Sadashiv Iyer Vidarbha Ranji BCCI Umpire

'Gangaikondan' cricketer now aims big in Umpiring

A football and hockey goal keeper in his school days, he chose to follow in his appa’s footsteps and became a wicket keeper. With not much facilities in Nagpur, he moved to Bombay for summer coaching that proved transformational.  He came back a better player and was soon picked in the Vidarbha Ranji squad. In his very first match, he starred with two knocks that brought him into immediate limelight. In the summer of 1995, he shone with the bat in the YSCA tournament in Madras and was spotted by Dr. Natarajan and picked by India Cements that was making its way back into first division cricket in a big way that decade. He played over 20 Ranji matches for Vidarbha and shone for India Cements for a decade. Soon after retirement, he joined Madanagopal and Ananthapadmanabhan as BCCI umpires. On his appa's 78th birthday this year, he made his umpiring debut in IPL 16years after turning an umpire and now has hopes of making it big in Umpiring. Here’s the story.

From Gangaikondan to Nagpur

The forefathers of GR Sadashiv Iyer (Saddy to his teammates) hailed from Gangaikondan near Tirunelveli. His Grandfather moved to away from his home pre independence to Burma and later retired as depot in charge of India Super Tyre in Nagpur. As a young school boy, Sadashiv Iyer would accompany his grandfather to watch the net practice sessions of RBI Nagpur for whom his appa Ramasubramanian played. His early interest though was not in cricket but Football and Hockey. In both these sports, he was a goal keeper. It was only when he played in intra school matches that he captured the attention of the school’s Physical Trainer who roped him into the school team but he did not play much of junior age group cricket for Vidarbha. He did do well for GS college in the inter college tourney and played University cricket for Nagpur. 

His interest during his college days led him to ask his appa to take him to Bombay for summer coaching so he could play on turf wickets and improve his game. Sadashiv recalls that summer of 1990 in Bombay “There were only matting wickets in Nagpur and I wanted to practice on Turf. My transformation in cricket happened when I came under the tutorship of Anna Vaidhya in Bombay. I practiced hard under him for three months that summer and returned to Nagpur a more confident cricketer.”

The next summer was a big leap in cricket as he got the opportunity to play in the Kanga league qualifier. He scored a century in just over 20overs in a 50 over match and his coach’s reaction at the end of the day’s play was an eye opener. Sadashiv Iyer recalls the great lesson he learned from his coach that day “Though I helped the team win, my coach did not say one positive word. Instead he expressed unhappiness at me getting out before the half way mark and missing out on a double century. It was an eye opener. Those in Bombay always focused on converting starts into big hundreds. I realized that day that it was not enough to just play to the gallery.”

Ranji Debut- A boundary of his first ball

In 1992, he scored around 1000 runs in the local league. Following that he scored big in the Bapuna Cup, the selection tourney for Ranji Trophy and was the 2nd highest run getter. His performances led to his selection in the Ranji squad at the start of the 1993-94 season. He had a great start to his Ranji career helping Vidarbha stave off defeat against UP. He recalls the great gesture from his teammate on the morning of the match “The bat with which I scored all those runs to gain entry into Ranji Trophy broke in practice on the eve of my debut. I was almost in tears when my team mate Manish Doshi (who later captained Vidarbha) handed his Vampire bat for me to use. It is those moments in life that remind you of true friends in life”

Sadashiv straight drove his first ball in Ranji cricket off the then India prospect AW Zaidi for four. After scoring 40 in the first innings, he played a match saving innings of 89 in the second (innings) batting for almost a day, remembering the advice of Anna Vaidhya to not give away his wicket easily  “It immediately brought me into limelight as a batsman who could smash the ball at the start of the innings and also played a long innings.”

Ranji Cricketers in the early 1990s!!!

Cricket was so different in that early phase in Ranji, something that would be difficult for the new gen to visualize “All the Ranji team members in the early 1990s slept near the toilet in an unreserved compartment in train while travelling for a Ranji match. For another match we travelled by bus to Indore. These trips provided great bonding opportunities within the squad and we became a stronger unit and played for each other” recalls Saddy of his early Ranji days.

Dr Natarajan spots him 

A year later, when he played in the Paradip tourney for JN Port Trust, the Chennai Port Trust were impressed with his batting display and offered him a job in Chennai. That summer in the YSCA Trophy tournament, playing for Chennai Port Trust, he scored close to 200 runs in four matches. The innings that turnaround his cricketing career was the match against India Cements. Facing the then TN fast bowlers Gokulakrishnan and Devanand, he scored 40 at the start of the innings “Dr. Natarajan watched me bat and asked if I could join them. It had been only a month since I had joined the Chennai Port Trust but I could simply not refuse this irresistible offer from India Cements.”

VBC's Mentoring

Saddy credits the late VB Chandrasekar (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2016/01/vb-chandrasekar.html) for having a great positive impact on his batting “VBC was terrific on the finer aspects of batting. From my grip to the stance, he made minor adjustments that helped me a great deal. I also learned the never say die attitude from him. It was a golden period for me in cricket playing alongside Gokulakrishnan, S Suresh and other teammates at India Cements. Through that decade, we always fought till the very end in every match. One of the best memories of my stint has been the great friendship I have forged with many of my teammates from that phase.”

Former TN and Goa all rounder Gokulakrishnan (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2017/03/gokulakrishnan-j.html) says that though Saddy played all his early competitive cricket in the Central Zone he adapted well to the TN ecosystem and mingled well with all the teammates. "He was a talented batsman and an effective wicket keeper and he was a good contributor to India Cements. A special feature of Saddy is that he has been blessed with a helping tendency."

