Srinivasaraghavan Venkataraghavan ( (informally Venkat, born 21 April 1945) is an Indian former

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by str ...

er. He captained the Indian cricket team at the first two ICC Cricket World Cups, and later became an

umpire An umpire is an official in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The term derives from the Old French nonper, ''non'', "not" and ''per'', ...

on the elite

International Cricket Council The International Cricket Council (ICC) is the world governing body of cricket. Headquartered in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, its members are 108 national associations, with 12 Full Members and 96 Associate Members. Founded in 1909 as the ' ...

Test panel. His Test career was one of the longest for any Indian player. He also played for

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

in English county cricket from 1973 to 1975. A qualified engineer and an alumnus of Chennai's famed

College of Engineering, Guindy The College of Engineering, Guindy (CEG) is a public engineering college in Chennai, India and is Asia's oldest technical institution, founded in 1794. It is also the oldest technical institution to be established outside Europe. History Due ...

, he is a recipient of the civilian honour of

Padma Shri Padma Shri ( IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is conf ...

in 2003.

Playing career

off spin Off spin is a type of finger spin bowling in cricket. A bowler who uses this technique is called an off spinner. Off spinners are right-handed spin bowlers who use their fingers to spin the ball. Their normal delivery is an off break, which spi ...

bowler, he was one of the famed Indian quartet of spin bowlers in the 1970s (the others being Bhagwat Chandrasekhar, Bishan Singh Bedi and

Erapalli Prasanna Erapalli Anantharao Srinivas Prasanna (born 22 May 1940) is a former Indian cricket player. He was a spin bowler, specializing in off spin and a member of the Indian spin quartet. He is an alumnus of National Institute of Engineering, Mysore. ...

). He was also a useful tail-end batsman and strong at close fielding. Venkat came on to the Test scene at the age of 20 when he was selected to play against the touring

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

side. By the end of the series he had emerged as a world-class spinner, taking 12 wickets in the Delhi test that led India to victory. He was the vice-captain of the Indian team that toured the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greate ...

and England in 1970–71. India won both series. Venkat played an important role, claiming five wickets in the Trinidad Test and 13 wickets in the three Tests in England. He captained India in both the 1975 and 1979 World Cup competitions. He also led India in a four-Test series against England in 1979. In domestic cricket, he led South Zone and Tamil Nadu for over a decade. Venkat retired from

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officia ...

in 1985. He became a cricket administrator and managed the Indian Test side. He was honoured with the

in 2003.

Umpiring career

Venkat made his international umpiring debut in the One Day International between India and England at Jaipur on 18 January 1993. He made his Test umpiring debut in the same month, with the match between India and England at

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...

. He gained a place on the inaugural International Umpire Panel when it was formed in 1994, and was selected by the

on a regular basis to umpire in Test matches away from home as the neutral umpire. In 2002 the ICC created an Elite Panel of the top eight umpires, who were employed on a full-time basis and would cover all Test match officiating. Venkat was duly included in the inaugural Elite Panel, of which he remained a member until his retirement in January 2004. The highlights of his umpiring career include six Ashes Tests and appointments to three

World Cups A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

in 1996, 1999 and 2003. In both the 1996 and 1999 tournaments he was appointed to stand in a semi-final, and was the third umpire of the 1999 World Cup final between Australia and

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...

at Lord's. In total he officiated on-field in 73 Test matches and 52 One-day Internationals during his career.

Education

Venkataraghavan is an engineering graduate from

Madras University The University of Madras (informally known as Madras University) is a public state university in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. Established in 1857, it is one of the oldest and among the most prestigious universities in India, incorporated by an a ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Venkataraghavan, Srinivasaraghavan 1945 births Living people Indian Test cricket umpires Indian One Day International cricket umpires India One Day International cricketers India Test cricketers India Test cricket captains Indian cricketers Derbyshire cricketers South Zone cricketers Tamil Nadu cricketers Vazir Sultan Tobacco cricketers Indian Universities cricketers Recipients of the Padma Shri in sports Tamil sportspeople Cricketers at the 1975 Cricket World Cup Cricketers at the 1979 Cricket World Cup Recipients of the Arjuna Award College of Engineering, Guindy alumni Cricketers from Chennai

Playing career

Umpiring career

Education

See also

References

External links