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| Born | (1945-04-21)21 April 1945 (age 80) Madras,Madras Province,British India (nowChennai,Tamil Nadu,India) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nickname | Venkat | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Batting | Right-handed | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bowling | Right-armoff break | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Role | Bowler | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| International information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| National side | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Test debut (cap 110) | 27 February 1965 v New Zealand | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Last Test | 24 September 1983 v Pakistan | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ODI debut (cap 9) | 13 July 1974 v England | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Last ODI | 7 April 1983 v West Indies | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ODI shirt no. | 79 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Domestic team information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1963–1970 | Madras | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1970–1985 | Tamil Nadu | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1973–1975 | Derbyshire | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Umpiring information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tests umpired | 73 (1993–2004) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ODIs umpired | 52 (1993–2003) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FC umpired | 79 (1990–2004) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| LA umpired | 56 (1990–2003) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career statistics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source:Cricinfo,1 November 2023 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Srinivasaraghavan Venkataraghavan (pronunciationⓘ; born 21 April 1945), also known asVenkat, is an Indian former internationalcricketer andumpire. He was aright arm off break bowler and alower order batter. He captained theIndian cricket team intest cricket and also at the first twoICC Cricket World Cups in1975 and1979. He representedTamil Nadu andSouth zone in domestic cricket while also playing forDerbyshire inEnglish county cricket from 1973 to 1975.
His international career spanned more than 18 years, the third longest for any Indian cricketer. Post his playing career, he later became an umpire on theInternational Cricket Councilelite panel andmatch referee, standing in more than 150 international matches. He was also a selector, manager,sports commentator and a cricket columnist.
Venkataraghavan holds many records in test andfirst class cricket. He was the second bowler sinceJim Laker to take the wickets of all ten opposition batsman in a single test match when he did so againstNew Zealand in March 1965 while becoming the youngest player to take a ten wicket haul in a match during the time. He is also the second highest wicket taker in first class cricket for India with 1390 wickets in 341 matches.
Venkataraghavan was awarded theArjuna award in 1971 and the fourth highest civilian honor,Padma Shri in 2003 byGovernment of India. He received theC. K. Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award in 2004, the highest award bestowed byBCCI on a former player.
Venkataraghavan was born 21 April 1945 inMadras,Madras Presidency,British India (nowChennai,Tamil Nadu,India) in aTamil Iyengar family.[1] He studied at P.S. High School Mylapore. He did his bachelors in engineering fromCollege of Engineering, Guindy in Chennai.[2][3] He married Ranjani and they have two sons together, Vikram and Vinay.[4]
Venkataraghavan made his debut for theIndian team against the touringNew Zealand team at his home ground inChennai in February 1965 at the age of 20.[5] He took 21 wickets in four matches including 12 wickets in the fourth test atDelhi to lead India to victory.[6] He dismissed all New Zealand batters at least once in the match, becoming the second bowler ever to achieve the feat afterJim Laker in 1956.[4] He also became the youngest cricketer to take ten wickets in a test match at the age of 19 years and 332 days which has since been broken by six cricketers including two Indians.[7] Venkataraghavan played only three test matches in the next three years, two againstWest Indies at home in 1966 and one againstEngland inBirmingham in1967.[6]
Venkataraghavan made a comeback to the Indian side in the home series againstNew Zealand andAustralia in October–November 1969 taking 23 wickets in seven matches.[6] Post the home season, he did not play any test matches for almost 15 months before he made a return during Indian tour of West Indies in February 1971. Venkataraghavan was the top wicket taker in the series victory with 22 wickets in five matches.[8] He was part of theIndian tour of England that followed and was again the leading wicket taker with 13 wickets in three matches leading India to a series win.[9]
