Krishnamachari Srikkanth is a former cricketer who represented India in One-dayers and tests during the 1980s and early 1990s. He was essentially an opening batsman with a hard-hitting ability to hit the ball at the start of the innings, unlike any other batsman at the time. It was he who started the trend of hitting fast bowlers when the ball was new whose style was later imitated by many hard-hitting openers around the world.
Wiki/Biography
Krishnamachari Srikkanth was born on Monday, 21 December 1959 (age 62 years; in 2021) at EV Kalyani Nursing Home, Mylapore, Madras (now Chennai), Tamil Nadu, India. His zodiac sign is Sagittarius. He started playing cricket in the streets of Madras where he grew up. He made his international debut in 1981 against England. A few days later, he made his test debut in the same series. Soon, he started creating records in international cricket by performing well for his team. In the finals of the 1983 World Cup, he emerged as the top scorer for the team and helped India lift their maiden World Cup. This was followed by a World Series title in 1985. In 1989, he was given the captaincy of the Indian team. But due to his poor form with the bat, he was later dropped from the side. In 1993, he retired from all international cricket. After retirement, he remained with the Indian team in many roles such as coach, cricket analyst and chief selector.
Physical appearance
Height (approx): 5′ 8″
Hair Color: Natural Black
Eye Color: Dark Brown
Family
Parents & Siblings
His father’s name is CR Krishnamachari and he is a businessman. His mother’s name is Indira Krishnamachari and she is a housewife. He has a brother and a sister. His brother’s name is Krishnamachari Srinath and his sister’s name is Srekala Bharath. She is a famous classical dancer.
Srekala Bharath
Wife & Children
Srikkanth married on 30 March 1983 to Vidya Srikanth.
Krishnamachari Srikkanth with his wife
He has two sons named Anirudha Srikanth who is a domestic level cricketer. He is married to Arti Anirudha.
Anirudha Srikanth with his wife
His other son is Adithyaa Srikanth and he is a businessman.
Adithyaa Srikanth
Signature/Autograph
Career
International Debut
ODI
On 25 November 1981 against England at Motera Stadium (now Narendra Modi Stadium) in Ahmedabad, Gujarat
Test
On 27 November 1981 against England at the Wankhede Stadium in Bombay (now Mumbai), Maharashtra
T20I
There was no T20 at that time
Record
- First Indian to get out on 99 runs in One Day International.
- Second international cricketer to score a fifty and take five wickets in the same match on 10 December 1988 against New Zealand.
- Joint most catches in a Test innings by a fielder.
Statistics
Batting Stats
Tests• Matches- 43• Innings- 72• Runs- 2062• Highest Score- 123• Average- 29.88• 100s- 2• 50s- 12• 0s- 7
One Day International• Matches- 146• Innings- 145• Runs- 4091• Highest Score- 123• Average- 29.01• Balls Faced- 5702• Strike Rate- 71.74• 100s- 4• 50s- 311• 0s- 0s-
Bowling Statistics
Tests• Matches- 43• Innings- 16• Overs- 36.0• Maidens- 3• Runs Conceded- 114• Wickets- 0• Economy- 3.16• 5 Wicket Haul- 0• Best Bowling in an Inning- 0
One Day International• Matches- 146• Innings- 33• Overs- 118.4• Maidens- 3• Runs Conceded- 641• Wickets- 25• Best Bowling in an Inning- 5/27• Average- 25.64• Economy- 5.40• Strike Rate- 28.44-wickets in the innings- 05-wickets in the innings- 5
Domestic/State Team
Krishnamachari Srikanth
The first time he started playing any tournament was the city Inter-school cricket competition. Later, he attended a coaching camp run by Mushtaq Ali while in his final year of school. In 1981, he made his international debut for India against England in Bombay (now Mumbai) where he failed to score any runs after facing ten deliveries. Three days later, he made his test debut in the same series where he scored 0 and 13 runs respectively. Both of these matches ended in draws. His first fifty was against England at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on 9 December 1981. He reached his first test century (116 runs) against Australia in January 1986. India then played the first match of the 1983 Cricket World Cup against the Windies on 9 June in Manchester where Srikkanth scored 14 runs. His total runs are 156 runs in 8 matches at an average of 19.5. His highest score was against Australia in Nottingham with 39 runs at the league level.
