A second coming for Sunil Subramaniam
What does a bowler, who has been the state's leading wicket taker for ten years, do when he is unfairly dropped while still having much to offer
Partab Ramchand
23-Jan-2001
What does a bowler, who has been the state's leading wicket taker for
ten years, do when he is unfairly dropped while still having much to
offer? Well, there are a few options and these could be any of the
following. (a) He can either accept his fate stoically. (b) He can do
his damnedest to fight his way back into the side. (c) He can go into
coaching or administration. (d) He can turn his back on the game for
good. (e) In a bid to forget unpleasant memories and prove that he is
still good enough to play the game, he can represent another team.
Sunil Subramaniam faced these choices last year. After being the most
successful bowler for Tamil Nadu in the period 1988-1997 with a bag of
245 wickets, he found himself discarded. As the players assembled for
the 1998-99 season, the tall left arm spinner was just about
recovering from a serious injury to his shoulder and back. He spent
six months recuperating but then started physical training and net and
match practice in real earnest. By the start of the 1999-2000 season,
he was fit and raring' to go. But to his astonishment, he discovered
that he was not even in the list of 32 Ranji Trophy probables.
Sunil has never been one to hide his feelings or to mince words. In
the mid-nineties, when not selected in the South Zone team for the
Duleep Trophy, he is known to have gone straight to the TNCA
secretary's room and questioned him on his non-selection, armed with
facts and figures. He found it hard to swallow that he was not
considered good enough to command a place in the list of probables
when in his view, he was still good enough to play for the state.
For more than a decade since the retirement of S Venkataraghavan,
Sunil along with Diwakar Vasu and M Venkatramana, had carried the
state's bowling fortunes. By the end of the 90s however, with Sunil
having been dropped and Vasu and Venkatramana towards the end of their
first class careers, the accent in the Tamil Nadu attack had shifted
to pace, thanks to the presence of T Kumaran, S Mahesh, J
Gokulakrishnan, D Devanand and Robin Singh.
But whether he was in a position to make a comeback to the Tamil Nadu
side or not, Sunil made one thing clear to the authorities. In keeping
with his outspoken reputation, he made it known that he was not
interested any more in playing for the state. "They have a solid
structure for the game, a planned edifice but there is no respect for
the cricketers," says Sunil.
But what could he do? He still loved playing the game and sincerely
felt he was good enough to play first class cricket. After all, at his
peak in the mid 90s, he played six Duleep Trophy games and represented
the Rest of India in the Irani Trophy game against Mumbai. And he had
made his first class debut in 1988 against the touring New Zealand
team, led by John Wright. Moreover, he was one of those who, as the
cliche goes, ate, drank and slept cricket. He very much wanted to be
in the thick of action and just playing for his club side, India
Pistons, was not what the cricketer with a boyish enthusiasm for the
game was satisfied with.
Well, opportunity came knocking from a most unexpected quarter. Late
last year, there was a call from an official of the Assam Cricket
Association. They were interested in hiring an experienced spinner as
a professional and inquired whether Sunil would be interested. Sunil
hesitated just to find out whether it was a good offer - both from the
monetary angle and the cricketing viewpoint - and took the plunge.
Making a fresh start at 33 wasn't going to be an easy experience
especially in far off Assam. For one thing, the culture, weather and
the standard of cricket is very different from that prevalent in
Chennai. ("Sometimes I felt I was not in India," says Sunil).
Secondly, there was no guarantee that Assam would qualify for the
knockout stage from the East Zone or that Sunil would be picked for
the Duleep Trophy squad. His playing could then, at most, be
restricted to the four zonal games. Viewed from this angle, it was a
bit of a gamble.
But Sunil was determined to make good, to prove that his left arm
spinners still carried a lot of sting. And in his limited
opportunities, he did well enough taking 12 wickets at an average of
under 15. This included a five wicket haul against Bengal and another
against Tripura. Sunil loves bowling long spells but never got them as
the Assam skipper Z Zuffri preferred to rotate his bowlers and the
matches were generally marked by low scores. In the process, Sunil
crossed the 250 wicket mark in the national competition and, most
important, played a prominent role in helping Assam to qualify for the
knockout phase. Assam meet Karnataka in the pre-quarterfinal at
Guwahati in March.
The current stint with Assam has renewed Sunil's faith in the game.
"I have enjoyed my cricket with Assam and will play for them as long
as I am fit," he says. He missed making the East Zone Duleep Trophy
squad by a whisker, there being two other left arm spinners in Utpal
Chatterjee and Sukhbinder Singh. He is confident that he will be
invited to play for Assam next year. At the moment however he is back
in Chennai, content in turning out in a couple of tournaments for
India Pistons and is looking forward to the game against Karnataka.
It is indeed a second coming for Sunil and the garrulous left arm
spinner, who has come up through hard work, is making the most of it.