P Ramesh TN Opener 1970s

He burst on to the scene with a half century against West Indies and then thrilled the Madras crowd with a century on Ranji debut against Chandra and Prasanna at Chepauk but the cricketing end came sooner than expected much to everyone's disappointment

In the late 1980s, left arm spinner Sunil Subramanian (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2022/05/sunil-subramanian-tn-left-arm-spinner.html?m=1) was young and bubbling with enthusiasm at the SPIC nets in YMCA Nandanam. S Vasudevan, who captained SPIC in that phase, retired from first class aged 33 soon after winning the Ranji Trophy in 1988 to make way for Sunil. The young spinner would often challenge the best of players at the practice sessions to go after him. Left hander state opener from the 1970s P Ramesh, the great grandson of Buchi Babu, was well past his prime but he repeatedly showed glimpses of the fearless power hitting that he had become famous for  the previous decade. Even as Sunil was about to deliver the ball, he would shout out ‘Six’ and the ball went soaring over the fence at the north end of the ground.  Such was his class. After his half century for Indian Universities against the West Indies and the debut century against Karnataka in Ranji Trophy at Chepauk, expectations went up. His teammates were in awe of the natural ability he possessed and expected him to play for India in the 1970s. But he faded away in the late 70s after some sparkling knocks and it was to be another case of ‘what might have been’. Here’s the story.

Cricket at Baliah Avenue at the Luz House

Most of his early cricket was played at Baliah Avenue in Luz, a property of 4 acres owned by his maternal grandparents. Every evening senior school boys from PS and RKM came there to play cricket with Ramesh being the youngest. The locals in the area also formed a cricket club (Srirama) with a subscription of Rs. 25paise.

LUZ HOUSE - Sundar and Ramesh learned their cricket here

He is now 70 and undergoing some health challenges. At the gated villa in Puppalguda, 15kms West of Hyderabad, he told this writer as to how his uncle MM Kumar, who played for TN, was his first and early inspiration in cricket “My uncle would come and bowl to me on the Marble floor of our house and that helped me develop my stroke play. He also gave me his bat for me to practice and play in school matches.”

There was a lot of encouragement at St. Bedes, where he was coached by the AG Ram Singh. He credits his first coach as being a big positive influence “He was such a disciplinarian and would always be at practice ahead of the boys. He came in simple canvas shoes but shared some great insights on how to play together as a team and inculcated the importance of discipline and a positive attitude.”

Six decades friendship

Former IOB opener M Sundar has lived almost all his life at Luz Avenue and been Ramesh’s closest friend from childhood. The two played gilli thanda, marbles and flew kites from atop the teak tree in addition to playing cricket in the verandah of the palacious Luz House in Baliah Avenue from the time they were five. 

Sundar has great memories of the childhood days of climbing the oak, mango and teak trees and Ramesh’s uncle MM Kumar throwing fast paced balls from 15 yards to help develop their stroke play. He recalls Ramesh from those days from the early 1960s “He hailed from a wealthy family and had a luxurious upbringing. He had cricket in his blood. He was always cheerful and kept all of us in good humour. A lot of the time he would foot the bill at drive in woodlands where we spent the evenings.”

Sundar says he owes a lot of his cricket learnings to Ramesh “He inspired me to play cricket, took me doubles on his cycle to the selection at St. Bedes, allowed me to use his high- quality kit and also helped me learn cycling and later on the motor cycle as well.”

In his first match, the team was bowled out for 36 by Hindu HSS’ Devaraj, who Ramesh refers to as a whippy and a terror of a fast bowler “I top scored with 21 and was immediately noticed as someone with potential.”

The Leggie bags 4 in 4

In that early phase in cricket, Ramesh also bowled leg spin and picked up 4 wickets in 4 balls for Bharathi cc in the lower division league at PS School ground. In his early teens, he also scored a league century that same season. Pretty quickly he moved up the league ladder to playing first division cricket for MCC. 

At Lovedale - Captured on camera for the first time

He went to Lovedale to play for city schools. Ramesh recalls the first photo shots of his cricketing career “The Hindu’s Editor G Kasturi (father of Balaji who too went on to play Ranji cricket in the late 1970s) was present there with a 30mm camera to take pictures of the match. And I was all excited to be photographed as a school boy cricketer.”

By his mid-teens, he had played for South Zone schools. And was then selected to play for the Indian schools against a strong Ceylon side comprising Roy Dias and Wettimuny, among others. 

Hits Mohinder for a six off the first ball

In shivering cold in Jammu, playing for Madras University against Delhi, he hooked the first ball from Mohinder Amarnath for six and made runs both against Delhi and Bombay. Based on these performances, he was picked to for the selection trials in Indore where the Indian Universities was to picked to play against the touring West Indians.

