Vakkadai Biksheswaran Chandrasekhar (21 August 1961 – 15 August 2019) was an Indian

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

er, who represented the country in seven

One Day International One Day International (ODI) is a format of cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of fifty overs, with the game lasting up to 7 hours. The World Cup, generally held every four yea ...

s (ODIs) during 1988–90. Born in Madras, Chandrasekhar played for

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...

and

Goa Goa (; ; ) is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is bound by the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north, and Karnataka to the ...

at the domestic level. Making his first-class debut in 1986 for Tamil Nadu, he went on to play for the side till 1994–95. During his period, Chandrasekhar established himself as a key player for Tamil Nadu. He was highly successful in the 1987–88 season accumulating over 551 runs. Chandrasekhar also scored heavily in the 1991–92 season and captained Tamil Nadu for a short period before playing for Goa. All in all, he scored 4,999 runs from 81 matches when he retired from first class cricket. Termed as an "aggressive" player he set the record for the fastest hundred by an Indian in first class cricket. In 2012, he was appointed the coach of Tamil Nadu. Chandrasekhar was also a commentator and ran a cricket academy in Chennai.

Playing career

Chandrasekhar made his first-class debut for Tamil Nadu during the 1986/87 season. He had two equally successful domestic seasons—1987–88 and 1994–95—aggregating 551 and 572 runs respectively. He had been one of the prominent players in Tamil Nadu's Ranji Trophy victory in the former season. In the next season he scored a century off 56 balls in a match in the Irani Trophy, an Indian record in first class cricket at the time. His good performances with the bat at the domestic level earned him a place in the national side when he was chosen for the ODI team against

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

in December 1988. Opening the batting with

Krishnamachari Srikkanth Krishnamachari "Kris" Srikkanth (; ; born 21 December 1959), also known as Cheeka, is an Indian former cricketer and coach. He also serves as a cricket commentator. He was a hard-hitting opening batter and an occasional right arm offbreak b ...

, his Tamil Nadu partner, Chandrasekhar scored 10 runs in the match which India won by four wickets. He scored his only fifty in the third match of the series; he scored 53 runs from 77 balls in the Indian victory. He was again selected for the Rothmans Cup Triangular Series in 1990 where he scored poorly. After the tournament, he was never selected for the Indian team. However, his impressive form in domestic cricket led to his being named the captain of Tamil Nadu. He continued to represent the team until 1995/96 when he started playing for Goa. His highest score of 237 not out was achieved against

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...

while playing for Goa in 1995–96; he carried his bat in a team total of 384.

Other work

In July 2012, Chandrasekhar was appointed the coach of Tamil Nadu. Within a year, he was sacked from the position as the team remained seventh in their group in the league stage of the

Ranji Trophy The Ranji Trophy is a premier domestic first-class cricket championship played in India and organized annually by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). The teams representing regional and state cricket associations participate. BCCI ...

and failed in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. He also served on selection panels both at the national and domestic levels and worked as a commentator. Chandrasekhar also ran a cricket academy in Chennai.

Death

Chandrasekhar died by suicide, hanging himself at his Chennai residence on 15 August 2019.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chandrasekhar, V. B. 1961 births 2019 suicides Tamil Nadu cricketers Indian cricketers 20th-century Indian sportsmen India One Day International cricketers South Zone cricketers Goa cricketers India national cricket team selectors Cricketers from Chennai Indian cricket coaches Indian cricket commentators Suicides by hanging in India 2019 deaths