Venkataraghavancaptained the Indian test side in the second test against West Indies in December 1974.[10] He made hisODI debut in the first match of theIndian tour of England in July 1974 atLeeds.[11] Venkataraghavan was the captain of the Indian team that appeared in the firstCricket World Cup in1975 inEngland.[12] India lost two matches with Venkataraghavan himself taking no wickets, and did not qualify for semi-finals.[13] Post the World Cup, Venkataraghavan played in theaway series against West Indies in March–April 1976 taking seven wickets in three tests.[14] He subsequently played in thehome series against New Zealand in November–December 1976 taking 11 wickets in three matches.[15] He played a lone test match in 1977 inaway series against Australia.[16] Venkataraghavan was again the captain of the Indian side for the second consecutive World Cup in1979.[17] India again lost all three matches with Venkataraghavan himself taking no wickets.[13]
Venkataraghavan played all six matches in the home series against West Indies which started in December 1979. He was the third highest wicket taker with 20 wickets in the Indian series victory.[18] He was captain of theIndian team that toured England in July 1979.[19] India lost the series 1-0 with Venkataraghavan himself having a low return of seven wickets in four matches.[20] He played three matches in thehome series against Australia in September–November 1979 taking six wickets in three matches in the 2-0 series victory for India.[21][6] Venkataraghavan sparsely played international matches in the next four years before theIndian tour of West Indies in April 1983 in which he played his last ODI.[22] He finished his ODI career with five wickets in 15 matches.[13] He took ten wickets in the five test matches in the series.[6] Venkataraghavan played his last test match againstPakistan atJalandhar during thePakistan tour of India in September 1983.[23] He finished with 156 wickets in 57 test matches in a career spanning more than 18 years, the third longest for any Indian player behindSachin Tendulkar andLala Amarnath.[24]
In domestic cricket, Venkataraghavan made his debut forTamil Nadu in 1963-64 season and went on to represent the team for more than twenty years till 1984-85. He also played for and captainedSouth Zone.[25] Venkat retired fromfirst-class cricket in 1985.[26] Venkataraghavan took 1390 wickets in 341 matches and was the second highest wicket taker infirst class cricket for India.[27] He also played forDerbyshire inEnglish county cricket from 1973 to 1975.[25]
Venkataraghavan made his international umpiring debut in theOne Day International between India and England at Jaipur on 18 January 1993.[28] He made his test umpiring debut in the same month, with the match between India and England atKolkata.[29] He was part of the inaugural panel of International umpires established byInternational Cricket Council in 1994 and was part of theElite Panel of top umpires created in 2004.[30] He was an umpire in sixAshes tests and threeWorld Cups in1996,1999 and2003.[31] He was appointed to stand in a semi-final in each of the 1996 and 1999 World Cups and was the third umpire of the1999 Cricket World Cup final between Australia and Pakistan atLord's.[32][25] He also served as amatch referee in five tests and eight ODIs,[32][31] along with serving as a selector, manager,sports commentator and a cricket columnist.[4]
Venkataraghavan was anoff spin bowler with a highly accurate bowling. He was one of the famedIndian quartet of spin bowlers in the 1970s along withBhagwat Chandrasekhar,Bishan Singh Bedi andErapalli Prasanna).[25] All four spinners played together in a lone match forced by injury meaning that the competition was high for one or two spots on the Indian team and hence longer breaks when a particular bowler was not favored.[4] He was also a useful tail-end batsman and strong fielder.[25]
Venkataraghavan took 156 wickets in 57 test matches to go with 1390 wickets in 341 first class wickets.[25]
| Mat | Wickets | Bowl Avg. | Best | 5WI | 10WM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home | 32 | 94 | 30.64 | 8/72 | 2 | 1 |
| Away | 25 | 62 | 44.40 | 5/95 | 1 | 0 |
| Total | 57 | 156 | 36.11 | 8/72 | 3 | 1 |
Venkataraghavan captained the Indian test side in a single test against West Indies in December 1974 before being appointed as a test captain for the four test series against England in 1979.[10][19] He captained Indian in seven ODIs including the first two cricket world cups in 1975 and 1979.[33]
| Type | Matches | Won | Lost | Drawn | Tied | No result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Test | 5 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| ODI | 7 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Total | 12 | 1 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
Venkataraghavan was an umpire as a part of the elite panel of ICC umpires and a match referee. He took part in 78 ODIs and 79 test matches as an official.[31][32]
| Type | Umpire | TV Umpire | Referee | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ODI | 52 | 18 | 8 | 78 |
| Test | 73 | 1 | 5 | 79 |
| Total | 125 | 19 | 13 | 157 |
| Preceded by | Indian National Test Cricket Captain 1974/75 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Indian National Test Cricket Captain 1979 | Succeeded by |
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