THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The cricketing community woke up to a rude shock on Thursday morning. The ‘jolly good fella’ of Kerala cricket, Subramaniam Rajesh, is no more. A former captain of Kerala and Reserve Bank of India (RBI) teams, S. Rajesh was friend, mentor and saviour for the cricketers of Kerala cricket’s ‘golden age’.
It would surely be much more tragic to the family of the famous trio of Kerala cricket. In one of the rare instances in any level of the game, Rajesh represented the State alongside elder brother S. Ramesh and younger brother S. Santhosh. The trio was representative of an era when cricket was all white, when players got into their whites for the sheer love of the game and not for endorsements or glory.
Former Kerala opener P. Ranganathan, who played alongside Rajesh for many years for Kerala and RBI, compares his style to that of Allan Border; no backlift and the ability to cut and flick very late.
“Like Border, he was always a man of crises. If the team was in crisis, we could surely depend on Rajesh. Though he captained Kerala for only two matches, his skills as captain were in ample display for the RBI side. It was under him that RBI upset Chemplast, Chennai which boasted of big names such as L. Sivaramakrishnan, B. Arun, Bharat Reddy and D. Vasu,’’ says Ranganathan.
Ranganathan recalls those days as the golden era of Kerala cricket when the State came second in the zone, beating strong teams like Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. One of the memorable wins was right here at the Medical College ground, when the team captained by Rajesh’s elder brother Ramesh overcame Tamil Nadu, which had players like V.B. Chandrasekhar, L. Sivaramakrishnan and B. Arun.
It was under Rajesh’s captaincy that ace leg spinner K.N. Ananthapadmanabhan made his Ranji Trophy debut for Kerala. It was also Rajesh’s first match as captain.
Ananthan attributes his match exposure during his formative years to Rajesh. “He took personal interest in taking me around to play matches outside the State. Not just me, a whole lot of youngsters of that era owe it to Rajesh for grooming them.’’
Ananthan likes to compare Rajesh with Javed Miandad, who hung around and silently accumulated runs, playing within his limits.
“His death came as a rude shock, hard to believe for anyone who knew him,’’ said Ananthan.