the nets to Gavaskar during the tied test and got him out “years later he still remembered me taking his wicket in the nets” recalls Vijay Nirmal.

Srikkanth – The Best Captain

He also moved up to playing first division cricket for Railway Institute and Alwarpet. He says playing under K Srikkanth was fun “He was the best captain I had played under. He mixed humour with serious cricket. He was highly motivational and got the best out of the team.”

Vijay Nirmal rose to the level of being in the list of Ranji probable in the 1990s but by then his mind was away from serious cricket and he moved away into corporate life. He continued to play lower division cricket once in a while as well as inter club cricket fully expressing himself unlike his earlier phase and playing with a new found freedom even going over the top at the start of the innings. His cricketing phase in the late 1980s was such a nightmare that he erased it completely from his memory. In recent times, he has returned to cricket and is a member of the apex council of the TNCA.

Managing Wealth - Who's Who of the Corporate World

Soon after becoming an engineer, he joined a manufacturing plant but production work did not interest him. He pursued his MBA from Symbiosis and moved into the banking sector. He operated below par as a cricketer but in the corporate world he has made right to the top, literally sitting on the 7th floor of the bank!!! Over the last two decades, he has enjoyed enormous success in the corporate world working in large firms such as Standard Chartered Bank, HSBC, Merrill Lynch and Barclays. He has bagged the top performer award multiple times at the private sector bank where is he a VP but brushes away the corporate success in his current philosophical way of life “it all happened on its own and in the way it had to.” 

However, he does credit a lot of his corporate success to the cricketing lessons “The cricketing experience has given me a lot of mental balance and helped in emotional management in the corporate world. It taught me resilience. Cricket was a hard grind and we had to dig deep against the great bowlers of the time. It developed my character and has helped with discipline and work ethic. Cricket has been the greatest teacher. It taught me that I could get out any ball, I could score a zero after a century and I carried that lesson into the corporate life. It helped me manage success and failure and provided the much needed emotional control. It has contributed to the DNA of how you function.” 

Martial Arts and Tapas

It has been a successful transformation for Vijay Nirmal. From the emotional lows during his early cricketing phase to great corporate success from black and brown belt in Martial Arts to everyday Tapas, Vijay Nirmal has experienced it all. 

Into the late 40s, he has become one of the most successful wealth managers. Currently he is the Regional Head of the Wealth Management division at India’s top private sector Bank. For all the emotional challenges in his cricketing phase, he has made it to the top of the corporate ladder and today manages the wealth of the ‘Who’s Who’ in corporate circles. 

Cricketer turned Entrepreneur Promodh Sharma (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2020/05/promodh-sharma-cricketer-turned.html) played together with Vijay Nirmal in the late 1980s and the two also went on annual trip to Bangalore with YMCA TSR. He says that as an investment Banker Vijay is second to none "He puts great value on integrity and always keeps the clients best interest at heart whenever he advises you on any matter. He does his homework and ensures that he understands your risk appetite and then acts in accordance.  He is very intuitive and understands the odds he is dealing with on the market very very well. He has consistently delivered on my family’s portfolio over the years."

Amidst the great success at work and heading a large team, he has found peace at the Kapaleeswarar temple. His emotional balance and the sense of calm that one sees in him these days is something one could not have fathomed after what he went through in his teenage life. There is a blessed feeling about him often in a Veshti with the Thiruneer sported prominently on his forehead sitting in in meditation at the Arunachaleswarar Sannidhi at the Kapaleeswarar Temple where he is a regular these days. 

Had things gone the way his appa wanted, Vijay Nirmal may have become a top cricketer. Instead he chose a different way of life and has reached the top of the corporate world. More importantly, he seems to have found his purpose in life having been on a self-discovery path and is working towards attaining ‘Enlightenment’ following the Saranagathi way of life.