'ATG' S Sharath (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2020/12/sharath-s-tn-crickets-atg.html) who played first division cricket alongside Sadashiv Iyer at the turn of the century after he joined India Cements endorses Gokul's view "While he was a stroke filled batsman who always looked for runs and made useful contributions for India Cements, a standout feature of Iyer is his helpful nature. An hyperactive guy who does not sit in one place, he is always looking to help people out of the way."

In his early days in Madras, he missed the North India food that he had grown up with and would often go to the Gujarati Mandal in Parrys Corner to get a taste of the food back home. His other favourite hangout was the now non existent Bombay Halwa House opposite Vidya Mandir School.

Fails to make the Zonal leap

After spending the summer and early part of the 1st division league season in Madras, he would go back to Nagpur for the Ranji Trophy matches every year through the second half of the1990s. He recalls as to how he just missed making it to the next phase in cricket “After my first season in Ranji cricket, I was in the stand by in Duleep Trophy for Central Zone but did not get into the squad. Had I played Zonal cricket that year when I was in top form, my cricket may have taken a different turn but it was not to be. By the third year, I came to be positioned as a one day specialist."

A Keeping Record

In January 1995, against MP in Bhilai, he created a one day record of six dismissals as a wicket keeper including five stumpings. End of 1997, he created another keeping record in Ranji cricket with seven catches in one innings against UP in Allahabad. He looks back with a great deal of satisfaction about these two achievements. With the team looking to him for good starts in one day cricket, Sadashiv'a attention turned to the 50over format in the 2nd half of the 1990s and he answered them with some terrific one day knocks . One of Sadashiv's best innings in domestic one day cricket came in the match against Chandrakant Pandit’s MP when his rollicking half century helped chase out a big target.

Former TN Ranji captain and opening batsman S Suresh (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2020/11/sweety-s-suresh-tn-ranji-finals-captain.html) was Sadashiv's captain at India Cements and the two played a number of matches together opening the batting. He recalls Saddy as an attacking batsman and a very agile wicket keeper. 

Kerala leg spinner from the 1990s and now an international umpire KN Ananthapadmanabhan 

(https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2016/09/ananthapadmanabhan-kn.html) played against Sadashiv through that phase “He was a busy batsman and scored runs in crunch situations and at a brisk pace. He was a very safe wicket keeper who worked hard on his fitness.”

He played close to 25 matches for Vidarbha. He wanted to continue to be associated with the game and having watched the game closely for a decade as a first class cricketer, he felt that umpiring would give an opportunity to watch top players in action. Along with Ranji cricketers KN Ananthapadmanabhan and JR Madanagopal, he took to umpiring in 2006 and has been officiating now for 16years.

His Biggest moment in Cricket

On April 15 this year, on the occasion of his appa’s 78th birthday, he made his on-field umpiring debut in IPL “My appa encouraged me a lot in my sporting activities right from my childhood. It was the best gift I could give him on his birthday. He was all charged up watching me take the field in an IPL match. I realized the global impact of IPL when all my school mates now spread all over the world watched the match and sent me messages. IPL helped me connect with school friends after almost four decades”, he says with great delight.

It has also given him an opportunity to mingle with the legends of Indian cricket as well as the best of the Indian and Overseas players.

He had received an offer from the Railways soon after he graduated in the 1990s but he did not take it up. He looks back at his engagement with India Cements with great pride. "I may have been a class IV staffer in the Railways but having decided to take the job at India Cements, it has been a dream run in the last 27 years for they have taken care of me in a way I could not have visualized especially for someone who left his hometown as a 23year old.”

Wife's Support

Since the time he became an umpire, he has been travelling extensively across the country. It was the time his wife quit her financial services job sacrificing her corporate career growth to take care of the family. It is something Sadashiv says he is indebted to "My wife has had a big role in my progress as an umpire. She has ensured the family is taken care of back home in Chennai leaving my mind free to focus on umpiring." 

Third Gen Wicket Keeper

Sadashiv's son, Sarthak, too has taken to cricket and wicket keeping. "One of the first things he asked for as a child was wicket keeping gloves. He has developed big interest in keeping and is always seen with the gloves" says Sadashiv.

Appa's Message

He had to wait for a long time to make his IPL debut. When the IPL opportunity did not come easy, he remembered the message from his appa that he had handed out when Sadhashiv was a young boy 'Hard work will never go waste. It will be recognized for sure in your lifetime' is what he told me. 

Sadashiv says that all times, especially during the challenging ones, he follows this message of his appa "I always stick to processes and look to give my best in everything I do with the belief that recognition will come my way when it has to.”

Ananthapadmanabhan who has been an umpire in the IPL for a few years says that Sadashiv Iyer is an excellent umpire and a good team man to have on field.

JR Madanagopal (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2016/10/madanagopal-j.html) has been umpiring BCCI matches alongside Sadashiv over the last 15years. The two also played for a third division team together and helped in its promotion to the second. Madan says Sadashiv is a great team mate, very helpful and a friendly and warm personality.

Umpiring Goals

Sadashiv Iyer has set for himself some interesting goals in umpiring - to umpire in one new venue every year, to do a few games every season with a new partner and to officiate in a match in North India in freezing conditions in Dec- Jan.

He had quite a satisfying career as a player both for Vidarbha and India Cements at the club level. Having now experienced IPL as an umpire, Sadashiv Iyer is looking forward to scaling greater heights in his second innings in cricket in the years to come.