Though he narrowly missed the BCCI pension, former Kerala Ranji player V Manikanta Kurup is still confident that the cricket authorities would grant him the same. With 34 first class matches in his kitty, the 75-year old former left arm medium pacer and hard hitter was in the playing eleven for 23 matches, two short of the cut-off of 25 matches which has made him ineligible for the pension. He has taken 40 wickets and scored 258 runs in 23 first class matches.
“From 1963 I was in the Ranji team but my debut was in 1965 against Mysore at St Joseph’s Ground, Bangalore. I had represented Kerala in 22 Ranji matches since 1974. If the rain washed out a match it was not even considered although it was not the players’ fault. I had submitted many representations to the BCCI through KCA regarding this they have always replied in the negative. “I have been declared ineligible,” said Kurup, who bagged the lifetime achievement honour of KCA this year.
“I will approach the BCCI again despite the fact that a few office-bearers have rejected my application. I think the present committee will consider my application favourably,” said a confident Kurup.
The best of Kurup was seen against Hyderabad at the University Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram, in 1970. With his five-wicket haul by dismissing Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, Jaisimha, Abbas Ali Baig and Krishnamoorthy, the precious wickets, the pacer dumbfounded the crowd at the stadium. In Nizamabad, he stunned the gallery with his batting performance of 44 runs comprising two sixes against Hyderabad, after the fall of eighth wicket. That was in 1970.
Kurup, who began his career through Sasthamangalam Cricket Club later moved to SBT, the first sports quota appointment in the bank. During his career, he contributed a lot to other sports too. Santhosh Trophy captains Jiju Jacob and VP Shaji were recruited to the bank’s football team during his term as Sports Officer.
“Of course, it was my most memorable performance. At that time Test players used to play Ranji Trophy as the tournament was considered a major one. Mysore, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh were the opponents of Kerala in the South Zone matches. There were many noted Test players in Mysore and Andhra teams while Kerala and Andhra had none. Hence the matches were very tough but we played bravely. One thing you should notice is that we never lost a match against Andhra. We either defeated them or ended in draw,” he recollected those days.
“We got entry to the Federation Cup, which was then considered a premier football tournament in India. The cricket team of the bank also performed well as our show was commendable in the Tripunithura Pooja cricket those days, he said.
After his retirement from the game, Kurup served as selection committee member of Kerala and South Zone cricket team. He was the match referee of the BCCI in the Baroda-Maharashtra Ranji match held in 2001.
He hailed KCA for their initiative to felicitate veteran players. “We suffered a lot as we had to pay from our own pockets to attend matches. Moreover, no leave was granted for playing tournaments or attending selection committee meetings. Those days KCA was starved of funds, said Kurup.
As he recollects his sunny days, he still hopes that he will be included in the pension scheme soon.