Andhra Pradesh - Vijayawada   

End of innings for Venkata Rao

J R Shridharan

He served the game in various capacities

VIJAYAWADA: The decision taken by Member of Parliament Lagadapati Rajagopal to withdraw his panel from the contest in the 54th annual general meeting of the Andhra Cricket Association on Saturday opened a new chapter in the history of the ACA.

For more than one reason, it was also an end of an era for the ACA with the exit of Nekkanti Venkata Rao, who served the association as secretary for six terms spanning 24 years. When Mr. Rao, a former Andhra medium pacer in the 60s, took over the reigns of the ACA in 1983, cricket was a struggling game like any other game.

But with India winning the World Cup under the Haryana Hurricane Kapil Dev’s captaincy and later co-hosting the Reliance World Cup in 1987, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) started becoming one of the richest sporting associations in the country with more and more sponsorships pouring in.

Mr. Rao played a pivotal role in the BCCI administration and went on become the board’s vice-president for five years (1993-1998) with Mr. Dalmiya at the helm of affairs. He also occupied various crucial posts in the BCCI, such as chairman of umpires’ selection committee, member of fixtures committee, chairman of zonal academy and convener of South Zone. He toured along with the Indian teams to Australia, New Zealand and South Africa in the capacity of manager. He played a significant role in the construction of a state-of-the-art cricket stadium in Visakhapatnam and initiating steps for an exclusive ACA stadium at Amaravathi Township near Vijayawada. He was instrumental in players like Guntur’s MSK Prasad and Vizag’s Y. Venugopala Rao earning their slots in the senior Indian team. He also played a role in a good number of youngsters like A.G. Pradeep, V. Sandeep, A.S.K Varma, G. Shankar Rao, G.A.N. Raju, G.V.S. Prasad and Sumanth playing for the country in the junior segments.

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