Bharath Reddy: 7 must-know things about the former India wicketkeeper

Leading on First Class debut, part of all-Hindu team and other interesting facts about Reddy.

Bharath Reddy, born on November 12, 1954, was one from the long list of wicket-keepers who missed out on a long run for being a contemporary of Syed Kirmani. Abhishek Mukherjee looks at seven interesting facts from the Tamil Nadu gloveman’s career.

Most would agree that Syed Kirmani was the best wicket-keeper to have played for India. Bharath Reddy, among others, had the misfortune of having a career parallel to his, which meant that his international exposure was restricted to four Tests and three One-Day Internationals (ODIs).

Here is a list of seven must-knows about the former Tamil Nadu captain:

1. Leading on debut: Reddy holds the rather unusual distinction of leading his side on First-Class debut. In the Moin-ud-Dowlah quarterfinal of 1973-74 Reddy led (and kept wickets for) Vazir Sultan Tobacco Colts XI. Unfortunately, his side lost to Hyderabad Cricket Association, led by Abbas Ali Baig.
2. Being a part of history: Reddy made his ODI debut against Pakistan at Sahiwal. However, as Anshuman Gaekwad and Gundappa Viswanath were on the verge of taking India to victory, Sarfraz Nawaz kept on bowling bouncers that soared way over the head of Gaekwad. The umpires did not intervene, and an enraged Bedi became the first captain to concede an international match.
3. Being a part of history, again: The very fact that no Indian Test side had featured 11 Hindus till 1979 bears testimony to its secularism. With Kirmani dropped for the 1979 series to England and Bishan Bedi left out of the first Test at Edgbaston, Srinivas Venkataraghavan led an all-Hindu XI for the first time. It was Reddy’s first Test.
4. Letting them off: Karsan Ghavri was not the easiest bowler to keep wickets to, as Reddy found out to his own peril. He was often blinded by the batsman when Ghavri pitched them on or outside leg; he tried to solve this by standing outside leg. As a result he often struggled to move across, and was blinded by balls on the off-side!
5. Dropped after a record: On that tour Reddy held nine catches and effected two stumpings. Both numbers were Indian records at that time for an England tour (they have subsequently been broken by Kiran More and MS Dhoni), but he never played another Test.
6. Palakkad feats: Playing against Kerala at Palakkad in 1982-83, Reddy took six catches in the second innings, thus setting a new Tamil Nadu record (it has subsequently been equalled by Reuben Paul). His eight dismissals in the entire match also became a Tamil Nadu record till Paul went past him.
7. A Filmfare nomination in the family: Reddy’s daughter Sriya (also spelled as Sreya or Shreya) is an anchor and a video-jockey. She has acted in movies across multiple languages, but her highest point was definitely Priyadarshan’s Kanchivaram, for which she was nominated in the Best Actress Category in the 2010 Filmfare Awards — Tamil Film Industry.

(Abhishek Mukherjee is an anatidaephobiac trying to perfect that Ashok Dinda leap. He pretends to be serious during his day job as Chief Editor of CricketCountry. He also tweets here.)