Venkataraman Subramanya (born 16 July 1936) is a former Indian
cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by str ...
er who played in nine
Test matches from 1965 to 1968. He was an aggressive middle order batsman, who captained
Mysore
Mysore (), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern part of the state of Karnataka, India. Mysore city is geographically located between 12° 18′ 26″ north latitude and 76° 38′ 59″ east longitude. It is located at an altitude of ...
for some years, and a useful leg-spin bowler. He later emigrated to Australia. Subramanya was affectionately called as 'Kunju (small) Mani'.
Early life
Subramanya grew up in a joint family in
Malleswaram
Malleshwara (also referred as Malleshwaram) is a northwest neighborhood and one of the zones of Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike in Bengaluru, India. It was planned in 1889 after the great plague of 1898, developed as a suburb in 1892 and h ...
. His father was a civil engineer who built a lot of houses in
Bangalore
Bangalore (), List of renamed places in India, officially Bengaluru (), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan area, metropolitan population of a ...
. His uncle was the chief engineer when the
KRS Dam was built. They had a house with a huge compound where all the cousins could play cricket. Two of Subramanya's brothers,
V. Ramdas and
V. Krishnaprasad also played for
Mysore
Mysore (), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern part of the state of Karnataka, India. Mysore city is geographically located between 12° 18′ 26″ north latitude and 76° 38′ 59″ east longitude. It is located at an altitude of ...
.
[Vedam Jaishankar, Casting a Spell, The story of Karnataka Cricket, UBS Publishers, 2005]
Subramanya studied at the
Malleswaram High School and later
Basappa Intermediate College before graduating from
Central College. He turned out for
Malleswaram Gymkhana. Unlike other cities at that time,
Bombay
Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second-m ...
and
Madras,
Bangalore
Bangalore (), List of renamed places in India, officially Bengaluru (), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan area, metropolitan population of a ...
did not have a major tournament. The only exposure that the youngsters got was from radio. Subramanya learnt cricket by listening to commentary and imbibing some lessons.
Ranji career
Despite being an accomplished batsman, Subramanya made his
Ranji Trophy debut against
Hyderabad
Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India ...
batting at number 10. He explained this by saying –
''"A.S. Krishnaswamy was the captain. He had already returned to Mysore city and was out of touch with the Bangaloreans. I felt frustrated on my debut. ASK did not know the players and what they did. In my debut match I went in at number 10. ASK did not know who I was and also did not bother to find out."''
Mysore
Mysore (), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern part of the state of Karnataka, India. Mysore city is geographically located between 12° 18′ 26″ north latitude and 76° 38′ 59″ east longitude. It is located at an altitude of ...
made the final that year, but they had a new skipper.
Kennimbeli Vasudevamurthy was made captain of the team and he promoted Subramanya higher up in the order. The game against
Bombay
Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second-m ...
took place at the
Brabourne Stadium
The Brabourne Stadium is a cricket ground in Mumbai in Western India, built in the British Bombay era. It was the home ground of the Mumbai men's and women's cricket teams. It can accommodate 50,000 people for sports matches. The ground is owne ...
. Subramanya excelled with a fine century. Despite his efforts,
Mysore
Mysore (), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern part of the state of Karnataka, India. Mysore city is geographically located between 12° 18′ 26″ north latitude and 76° 38′ 59″ east longitude. It is located at an altitude of ...
lost the game by an innings and 22 runs.
Subramanya built on his success in his debut season and scored more runs in the following seasons. He was appointed as captain of the
Mysore
Mysore (), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern part of the state of Karnataka, India. Mysore city is geographically located between 12° 18′ 26″ north latitude and 76° 38′ 59″ east longitude. It is located at an altitude of ...
team in 1963. In his first season as captain, he led his team to a semi-final showdown against
Bombay
Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second-m ...
at
Central College Ground in
Bangalore
Bangalore (), List of renamed places in India, officially Bengaluru (), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan area, metropolitan population of a ...