Impresses the Selectors with his technique

PR Ramakrishnan (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2021/10/pr-ramakrishnan-coimbatore-cricketer.html), under whose captaincy Ramesh played for the Madras University, was in prime form that season in the inter university matches and was confident of finding a place in the Combined Universities side but was once again overlooked. In the story in 2021, this section had featured as to how SMK and Ramesh had booked the return ticket to Madras and Ramki had not. 

He recalls the innings that Ramesh played in the selection match in Indore “There was stiff competition for the top order slot. He played with aggression in the practice match and captured the attention of the selectors with his fearless display. After watching him bat, one of the selectors, who was mightily impressed, remarked ‘this Ramesh plays so close to the body’. He also had the advantage of having played for the Indian Schools earlier.”

Lot of similarities with  K Srikkanth

SM Krishna Kumar (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2024/01/sm-krishnakumar-madras-university.html) captained the Madras University to a triumph in the Rohinton Baria tournament the next season. He opened with Ramesh for Madras University and also later in the 1970s with K Srikanth in U-22 and U-25 cricket. He found similarities between them “I always found that both of them were quite similar in that they had that bit of extra time to play the ball which comes from a quick eye and good hand-eye coordination. He did not hesitate to play his shots, irrespective of the opposition, as this was his natural style” 

“When playing against him in collegiate and league cricket, it was vital to get him early as otherwise the scoreboard would move quickly against you.”

Krishna Kumar was also in Indore in Nov 1974 for the selection trial. While he and Ramesh had many good partnerships at the top of the order in that phase, he fondly remembers the century opening stand before lunch in that two-day selection game where both scored half centuries before retiring to give opportunities to other batsmen “The bowling attack was spearheaded by medium pacer Amitava Roy of Bengal who was talked of as a Test probable at that time. With everybody vying for a spot in the Combined Universities team, it was a pretty strong attack. I still remember Ramesh’s fluent batting that day. He was duly selected for the team to play the WI. It is likely that the selectors were impressed with his approach and style of play.”

Slams the feared quickies, gets out to Richards

Against a strong attack, Ramesh scored another aggressive half century in the second innings after failing in the first innings. Having survived the fast bowlers, he surprisingly got out to a seemingly innocuous spinner “I was ‘given out’ LBW in IVA Richards’ first over. As I was making my way back dejected at the decision, Alvin Kallicharan came up to me and offered his condolences and said ‘hard luck’ (about the decision).”

(Anshuman Gaekwad scored a century in the first innings and was soon inducted into the Indian team)

Ramki says that it was that innings that transformed his cricket career “Till that time, he was on par with many others his age but this half century gave him a lot of confidence and took him to the next level in cricket.”

A memorable century on Ranji debut

He made his Ranji debut a month later  and played the best innings of his life against two legends “I had only heard of the greatness of Chandra till then. It was a great experience to play him in my first Ranji match. I treated him like a fast bowler and that’s how I managed to survive. When I was 96, I swept Prasanna to the boundary to reach my century and he immediately hugged and said ‘you will do well in cricket’. 

"The great GRV called me aside and said 'the ball is there to be hit and you should continue to play your strokes without fear'.”

These gestures from the cricketing greats boosted my confidence and my aspirations went sky high, says Ramesh on his recollections from that match.

He would have been a 'Standout' performer in the white ball era

TT Srinivasaraghavan (TT Ramesh to friends in his teenage years) played for Vivekananda College in the early 1970s under P. Ramesh’s captaincy and went to head Non Banking Finance company Sundaram Finance for close to two decades. The two along with M Sundar and K Sundar were ‘foursome’ of a kind and met almost every evening at Woodlands during their collegiate years. It was TTS (he owned a 'Royal Enfield' bullet very early in his life) who inspired Ramesh to buy a Java. 

TTS (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2021/08/tt-srinivasaraghavan-tts-sundaram.html) watched Ramesh make his Ranji debut from the prestigious Pavilion Terrace at Chepauk with M Sundar and other close friends at College. He recalls what he saw of Ramesh as a cricketer in that phase  “Ramesh and I were classmates through the 4 years of college and I was fortunate to play for the college team under his captaincy. He was an extremely positive and fearless cricketer and someone who led from the front. Though he was primarily a gifted opening batsman, he took on the mantle of opening the bowling as well, and did a pretty good job of that as well, because the team needed it. His exploits with the bat are many, but for me, the enduring memory is his century on debut at Chepauk, against a Karnataka attack comprising the two legends, Prasanna and Chandra. I was privileged to watch that match from the pavilion terrace, alongside my Vivekananda college teammates. Had he been part of the white ball era, he would have been a standout performer.”

