Margashayam Venkataramana

Margashayam Venkataramana Biography

An off-spinner, Margashayam Venkataramana played a Test and an ODI before being left out for good for no apparent reason. It was not that he did poorly: in his only Test, at Sabina Park, he had Desmond Haynes stumped for 58; and in his only ODI he got John Wright and Andrew Jones, finishing with 2 for 36.

He was one of the stars of Tamil Nadu’s Ranji Trophy triumph in 1987-88, forming an excellent spin combination with captain Santhanaraman Vasudevan and at times, Laxman Sivaramakrishnan. He finished the season as the joint-highest wicket-taker with 35 wickets at 20.

His domestic career amounted to 247 wickets at 30. In Ranji Trophy, the numbers were a notch better, 205 wickets at 26.

Venkat’s accuracy was phenomenal. His strategy was simple: he could tie a batsman to the crease with his metronomic precision and surprise him with turn and bounce. He would almost certainly have been an asset in the 1990s, in the era preceding Harbhajan Singh.

He continued to perform in Ranji Trophy. In consecutive seasons in the early 1990s he had 65 wickets at 20. It was not enough for the selectors, and quit five years later.

He became a Level-3 Coach, and coached Singapore to the ICC World Cricket League Division Six title in 2009. They were promoted to Division Five.

He currently works in the Sports Medicine Centre of the Sri Ramachandra Medical Sciences and helps young bowlers rectify actions.

Abhishek Mukherjee