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Plum
7th December 2010, 12:41 PM
TE Srinivasan

Flamboyant might have been a word invented for bored Domestic Cricket correspondents to describe the likes of TE, who lit up many a boring domestic match routine for lowly cricketing correspondents. His bat spoke as much as his tongue. It is the latter that is of interest to us, a generation or two later. We can speak of his 112 under pressure against North zone, but inevitably, that the bowling attack consisted of the threatening Madan Lal would tend to obscure that discussion.
His tongue, On the other hand, produced memorable salvos.

"Tell Lillee that TE is here" - that is what it is said to have conjured up when he landed in Australia for a tour!
One doesnt know what happened in the tour but one sure salutes a domestic batsman with the guts to say that.

"That's not how you play it, Sunil" - another memorable alleged advice given to the greatest Indian batsman of his times. It is alleged to have caused a rift, and become a key reason for him to be out of national call-up but what of that?

Another memorable quote that TE spawned allegedly is a ripper:

"He didnt get much chances for the national team because they are low caste or something" - Sunny's said to have remarked when a county stalwart expressed wonder to him that such a talented batsman didnt play for India often. The "they" here allegedly is how he bunched South Indians together as a group.

TE fought cancer bravely as former Ranji Cricketer V Ramnarayanan, brother of V Sivaramakrishnan, wrote poignantly in his blog. Ramnarayanan played for Hyderabad mostly against TE's and Sivaramakrishnan's Tamilnadu.

All these are from my memory of reading THE HINDU in the 80's and V Ramanarayanan's blog a few years back.

Just read in THE HINDU that TE succumbed finally yesterday.

satissh_r
7th December 2010, 02:13 PM
RIP TE, heard lots about him but this ain't the right place to discuss about it.

Plum
10th December 2010, 05:07 PM
sattish_r -what stories?

here's a tribute: (http://tcwj.blogspot.com/2010/12/t-e-srinivasan-finest-jewel-to-have.html)

One more (http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/491076.html)


He was ignored after that one Test - the next series was at home against England, but the Tamil Nadu batsman did not make it even to the South Zone team - just as his memory was ignored by the Indian team in Wednesday's one-day international against New Zealand in Bangalore. A tribute would have been fitting. A two-minute silence before the match perhaps. Or a show of kinship with players wearing black bands.



Hmm.. in a Indian cricket world that probably subscribes to Sunny Gavaskar's "he is a low caste or something" alluding to his south indianness, this is nor surprising.

Indian teams have in the past have been quick to pay respects thus even to non-players. After Mark Mascarenhas was killed in an accident, the players wore black bands during a Test. Mark was a cricket buff, and more importantly, Sachin Tendulkar's agent and friend. TE was something more. A Test match player, and therefore special, his place in history assured.

The Indian team has a chance to make up for its apathy when the teams line up for the final one-dayer in TE's hometown, Chennai.

satissh_r
10th December 2010, 05:44 PM
Stories about him batting alongside Gavaskar and offering him batting tips, mind you Gavaskar had a few years of international cricket at that time and you know what that must have done to his ego. Intha mathiri few stories..

P_R
10th December 2010, 05:44 PM
Plum, Gavaskar was erroneously quoted by Atherton as Suresh Menon's article mentions.

So unga anti-Gavaskar sentiment-ai appidiyE anti-veLLaikaaranA thiruppikkunga. :lol2:

Plum
10th December 2010, 05:46 PM
apdinnnu Menonji solRAr. Menon-ji is applying kid gloves to Gavaskar, in that article, if you see. enakku Sunny mEla nambikkai illai - nichayamA apdi solla kUdiya AL dhAn