Well-rooted: The issue dated December 29, 1892, of the magazine Cricket, A Weekly Record of the Game. gave the scoreboard of the match between the Native XI and the visiting Lord Hawke team on November 30. The founding fathers of cricket would have been happy, had they witnessed the proceedings at the Chepauk stadium. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Watching the entire Chepauk stadium erupt in joy last week had me pondering over what the founding fathers of Indian cricket in our city would have felt, had they been around to witness it. A quiet sense of satisfaction is my guess. They never jumped about, shouted, or gesticulated in those days.
Enough and more has been written about the Europeans who pioneered cricket in our city. And Buchi Babu (aka Venkatamahipathi) Naidu’s role in fostering a love for the game among Indians here is well-documented. Not only did he fund their gear, he also founded a club for them, namely the Madras United Cricket Club (MUCC), and convinced the Europeans of the Madras Cricket Club to play matches with them. It is no wonder that he is known as the father of Indian cricket in Madras. That revolution was set in motion in 1888 by Buchi Babu. But who were the others?
The answer is in the issue dated December 29, 1892, of the magazine Cricket, A Weekly Record of the Game. The Native XI that played on November 30 against the visiting Lord Hawke team comprised the brothers H. and P. Lincoln, Sabhapathy, Rajagopal Naidu, Appathorai, Soobrailoo, Amurtham, Strinivasaloo, Rajagopal Chari, Balakrishnan, and Achuta Menyn. The spellings are as given.
Among them, the Lincoln Brothers are mentioned elsewhere as members of the Doveton Cricket Club, while Rajagopal Chari is praised as the greatest of all left-arm bowlers that Madras produced. Soobrailoo was later described by Buchi Babu’s son C. Ramaswami as “a fast bowler, a punishing batsman, and a good fieldsman”.
Among the others, Balakrishnan is very clearly N.R. Balakrishna Mudaliar. Born in 1870, he was a graduate of the Government School of Arts and Crafts (now known as the College of Fine Arts, Egmore) and at the time of playing in the Native XI was also a teacher at his alma mater.
He rose to become the first Indian Superintendent of the same college and was decorated by the Government with the titles of Rao Saheb and Rao Bahadur. He seems to have been a natural at sports, for a 1935 record says he played tennis very well too. Beginning with the Madras Championship Cup for Athletic Sports in 1892, he had by 1935 won 103 prizes for his prowess in sports.
A co-founder of the MUCC, he was its vice-president for long.
Achuta Menon is on record as being a member of the Young Men’s Cricket Club, Madras, but we know nothing more about him. As for the rest, we draw a blank. What is surprising is that Buchi Babu’s name does not figure in the list at all. It is quite likely that he contented himself with playing the role of guide, coach, mentor, manager, and patron, all rolled into one.
(V. Sriram is a writer and historian).
Published - March 26, 2025 12:01 am IST