Buys a Java to ride alongside TT Ramesh's Bullet

His Ranji opening partner V Krishnaswamy (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2016/08/krishnaswamy-v.html) asked him to join IOB as soon as he completed his graduation. One of the first things he did was to buy a Java, a decision that he says was motivated by his namesake (TT Ramesh) owning a bullet. Both were so close to his heart that P Ramesh still remembers the registration numbers of the Bullet and the Java.

Duleep Trophy Debut - A meeting with another cricketing legend

A year after his Ranji debut, he was picked in the South Zone team for the Duleep Trophy match against Central Zone. He has great memories of sitting for a couple of hours with another cricketing legend of the time “I had got out to a rash shot in the first innings but scored an unbeaten half century in the second to take our team to victory in the run chase. Legendary Hanumant Singh, who saw me closely in that match,  asked me to meet him at the West End Hotel and took a two hour class about batting. He said that I had the potential to play for India and I should not throw away my wicket.”

“After the gestures from GRV and Prasanna, this was yet another great moment early on in my cricketing life” says Ramesh.

From Indiranagar to Padi with Vasudevan

He quit IOB after just a year to join Lucas TVS at their Padi Plant. “Ratnam was a close friend of appa and he asked me to join. Vasudevan and I took turns on the two wheeler to ride from Indira Nagar every morning at 6am. This long ride as well as my frequent trips to Avadi on work took a toll on my neck. And in the coming season, I had to take multiple pain killers before going into bat.”

Due to the daily two wheeler trips to Padi, Vasudevan (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2020/06/vasudevan-tn-ranji-trophy-retirement.html) developed a great understanding of Ramesh in those years “He was a most aggressive and a dashing batsman. He had a great sense of humour and when he was around, we always had a joyful time. We all had great expectations of him at that time.”

Great Gesture from Venkat

In Sept’76, batting in the middle order he scored a century against Andhra at the Forest College grounds in Coimbatore “When I was going into to bat, Venky asked me to score a hundred and I did it with a big partnership with Jabbar. When I returned to Madras, he presented me with an ‘autograph’ bat. It was a terrific gesture from him and I still cherish it as a great gift from a legend.”

A couple of months later, in December, he scored his third and final Ranji century against a strong Hyderabad attack taking TN quite close in its fourth innings run chase.

Fails in the Biggest Match of his life

These performances earned him a place in the South Zone team to play MCC in January 1977 but he scored a duck in both innings. In that phase, the match against visiting teams was considered as the stepping stone to play for India “It was a big match for me but it turned out to be a bad one. Lever (the series is known for his Vaseline incident) was swinging big. I was on the threshold of the selection into the Indian team but was overlooked after this failure. In the first innings, I edged the ball on to my pad and it trickled on to the stumps. They judged me just on this one match!!!”

For about three years, he had on a cricketing high - Century on Ranji debut followed by two more centuries and playing in the Duleep and Deodhar trophy tournaments. But after the twin failures against MCC and two lean years in Ranji cricket, he was dropped from the TN team for the 79-80 season. Ramesh was vocal in those days and went up to the selector Balu Alaganan to enquire the reason “I was told that I did not make runs in the first division league!!!”

A Ranji Revival as a new ball bowler

He came back the next season only to be dropped again after a duck against Hyderabad in the season opener. And then late in January 1981, he says he received a surprise call from Venkataraghavan (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2020/04/venkataraghavan75.html) on the morning of the Ranji match against Karnataka asking him to come to Chepauk immediately “TA Sekar had injured his ankle and Venky asked me to bowl with the new ball. I picked up 5 wickets and scored a rapid half century batting in the middle order. This comeback gave me a lot of satisfaction and my hopes were once again revived.”

In the quarter final against Haryana, the next month, he scored 60 but his twin failure in the semi-final against Bombay signalled the end of his Ranji career and he was never to play for TN again. 

Ramesh was great fun and had some lovely times together

SPIC was promoted to the first division after he joined in 1981. He went on a hiring spree roping in V Sivaramakrishnan, TA Sekar and S Vasudevan among others. The team went on to win the first division and The Hindu trophies under his reign as captain.  In the mid 80s, he convinced AC Muthiah to send the triumphant team to the UK on a cricket tour. Shiv met his opening partner recently at the 1970s players get together organised by SM Krishna Kumar at MCC and the two recollected some wonderful memories from their playing days.

