Venkatraman Ramnarayan (born 8 November 1947, in Madras) is a former Indian first-class cricketer and current journalist, editor, translator and teacher.
Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Born | Madras, India | 8 November 1947|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Batting | Right-handed | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bowling | Right-arm off-spin | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Relations | Vidyut Sivaramakrishnan (nephew), V. Sivaramakrishan (brother) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Domestic team information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Years | Team | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1975–1979 | Hyderabad | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Career statistics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source: ESPNcricinfo, 11 December 2015 |
Cricket career
editAn off-spin bowler, Ramnarayan left his native Tamil Nadu and moved to Hyderabad in 1971 to see if he could break into first-class cricket.[1] In the final of the Moin-ud-Dowlah Gold Cup Tournament in October 1975 he took 8 for 75 in the first innings for Hyderabad Cricket Association XI, who went on to win the match.[2] A week later he made his first-class debut for Hyderabad against Kerala in the Ranji Trophy, taking 6 for 33 in the first innings.[3] A further week later, in the first innings against Andhra, he took 6 for 41.[4] In the quarter-final against Bombay he took 7 for 68 in the first innings, but Bombay won the match after trailing on the first innings, and went on to win the championship.[5]
With 28 wickets at an average of 17.32, 1975-76 was Ramnarayan's most successful season, but he continued to play for Hyderabad in the Ranji Trophy until 1979-80.[6] He also played for South Zone in the Duleep Trophy in 1978-79 and in 1980-81 when, in his last first-class match, he took 4 for 144 off 51 overs in the first innings.[7]
Journalism career
editFor some years Ramnarayan was a regular columnist for Cricinfo, and he edited Sruti, a monthly performing arts magazine, from 2006 to 2018. He has taught writing at the Asian College of Journalism, Chennai since 2006. He has also translated books from Tamil into English.[8][9]
In 2015 he published a memoir of his first-class cricket career, Third Man: Recollections from a Life in Cricket.[10][11] He writes under the name "V. Ramnarayan".
Books by V. Ramnarayan
edit- Mosquitos and Other Jolly Rovers: The Story of Tamil Nadu Cricket (2002)
- R.K. Swamy, His Life and Times: From Humble Village Origins to the Top Rungs of a Contemporary Profession (2007)
- Third Man: Recollections from a Life in Cricket (2015)
References
edit- ^ Veera, Sriram (22 November 2007). "One that drifted away". Cricinfo. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
- ^ "Hyderabad Cricket Association XI v JK Sports XI 1975-76". CricketArchive. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
- ^ "Kerala v Hyderabad 1975-76". CricketArchive. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
- ^ "Hyderabad v Andhra 1975-76". CricketArchive. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
- ^ "Bombay v Hyderabad 1975-76". CricketArchive. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
- ^ "First-class bowling in each season by Venkatraman Ramnarayan". CricketArchive. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
- ^ "Central Zone v South Zone 1980-81". CricketArchive. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
- ^ Ugra, Sharda (9 May 2015). "First-class tales". Cricinfo. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
- ^ "V. Ramnarayan". Navayana Publishing. Retrieved 13 November 2024.
- ^ "Third Man: Recollections from a Life in Cricket". Westland. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
- ^ Samanth Subramanian (November 2015). "Unknown cricketers". The Cricket Monthly. ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
External links
edit- Venkatraman Ramnarayan at ESPNcricinfo
- Venkatraman Ramnarayan at CricketArchive (subscription required)
- V. Ramnarayan's articles for Cricinfo
- "Whatever happened to sportsmanship?" by V. Ramnarayan
- Interview with Venkatraman Ramnarayan in 2012 on YouTube
- "Understanding Chennai fans and V. Ramnarayan" on YouTube