Collection of Autographs of cricketers

Collecting autographs of Test Cricketers has been a great fancy ever since the game has been internationalized. They are treasured possessions and showed to friends and others with great pride. Taking them by hand after meeting has its own pleasure - because earlier, meeting them was not a chance that came by often and one had to be lucky to be able to do that. I remember asking my grand-aunt who was the mother of B.S.Chandrasekhar to get autographs of cricketers for me through him!! Of course, that enthusiasm of a young boy did all that without understanding how trivial for them these are! Opportunities to meet or even have a 'darshan' of cricketers never came by, but when it did, we were ready with the little autograph books, eagerly looking for any chance of having one in our book. I have managed a few. Let me begin with sharing four of my *treasures* that have not been got by hand, but by mail.

I had come to know that National Cricket Teams respond to fan mail. Individual cricketers have done that with great enthusiasm as well, including Sir Donald Bradman and Sunil Gavaskar. They have spent many hours writing letters to their fans. I used to write letters to the captains of teams when they come to Bangalore for a Test Match and mail it with the address of the State Cricket Association. They were duly passed on to the addressee and have promptly responded to my request for autographs of the entire team and mailing it back using the SASE. I feature here four of the many I have got because these are personally autographed while the rest were the printed reproductions which makes no sense!

I had written to Bishen Singh Bedi when England toured India. But to my great surprise, I got this one from him on the BCA letterhead! [I also wrote to Tony Greig, the England Captain and he responded too - this time, I had sent his picture on which I wanted his autograph. Shown at left]. In this, I had the problem of identifying whose signature is which, esp. some were very tricky! In the meantime, there was a Tamil magazine "Ananda Vikatan" which had pictures of them with autographs printed on their own pictures. Using this as a guide, I could identify all those. See below:

Australian Tour to India, 1979. Kim Hughes was the captain. See Allan Border's autograph also.Allan Border's 1986 Australian Team

John Wright's New Zealand Team, 1988.

Around the same time I had written to Tony Greig [above], I had done the same to Sunil Gavaskar sending him a magazine [Sportsweek] clipping of his picture. His promptness in returning it with my request honoured, was astounding.

Sports in the blood

This testimonial of my great grandfather K.Mylar Rao (he seemed to called Malhari Rao earlier) says that he had a good physique and was an ardent cricketer in his college days. He was good at Bridge (cards) also in his later years. He was a life member of Cosmopolitan Club and Mysore Sports Club, Mysore after he retired from service in 1926.

Surely he must have had a good physique as I am told he took regular strolls and used the dumb bells to maintain his body and health. He must have been a supreme example of a healthy mind in a healthy body - he was an avid reader too which the big library suggests.

My grandfather K.M.Subba Rao was even better. He was a much renown sportsman esp. in his heydays and even till the end. aside from his profession as a respected and renown lawyer and a distinguished citizen of Mysore.

H.H. The Maharaja of Mysore, Sri Jayachamaraja Wadiyar hands over the cup to Subba Rao for Golf at the Mysore Sports Club's tournament, about 1966, at the MSC grounds as Farrokh Irani looks on.


Probably this pic was taken in 1952 at the Cosmopolitan Club during a Tennis tournament. BS Dattatri is to his right.
Madras Christian College Cricket Team, Winners of Inter-Collegiate Cricket Shield, 1918.


Subba Rao is the non-striker at the far end in this picture, probably of the early 1950s or thereabouts, playing in a Lawyers tournament [most likely]. The ground is the "Ovals" [now the Athletic Ground opposite Crawford Hall]. In the background is the Maharaja's / Yuvaraja's College Buildings and the Oriental Research Institute.


This must be a picture of the early 1930s. One of the few where both KM Subba Rao and his father K Mylar Rao are in together [see marked arrows]. Also together in this are HH Krishnarajendra Wadiyar IV, HE Kanteerava Narasa Raja Wadiyar (The Yuvaraja of Mysore) and a young Sri Jayachamaraja Wadiyar and Sir Mirza Ismail. The building is of the Mysore Sports Club. Probably this is a group of elite Mysoreans who are sports-lovers. Mylar Rao was also a keen sportsman skilled in Cricket in his younger days, Tennis and Bridge. Mysore Sports Club was formed later. The building is still there but a facade has come up.

Below is a letter from Prof. J.G.Tait's letter to K.M.Subba Rao. Tait was his teacher in the Presidency College, Madras. Reading this letter is a pleasure, for many things. He remembers his student with great affection and shares his feelings like a friend. He remembers a few other names also so vividly even after many years after his retirement. It shows how that bondage between the teacher and pupil was in those days. Subba Rao and Tait exchanged letters even after Tait went back to England in the early 1920s after his retirement. Apart from Subba Rao's all-round talent Tait in this letter remembers a cricket match:

[ Page 4 and 1 here] - click to enlarge and read

[ Page 2 and 3 here] - click to enlarge and read

On the left side, which is page 2 of the letter, Tait vividly remembers one of Subba Rao's famous bowling spells where he had turned the match in one over by taking four of their best wickets. It was for Presidency College (in 1920) against Madras Christian College. He also feels sorry when he came to know about the accident Subba Rao sustained and had to stop playing cricket [it might have happened a few months or a couple of years before 1926]. That incident he used to describe to us, showing his little finger that had broken while taking a catch. That little finger can be seen in one of the pictures I am with him [in one of my other posts].

Notable is J.G.Tait, his teacher, seated centre in the picture below.

Presidency College Athletic Association -Cricket & Hockey, Madras, 1919-1920.

Presidency College Football Team, Madras, 1919-20

Medals and Trophies in the showcase.

Left Picture - of 1920s; Right Picture - 1952.

Grandfather KM Subba Rao with his treasured trophies won in many sports: Athletics, Badminton, Billiards, Bridge, Cricket, Football, Golf, Hockey and mainly Tennis. What a list!

I am told by Capt. P.Alasingachar (P.A.Char), who was a schoolmate of my father K.S. Ramachandra Rao that he too was very talented in Football greatly but his poor eyesight curbed it greatly. My father was fond of telling that once his nose was struck from one side by a football and turned it to that side, but another blow from the other side a few years later almost straightened it. But I have seen him play Table Tennis with great skill as he used his spin to great effect and Bridge in which he was quite an exponent.

Ramachandra Rao seen here top row in father's Mysore Sports Club Blazer represented his Institute in Bridge, 1976.

When sports is in the blood, we will not be discouraged at home. Sports gives us so much in terms of joy and friends and develops a personality while it teaches life through its successes and failures, importance of hard work, discipline, etc. Sports makes us as people! It teaches many lessons, if only they are pursued in true spirits.

In the above picture, I walk off after a memorable bowling spell that won our CSIR team the final match at Nagpur, 2001.

B.S CHANDRASEKHAR, nephew of Subba Rao.

Sports in the blood is something quite a fortunate thing to be blessed with!