Venkatraman Ramnarayan
{{Short description|Indian cricketer and writer (born 1947)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2016}}
{{Use Indian English|date=September 2016}}
{{Infobox cricketer
| name = Venkatraman Ramnarayan
| image =
| caption =
| country = India
| fullname =
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1947|11|8|df=yes}}
| birth_place = Madras, India
| death_date =
| death_place =
| batting = Right-handed
| bowling = Right-arm off-spin
| family = Vidyut Sivaramakrishnan (nephew), V. Sivaramakrishan (brother)
| club1 = Hyderabad
| year1 = {{nowrap|1975/76–1979/80}}
| columns = 2
| column1 = FC
| matches1 = 25
| runs1 = 71
| bat avg1 = 4.17
| 100s/50s1 = 0/0
| top score1 = 9
| deliveries1 = 5476
| wickets1 = 96
| bowl avg1 = 23.23
| fivefor1 = 4
| tenfor1 = 0
| best bowling1 = 7/68
| catches/stumpings1= 15/–
| column2 = List A
| matches2 = 2
| runs2 = –
| bat avg2 = –
| 100s/50s2 = –
| top score2 = –
| deliveries2 = 144
| wickets2 = 7
| bowl avg2 = 11.00
| fivefor2 = 0
| tenfor2 = –
| best bowling2 = 4/35
| catches/stumpings2= 2/–
| source = https://www.espncricinfo.com/cricketers/venkatraman-ramnarayan-33449 ESPNcricinfo
| date = 11 December
| year = 2015
}}
{{Indian name|Ramnarayan|Venkatraman}}
Venkatraman Ramnarayan (born 8 November 1947, in Madras) is a former Indian first-class cricketer and current journalist, editor, translator and teacher.
Cricket career
An off-spin bowler, Ramnarayan left his native Tamil Nadu and moved to Hyderabad in 1971 to see if he could break into first-class cricket.{{cite news| work=Cricinfo | first=Sriram |last=Veera |access-date=11 December 2015| title=One that drifted away |url=http://www.espncricinfo.com/indiandomestic/content/story/321698.html
|date=22 November 2007}} In the final of the Moin-ud-Dowlah Gold Cup Tournament in October 1975 he took 8 for 75 in the first innings for Hyderabad Cricket Association XI, who went on to win the match.{{cite web | url = https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/139/139993.html| title = Hyderabad Cricket Association XI v JK Sports XI 1975-76| publisher = CricketArchive| access-date = 11 December 2015}} A week later he made his first-class debut for Hyderabad against Kerala in the Ranji Trophy, taking 6 for 33 in the first innings.{{cite web | url = https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/35/35643.html| title = Kerala v Hyderabad 1975-76| publisher = CricketArchive| access-date = 11 December 2015}} A further week later, in the first innings against Andhra, he took 6 for 41.{{cite web | url = https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/35/35659.html| title = Hyderabad v Andhra 1975-76| publisher = CricketArchive| access-date = 11 December 2015}} In the quarter-final against Bombay he took 7 for 68 in the first innings, but Bombay won the match after trailing on the first innings, and went on to win the championship.{{cite web | url = https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/35/35835.html| title = Bombay v Hyderabad 1975-76| publisher = CricketArchive| access-date = 11 December 2015}}
With 28 wickets at an average of 17.32, 1975-76 was Ramnarayan's most successful season, but he continued to play for Hyderabad in the Ranji Trophy until 1979-80.{{cite web | url = https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/35/35702/f_Bowling_by_Season.html| title = First-class bowling in each season by Venkatraman Ramnarayan| publisher = CricketArchive| access-date = 11 December 2015}} He also played for South Zone in the Duleep Trophy in 1978-79 and in 1980-81 when, in his last first-class match, he took 4 for 144 off 51 overs in the first innings.{{cite web | url = https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/40/40784.html| title = Central Zone v South Zone 1980-81| publisher = CricketArchive| access-date = 11 December 2015}}
Journalism career
For some years Ramnarayan was a regular columnist for Cricinfo, and he edited Sruti, a monthly performing arts magazine, from 2006 to 2018. He has taught writing at the Asian College of Journalism, Chennai since 2006. He has also translated books from Tamil into English.{{cite news| work=Cricinfo | first=Sharda |last=Ugra |access-date=11 December 2015| title= First-class tales |url= http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/869455.html|date=9 May 2015}}{{cite web |title=V. Ramnarayan |url=https://navayana.org/authors/2022/12/12/v-ramnarayan/?v=6cc98ba2045f |website=Navayana Publishing |access-date=13 November 2024}}
In 2015 he published a memoir of his first-class cricket career, Third Man: Recollections from a Life in Cricket.{{cite web | url = http://westlandbooks.in/product/third-man-recollections-life-in-cricket-9789384030827/ | title = Third Man: Recollections from a Life in Cricket | publisher = Westland| access-date = 11 December 2015}}{{cite web | url=http://www.thecricketmonthly.com/story/929945/unknown-cricketers | title=Unknown cricketers | publisher=ESPN Cricinfo | work=The Cricket Monthly | date=November 2015 | access-date=6 May 2016 | author=Samanth Subramanian | author-link=Samanth Subramanian }} He writes under the name "V. Ramnarayan".
Books by V. Ramnarayan
- Mosquitos and Other Jolly Rovers: The Story of Tamil Nadu Cricket (2002)
- R.K. Swamy, His Life and Times: From Humble Village Origins to the Top Rungs of a Contemporary Profession (2007)
- Third Man: Recollections from a Life in Cricket (2015)
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{ESPNcricinfo|id=33449}}
- {{cricketarchive|id=35702}}
- [http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/story/author.html?author=537 V. Ramnarayan's articles for Cricinfo]
- [http://www.espncricinfo.com/blogs/content/story/819175.html "Whatever happened to sportsmanship?" by V. Ramnarayan]
- {{YouTube|0Ddi7Tym7wA|Interview with Venkatraman Ramnarayan in 2012}}
- {{YouTube|5zUIkaYfTPA|"Understanding Chennai fans and V. Ramnarayan"}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ramnarayan, Venkatraman}}
Category:Cricketers from Chennai
Category:South Zone cricketers
Category:Savitribai Phule Pune University alumni
Category:Indian magazine editors
Category:Indian cricket commentators