I haven’t been able to get over the shock of VB’s demise. He’s gone too soon. It all happened so suddenly, so quickly, that I’m struggling to get over it. Over the years we had become good friends.
VB and I used to play with each other from the under-22 level. We became close. He was a fierce competitor. We enjoyed our rivalries in local cricket. Then, when we played together (for Tamil Nadu) we always talked a lot. He was a very interesting person and one could talk to him on a range of topics.
He was definitely someone who you would want to see bat because VB was a very good at it. When he got going, he was a great entertainer. Together, we shared some great times off the field, like playing chess at a train station at three in the morning. We did that because we had to change the train to go for an inter-university (Vizzy Trophy) match. We always used to have our banter.
Also read: Former India cricketer VB Chandrasekhar commits suicide
As a batsman, he will always be remembered for his achievements in the Ranji Trophy season of 1987-88 (which Tamil Nadu won and Chandrasekhar scored 551 runs in eight matches at an average of 45.91), or for that innings in the Irani Trophy (a 56-ball hundred against Rest of India in 1988) which was the then-fastest hundred in first-class cricket.
We’ll probably never see an innings of its like again. In terms of ability and in terms of sheer dominance, that hundred is right up there—struck on a rank-turner of a track in the fourth innings. Everything was stacked against the batsman and the innings that VB played I don’t think will be matched.
I had not met him in a while, although we were in touch over the phone. He had his team in the Tamil Nadu Premier League (VB Kanchi Veerans) for which he wanted some good wishes sent to them, some video messages, which I did.
It’s not an age to be departing to a better world. No matter what, he will be missed. I will miss him.
(WV Raman is a former India cricketer and the current coach of the India women’s cricket team)
First Published:
Aug 16, 2019 23:48 IST
Source: HindustanTimes