B. S. Chandrasekhar Biography 
B. S. Chandrasekhar is a former cricketer (spin bowler) of Indian National team. His full name is Bhagwat Subramanya Chandrasekhar and he is often mentioned as Chandra. He was a leg spinner. Chandrasekhar played 58 Test matches, capturing 242 wickets at an average of 29.74 and he played from long 16 years for Indian team during the 1960s and 1970s. He took six wickets for 38 runs against England at the Oval in 1971 which was selected as the "Best bowling performance of the century" in 2002. This most memorable performance of his career gave him ‘Wisden Cricketer of the Year’ in 1972 also. Honours given to that outstanding innings is not ended here. He also received Arjuna Award and Padmashri exactly the same year (1972).
Chandrasekhar along with Bishen Singh Bedi, E.A.S. Prasanna and Srinivasaraghavan Venkataraghavan together are known as the Indian spin quartet that dominated spin bowling during the decades of 1960s and 1970s. Most wondering fact that he was affected by polio at a younger age of 6 which made his right arm withered. However he recovered at the age of 10 and started playing matches. He was deeply influenced by Australian leg spinner Richie Benaud which made him love this wonderful game. He was also a right handed batsman for the team.
Chandrasekhar was born in 1945 in Mysore. But when his family was relocated to Bangalore, he got more opportunities to play cricket. He played for "City Cricketers" during this time. He attempted different bowling styles including fast bowling and finally settled in 1963 as a leg spin bowler. His Test debut for India happened against England at Bombay in 1964 where he took 4 wickets and the same year he was named ‘Indian Cricket Cricketer’ of the Year. In Wisden’s opinion, who chose Chandrasekhar’s 38/6 innings in the year 1971 as the "Best bowling performance of the century" remarked that “He was wonderfully accurate for a bowler of his type, and his extra pace made him a formidable proposition even on the sluggish Oval pitch."
Published: N/A
Updated: January 29, 2014