Krishnamachari played the batting for his brave 38 runs against the West Indies in the 1983 World Cup final
Fans flock to the ground after India’s 1983 World Cup victory
Krishnamachari Srikkanth poses with his teammates after winning the 1983 World Cup Krishnamachari Srikkanth poses with his teammates after winning the 1983 World Cup
In the 1985 Benson & Hedges World Cricket Championship, he scored 63 runs in the final and helped his team win the championship. He was later appointed as the captain of the Indian team in 1989 where his team managed to draw all four test matches against Pakistan in their homeland. However, he was dropped from the side due to his poor performance with the batsman in the series. After two years, he returned to the side for the Australia series where he failed to score big and ended up with 135 runs in 8 innings at an average of 16.88. After a few months, he announced his retirement from international cricket after the 1992 World Cup and then toured Australia. After retirement, he worked as the coach of the India-A team for a short period and later worked as an expert commentator and analyst with various news and sports channels. When the IPL started in 2008, he was made the brand ambassador for the Chennai Super Kings franchise of the Indian Premier League (IPL). On 27 September 2008, he was appointed as the Chief selector of the Indian Cricket team and his tenure ended in 2012. On 20 December 2012, he was subsequently appointed as the ambassador for the Sunrisers Hyderabad franchise of the Indian Premier League (IPL).
Srikkanth with Kapil Dev, Roger Binny, and Syed Kirmani at a press conference in Bengaluru, Karnataka
In addition, he is a commentator for Star Sports Tamil TV channel.
Award
CK Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award by Government of India in 2020
Favourite
- Sports: Volleyball, Basketball, Field Tennis, Table Tennis
- Food: Lemon Rasam and Cheppankizhangu Fry
Facts/Trivia
- Does Krishnamachari Srikkanth smoke?: Yes
Krishnamachari Srikanth smokes
- Srikkanth was once asked about the nature of his superstitions. To which he replied,
“All of us, every human being is a superstition. I always look at the sun every time I enter the land because I believe in the sun god. I come from a very religious orthodox family. It’s an upbringing maybe, but I have a habit of looking at the sun 3 times, swinging the bat, touching the pad, and then getting into my crouched stance, my legs wide open, etc. An extra ‘K’ was added in my name due to numerological reasons.”
- Many Indian cricketers expressed their views about Srikkanth. Kapil Dev says,
“Srikanth’s technique is unique. He is different from others. He is a batsman who can defend the ball and can blast the same ball when he wants to. He hit the bowlers all over the place. He has amazing eyes. He is a great entertainer. His achievements have been impressive in five-day and one-day cricket. I don’t admire his technique but certainly admire the way he can hit the bowlers”
Navjot Singh Sidhu says,
“On the day, you cannot set a field for Srikkanth. His hits are magnetic, drawing crowds from all over the world. His shots are so great that even the opponents love to see him play. The most striking feature of Srikkanth’s batting is his desire to dominate the bowlers. When he hits, he will tear the attack or go out. I’ve never seen a bat person like him. He has his own character and style. No one can imitate ‘Cheeka Bhai”
Syed Kirmani told
“A cheerful man like Srikkanth is a blessing in disguise. He is the most accommodating person, a good teammate, a source of encouragement on the field. In the case of sportsmen, the face will tell everything when they are under pressure. The most enviable quality in Srikkanth is that he will never show that he is under tension. These qualities helped Srikanth, the cricketer to succeed.”
Sachin Tendulkar said,
“Srikkanth used to pull my leg in Pakistan saying, “Sachin, you will be the captain of India. Do not forget me”. It’s in a lighter vein. Cheeka never maintained an official captain-player relationship. I got full encouragement from him. For any youngster to have that kind of encouragement, I myself was lucky enough to play under him. He never pressured me. He would say, “Just play your game. Play your natural game, you will get runs”. Srikkanth is a very friendly and amazing guy.”
Sunil Gavaskar bows before Srikkanth after he hit 4 crawls in a match against Sri Lanka’s Ashantha De Mel in the mid-1980s
- A Bollywood movie named ’83’ will release on 24th December 2021 where Jiiva plays the role of Krishnamachari Srikkanth in the movie.
Jiiva’s appearance as Krishnamachari Srikkanth from ’83
Categories: Biography
Source: SCHOOL TRANG DAI