He says that Ramesh was a stylish left hander with immense talent. “Our first stint together as an opening pair was with Alwarpet. He was a hard striker of the ball and I really enjoyed partnering him. He was also a very useful medium pace bowler. His debut century against Karnataka consisting of Chandra,Pras and Vijayakrishna was a brilliant one. Off the field he was great fun and we had some lovely times together.”

TN middle order batsman from the 1980s and the current Head of the TNCA Academy PC Prakash (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2022/04/pc-prakash-tn-ranji-1980s.html?m=1) played for Alwarpet and SPIC alongside Ramesh. He says that Ramesh made batting look easy. “He was stylish and a gifted cricketer and had so much time to play  his shots.”

Technically Sound - did not seem to have any weaknesses while batting

Former India fast bowler TA Sekar (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2013/08/ta-sekar-architect-behind-worlds-best.html) played for five years at SPIC in the 1980s under Ramesh. He is particularly disappointed that Ramesh did not fulfil his potential “Among the three, Kicha was defensive and did not play rash shots. V Shiv was sedate and good against spinners. Ramesh was stylish, versatile and had great eye hand co-ordination. He was technically sound and did not seem to have any weaknesses. He never flinched against the fast bowlers opening on matting wickets and not once did he get hit. Very quickly, he earned the respect of the opposition. He could suddenly change gears and move into an ultra-aggressive mode. He hit sixers with such ease that it was a treat to watch him bat. His class came to the fore when he played Prasanna and Chandra with such ease. After his century on debut in Ranji, I thought he would go all the way but he disappointed me. Coming from a cricketing family, he had all the facilities. He was easy going and may not have worked hard enough.”

“In the 1970s, the standards were high and competition was stiff. I felt Ramesh gave up his national aspirations far too quickly for my liking.”

A Bowler's Captain

At SPIC, Sekar says Ramesh showed his captaincy mettle “He was a bowler’s captain and was quite demanding of me and KAK (K Arun Kumar). He would needle me in an act of motivation to get me to do better. He himself was quite good at the club level and bowled sharp bouncers and cutters.”

Sixers land up at the Presidency College

IOB’s Rocko’ Sundar was at the receiving end of some of Ramesh’s power hitting “He once hit IOB’s Dayakar off successive balls on to the Presidency College batting for TVS in The Hindu Trophy final when he scored a rapid 75.”

Sense of Humour high like his towering sixers

S Srinivasan, who played Ranji cricket for Bombay and Madras, is now the selector of the TN Ranji team. He too was roped in by Ramesh at SPIC. He says that Ramesh was one of the most technically equipped hard hitting batsman of his time. “He made batting look so simple. His sense of humour was always like his towering SIXERS. There was never a dull moment when he was around.”

Vasudevan succeeded Ramesh as captain at SPIC after having played under him through the first half of the 80s. He says that Ramesh was a great motivator and got the best out of his players. “If he had worked hard, he may have played higher levels of cricket. Unfortunately, his glory was short lived after the highs of a debut century in Ranji.”

TTS too says that it is a pity that he didn't go on to bigger things.

VV belonged to a different space, admired Kalli for his guts

Ramesh counts Bishen Bedi as one of the best spinners he faced. “At the Kotla, I wanted to sweep Bedi and ended up playing a defensive shot outside the off stump. That was testimony to his greatness.”

But like many others of his generation, for Ramesh too VV Kumar was the best “VV belonged to a different space and simply mesmerized batsmen.”

In the 1970s, he says he had great admiration for B. Kalyanasundaram “After just a few overs, Kalli  would be taken off from the attack and despatched to long leg but he rarely showed any dejection. When Venky threw the ball at him late in the innings, he gave him crucial breakthroughs with the old ball. As a fast bowler, you needed a lot of guts to shine in that phase dominated by spinners and Kalli had that in abundance.”

He is delighted with the revival of Buchi Babu tourney that was once upon a time the stepping stone to a budding cricketer in Madras. He was in Coimbatore last year for the finals. He was also recognised by the TNCA during the TNPL for his contribution to TN cricket.

Hitting out at Chandra remains in my everlasting memory

He says he harboured great hopes between 1974 and 77 to play for India but the failure against MCC (England) was a big setback and in the years that followed ‘I lost that aspiration to play at the next level’. Looking back at that phase, he says he could have been given more chances in the Deodhar trophy given his aggressive instincts. 

For this handsome man, not getting right to the top in cricket was a disappointment but he says that the century on debut in Ranji and stepping out to Chandra and hitting him with ease that day will remain in his everlasting memory as will the childhood days of playing marbles, gilli thanda and climbing teak trees to fly kites at the Luz House with 'great friend' M Sundar.”