The untimely death of cricketer V B Chandrasekhar is a huge shocker. He donned several hats in the world of cricket—swashbuckling opener, selector, coach, administrator, commentator and entrepreneur—making a powerful impression with each.
Chandrasekhar was my junior in Coimbatore Institute of Technology (CIT). As soon as he joined, word trickled in that an attacking batsman had arrived. VB, as he was known even during college days, set not only our college but other cricket grounds of Coimbatore on fire with his audacious approach and scintillating batting.
CIT has two cricket grounds—the main ground in the centre of the campus and another one located on the far end, with a stadium. Most matches were played in the main ground. In the stadium, movies would be screened over the weekend and the rest of the time, it was free. A few of us used to go to the stadium, sit there and study due to the calm and quiet ambience.
On Sundays, if there was a league match in our college ground featuring VB, a number of cricket-loving students would stay put under the shade of the many trees bordering the ground to enjoy the spectacle of him tearing the opposition bowlers apart. When the CIT team bowled, VB again took a lion’s share of the load and bowled long spells. With curly hair and a charming face, he almost looked like a boyish Sachin who was to storm the world of cricket later on.
Those days, the majority of the students stayed in the college hostel and VB too was a hosteller. The mechanical engineering student would wear dhoti, sport vibhuti on his head and join us in the college mess.
What I remember vividly about VB in our college days is his hard work and the long hours of practice that he put in. Many times, I had seen VB roping in his one of his team- mates Gowrishankar to accompany him. The two could be seen during early morning or late evening hours in the stadium with VB sweating profusely—running several laps and undertaking cricket practice, especially, catch practice. I could see his extraordinary commitment to the game and knew he would go a long way. It is very sad to hear about his end. Goodbye college mate. We will miss you.
V Viswanathan
Email: vishyvaidya@gmail.com