The senior division of the Chennai league has for the past couple of decades attracted players from all parts of India. How a young tearaway from Trinidad came to play for Madras Cricket Club, and became one of its finest all rounders, fighting his way into the Indian team as an ODI specialist is one of the more enduring romantic tales of cricket in this part of the world. Robin Singh has become so much a part of Tamil Nadu cricket and the Tamil way of life that I call him Robin Iyengar! 

Robin’s may be an extreme instance. Not everyday do we get a player from abroad trying to qualify for India, but many cricketers from other parts of India brought a touch of excitement to the cricket scene here and made the league so competitive. Take the Challenger series at Mohali. The commentators found that quite a few names were completely new to them. New they may be to the broadcasters, but not to the Chennai spectator.

'Katradhu Tamizh' Ram's next Diwali in Suburbs Rajini Still In A Dilemma! அஜீத் பேட்டி? ராம் இயக்கத்தில் சேரன்? கமல் பாராட்டிய டைட்டில்்

For example, the Kerala boys Sreesanth Menon and Sreekumar Nair have been fixtures in the local scene for quite some time now. So have Venugopal Rao, Neeraj Patel and Dinesh Mongia. So many other young aspirants have played or continue to play in Chennai. 

Munaf Patel who impressed one and all with his pace before injury laid him low, Kulamani Parida, Murali Kartik (though a local boy, he plays for the Railways and Central Zone and not Tamil Nadu and South Zone), Satyajit Parab, and so many more have made an impression on local audiences.

This season, all that has changed, thanks to a stringent new residential qualification rule brought in by the TNCA. Many of these players can no longer play in the league here. Though I have been a critic of this kind of restriction, I must admit there have been greater opportunities for local talent to showcase itself. Ramkumar, Badrinath, Hemant and Shrivasudevadas are among those in form. M Vijay of Alwarpet has been a prolific scorer this season, and veteran Aashish Kapoor has done the star turn more than once with his off spinners. Another senior off spinner N Raghavendran has been among the wickets and runs for Parry’s Recreation Club, and a number of batsmen and bowlers have recorded some fine performances. 

I still have mixed feelings about the new rule, but it is nice to see a second line emerging from homegrown talent. Over the next few weeks, I shall try to profile some of the outstanding performers of this season, both the teams in the running for the league title and the several individuals leading that charge.

V Ramnarayan

Published on Oct 19^th, 2005