Cricketer V B Chandrasekhar committed suicide: Police

vb-chandrasekhar

Chandrasekhar, known as VB in cricketing circles, represented India as an opener in seven ODIs. After retiring from domestic cricket, he was involved in coaching and commentary roles.

Veteran cricketer V B Chandrasekhar was found hanging from the ceiling fan in his bedroom at his residence in upscale Mylapore here, police said on Friday. The cricketer, who had invested in Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL) and was managing the Kancheepuram cricket team, is suspected to have suffered huge losses in his cricket business.

Chandrasekhar, known as VB in cricketing circles, represented India as an opener in seven ODIs. After retiring from domestic cricket, he was involved in coaching and commentary roles. He also briefly served as India selector and was also the manager of the Chennai Super Kings in the IPL for three years.

Several cricketers have written their tributes to Chandrasekhar following news of his demise.

Interestingly, it had been Chandrasekhar who had been instrumental in bringing MS Dhoni to Chennai Super Kings, “raising the paddle to the unheard sum of $ 1.5 million dollars” so that CSK got their man at the IPL auction.

This was remembered fondly on Twitter on Thursday by Joy Bhattacharjya, who was part of the Kolkata Knight Riders team at that auction.

A qualified engineer, Chandrasekhar made his first-class debut at the age of 25 and played in a formidable Tamil Nadu team, which comprised WV Raman, Diwakar Vasu, Laxman Sivaramakrishnan, and Bharath Arun.

Till a few seasons back, he held the record for the fastest hundred in the Ranji Trophy — a 56-ball ton for Tamil Nadu against Rest of India in an Irani Cup game — that brought him into national reckoning.

Unfortunately, his technique was found out during a tri-series in New Zealand in 1990, ensuring that he never played for India again.