. His excessive shielding of his tail end partners cost him his century as he was dismissed for 99 by
Subhash Gupte.
Subramanya had a sensational
Duleep Trophy
The Duleep Trophy, also known as Mastercard Duleep trophy due to sponsorship reasons, is a domestic first-class cricket competition played in India. Named after Kumar Shri Duleepsinhji of Nawanagar (also known as 'Duleep'), the competition wa ...
by scoring hundreds against North Zone and West Zone. He was thus selected to the Indian cricket team.
International career
Subramanya played with moderate success in the few Tests that he played between 1965 and 1968. Against West Indies at Madras in 1966–67, he hit a breezy 61, treating Hall and Griffith with disdain. He did little of note on the tour of England in 1967, but he touched form late and played in two of the three Tests. Pressed to open the attack because of injuries to the regular new ball bowlers, he bowled Geoff Boycott in the third Test at Edgbaston. On the tour of Australia and New Zealand in 1967–68, he did little of note, save for a fighting 75 in a losing cause in the first Test at Adelaide.
Scorecard of India vs Australia
/ref>
Later career
Subramanya later returned to play for the Mysore
Mysore (), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern part of the state of Karnataka, India. Mysore city is geographically located between 12° 18′ 26″ north latitude and 76° 38′ 59″ east longitude. It is located at an altitude of ...
team. His greatest contribution to Karnataka Cricket was as a leader. Under his leadership, talented cricketers like B. S. Chandrasekhar
Bhagwat Subramanya Chandrasekhar (informally Chandra; born 17 May 1945) is an Indian former cricketer who played as a leg spinner. Considered among the top echelon of leg spinners, Chandrasekhar along with E.A.S. Prasanna, Bishen Singh Bedi an ...
, Gundappa Vishwanath, EAS Prasanna
Erapalli Anantharao Srinivas Prasanna (born 22 May 1940) is a former Indian cricket player. He was a spin bowling, spin bowler, specializing in off spin and a member of the Indian spin quartet. He is an alumnus of National Institute of Enginee ...
, Syed Kirmani
Syed Mujtaba Hussain Kirmani (; born 29 December 1949) is an Indian cricketer who played cricket for India and Karnataka as a wicket-keeper. In 2016, he was awarded the Col CK Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award for Cricket in India.
Internationa ...
made their debuts and were given extended runs. He inculcated a sense of team spirit that lacking earlier. He broke down club cricket loyalties and inspired the cricketers to play for Mysore.
Subramanya was considered ahead of his time. At a time, when fielding drills were non-existent, he introduced physical training in the form of jogging, stretching, cross-training and intense fielding practices. He fought with the administrators for better practice facilities at the RSI grounds in Bangalore. He insisted on a proper diet for the cricketers.
Since the game was not paying well, Subramanya decided to emigrate to Australia.
Legacy
Subramanya's contribution to Karnataka cricket was felt after he left the game. Brijesh Patel
Brijesh Patel (born 24 November 1952) is the incumbent chairman of Indian Premier League and former cricketer who played for the Indian national cricket team as a right-handed batsman from 1974 until 1979.
Biography
Patel grew up in Ba ...
believed that Mysore
Mysore (), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern part of the state of Karnataka, India. Mysore city is geographically located between 12° 18′ 26″ north latitude and 76° 38′ 59″ east longitude. It is located at an altitude of ...
could have won the Ranji Trophy much earlier if Subramanya had stayed back to guide the team. Gundappa Vishwanath said –
''"The 1974 team that won the Ranji Trophy was Mani's (Subramanya) team. He built the side and brought it to championship-winning shape."''
Subramanya is settled in Sydney. He works for Law Society of New South Wales.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Subramanya, Venkataraman
1936 births
Living people
India Test cricketers
Indian cricketers
Indian emigrants to Australia
Karnataka cricketers
South Zone cricketers
State Bank of India cricketers
Cricketers from Bangalore