He was not only effective behind the stumps but also had the knack of spotting and nurturing talent.

Bharath Reddy, who donned the gloves for India in 4 Tests and 3 ODIs and was a mainstay in the TN line-up for long, was instrumental in young L Sivaramakrishnan making his Ranji debut in the quarterfinals against Delhi at Chepauk in 1981-82. “Siva was just 16 when he made his (Ranji) debut. I had a lot of faith in his abilities, and had asked our skipper S Venkatraghavan to give Siva a chance, and it was granted,” recalls the man with 95 first-class appearances for TN. He took 171 catches and effected 50 stumpings playing for TN.

Reddy first came to notice with an unbeaten 101 against Midlands School during the Indian Schools team tour of England in 1973. “Studying at the Madras Christian College Higher Secondary School was a big plus since they backed me to the hilt. I was allowed to concentrate fully on my game.

I developed a liking for keeping since it provided the best view of the proceedings in a match. One could see how a batsman was planning to take on a bowler, the changes he was making to his stance,” says the Pachaiyappa’s College alumnus.

Having had the fortune of keeping wickets to the likes of Venkatraghavan and Bishen Singh Bedi, Reddy considers Prasanna the toughest to read. “While Venkat, V V Kumar, Bedi and B S Chandrasekhar were all great, Prasanna stood out for the ability to fox a batsman with his loop.”

He has no regrets in life but the 59-year-old believes he could have played more matches for India. “Players of our era were happy with whatever we achieved. Maybe, we lacked the drive that cricketers of the subsequent generations had.”

After retirement, Reddy has been involved in spotting and nurturing talent at Chemplast. “You may be blessed with talent, but if you don’t have the platform to showcase it, what’s the use? When I was Tamil Nadu captain, I ensured players who had the spark made it to the team. W V Raman was a classic case. He had the talent and temperament, and I ensured he made his Ranji debut for the state.

Chemplast has given chances to the likes of L Balaji, Murali Vijay and many others over the years. My chairman has been very supportive and has backed my choices all the time. There have been many who have asked him (our chairman) how he has put up with me for so long,” says Reddy .

(A column on famous sports personalities whose first playing field was Chennai)

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Chennai / by Prasad Ramasubramanian, TNN / July 05th, 2014