The First Tamilnadu Ranji Trophy Triumph Team of 1954-1955

R. B. Alaganan (1925 – 11 October 2012), better known as Balu Alaganan, was an 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 ...

player, administrator and commentator. He played six first-class matches for Madras and captained the team to its maiden Ranji Trophy title. A well-known radio commentator, he also worked in administrative roles for the

Tamil Nadu Cricket Association Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA) is the governing body of cricket activities in the India state of Tamil Nadu. It is affiliated to the Board of Control for Cricket in India and governs the Tamil Nadu cricket team. Rupa Gurunath is the for ...

Life and career

Alaganan was born in 1925 and hailed from a planting family in

Bodinayakkanur Bodinayakanur (also shortened to Bodi) is a Town and a municipality in Theni district in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. Etymology In early days, it was called by the name Thenkasiyampathi (Tamil: தென்காசியம்பதி). ...

. He completed his schooling at S. Thomas' College, Ceylon, and graduated from the Madras Christian College. An

all-rounder An all-rounder is a cricketer who regularly performs well at both batting and bowling. Although all bowlers must bat and quite a handful of batsmen do bowl occasionally, most players are skilled in only one of the two disciplines and are consi ...

who batted in the middle-order, Alaganan represented Madras in six first-class matches between 1946 and 1955. He was the captain of the Madras team that won its maiden Ranji Trophy title in 1954–55. He retired after the season and turned to radio commentary. As a commentator he was described by ''

The Hindu ''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It began as a weekly in 1878 and became a daily in 1889. It is one of the Indian newspapers of record and the secon ...

'' as "a lucid, to-the-point narrator, imparting to his observations the weight of experience and expertise that underlined an academic, intellectual approach." Alaganan also worked in administrative roles after retirement. He worked as the vice-president of the

(TNCA) from 1961 to 1986. He also became the president of

Madras Cricket Club The Tamil Nadu cricket team is a domestic cricket team run by Tamil Nadu Cricket Association representing the state of Tamil Nadu, India.It has been one of the most dominating teams in white ball cricket in domestic circuit The team plays in Ranj ...

in 1967. In 1988, he became the president of TNCA and held the position until 1993. After having worked as a selector, he worked as the assistant team manager of India on its tours to New Zealand and West Indies in the 1975–76 season, with

Polly Umrigar Pahlan Ratanji "Polly" Umrigar (28 March 1926 – 7 November 2006) was an Indian cricketer. He played in Indian cricket team (1948- 1962) and played first-class cricket for Bombay and Gujarat. Umrigar played mainly as a middle-order batsman ...

as the manager. Alaganan also won club-level titles in golf and tennis. He was the first Indian member and Indian president of the Kodaikanal Club. Alaganan died on 11 October 2012 at his house in

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

. He was married and had a son and two daughters.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Alaganan, Balu 1925 births 2012 deaths Indian cricketers Tamil Nadu cricketers Indian cricket commentators Indian cricket administrators People from Theni district Cricketers from Tamil Nadu