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`Twas a famous victory
S. MUTHIAH
C.D. Gopinath
Yes, `twas a famous victory, but most everyone has forgotten that it was around this time of the year, fifty years ago, that Madras (now Tamil Nadu) won the Ranji Trophy for the first time. I was reminded of it only because two of those who made the victory possible celebrated their birthdays a few weeks ago. At 80 n.o. R.B. (Balu) Alaganan, then the reluctant player, reluctant captain, later reluctant radio commentator but a willing administrator, still remains reluctant about many things. At 75 n.o., C.D. Gopinath has move on to tennis and angling, passionate about both.
Few today are also likely to remember that one of the powerful cricket teams in the first 30-or-so years of Indian cricket went by the name Holkar. Holkar, or the princely state of Indore, is today part of Madhya Pradesh. It was a strong Holkar team that Madras was to meet in that 1955 final in Indore — and almost everyone gave the visitors little chance against the giants. But as Alaganan once said, "Many might have thought our victory was a fluke, but I was extremely lucky to have as my colleagues a band of fine sportsmen whose aim was only to do well as a team. There was a strong will to win... with even the younger players refusing to be overawed". And they had dedicated coaches in A.G. Ram Singh and K.S. Kannan.
R.B. Alaganan
Holkar, with such players as Mushtaq Ali, B.B. Nimbalkar and C.T. Sarwate, won the toss, but Mushtaq Ali put Madras in to bat. The visitors piled up 478, Gopinath — who had only recently been picked for India — scoring a brilliant 133 (to go along with the 121, scored just after his return from Pakistan, to take Madras into the final) and A. G. Kripal Singh 75. "I had the dubious distinction of being the only member of the team not to have contributed to the score," Alaganan later recalled. Holkar was then restricted to 417 by the Madras spinners Kripal Singh, Sarangapani and Murugesh.
In the second innings, despite Kripal Singh's elegant 91, Madras were in trouble at 219 for 9 when Murugesh walked in. Alaganan, who was batting, still remembers "young Murugesh walking upto me and telling me calmly not to throw my wicket away as he was confident of holding his end up. They were no empty words. Murugesh had with with Sarangapani kept the last wicket going in the first innings too. This time we got to 311." Alaganan's contribution was 65. Holkar needed 373 to win — an eminently gettable score, but they failed by 46 runs, Kripal Singh and Murugesh doing the damage again. If there had been Man of the Match awards in those days, it would have been difficult to choose between Kripal Singh and Murugesh; the former besides his batting took seven wickets in the match while Murugesh took eight and figured in last wicket partnership of 65 and 92.
Madras/Tamil Nadu had to wait till 1988 to win the Ranji Trophy again and they haven't done it since, despite having a fine cricketing set-up and a very talented crop of players. "It amazes me, Tamil Nadu not being able to win the Ranji Trophy more than twice in the 70 years of the competition," says Alaganan, who retired from the game after the 1955 victory.
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