He was the greatest cricketer not to have played for his country. C Ramaswami - V Ramnarayan C Ramaswami was one of the members of the Madras team that defeated Mysore within a day in the inaugural Ranji Trophy match in December 1934. C P Johnstone - V Ramnarayan C P Johnstone of Kent, Madras Cricket Club and Madras, was the first left hand batsman of the province to capture the imagination of its cricketing public. V Ramnarayan Holders Jolly Rovers retained the Palayampatti Shield for TNCA's first division league championship in an emphatic manner. They can spin a yarn too - V Ramnarayan More than two decades ago, they were a familiar sight in Test matches involving India, celebrating the dismissal of unsuspecting opponents with undisguised joy and great relish, shaking hands, even going so far as to embrace sometimes.
Dreams do come true.
That Chennai is fast becoming India's coaching capital, at least where cricket is concerned, was underlined recently by the launching of 'The Nest' a cricket academy run by former Test opener V B Chandrasekhar. The year was 1980. It was the first day of a match between the South and Central Zone teams at Green Park, Kanpur and the bowler who had just taken a wicket was all of 33 years old. After an ordinary season in 2000, Indian tennis star Leander Paes looks forward to the new ATP tour championship race, which starts in Chennai on January 1. In a year when India's sporting history was tainted by various scandals and marred by lackadaisical performance, professional golf brought some of the biggest cheers for a success -hungry nation.