Aditya Bhushan - Fortune Turners

2019, Aditya Bhushan & Sachin Bajaj

Design & LayoutSnehajit Roy
London, United Kingdomsnehajitroy@gmail.com

Printed by
Kaleido Graphics, Mumbai (India)shrinivas_virkar@kaleidographics.com

ISBN 978-81-942368-0-1

Published by:
Sachin Bajaj
Founder & MD

admin@globalcricketschool.comwww.globalcricketschool.com
` 599.00

No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retreival system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the written permission of the author and publisher

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hen Aditya came up with the idea of a book on the Spin Quartet, I was totally excited and decided to play a part in this initiative. For, I have followed the careers of these legends closely and have been their big fan like most Indians of my generation.

In my work for the Global Cricket School, I have also had the fortune of meeting and interacting with these giants of Indian cricket.

While there have been individual books on them as well as on Indian spinners in general, Fortune Turners focuses on the careers of the quartet and its impact on Indian cricket in general. It takes us back to an era when the likes of Bishan Singh Bedi, Erapalli Prasanna, Bhagwat Chandrasekhar and Srinivas Venkataraghavan spun India to many victories.

They were beyond doubt the best spinners in business in the cricketing world and they mesmerized batsmen with their guile. But the decade of 1960s and 1970s saw India produce many other spinners, who couldnt get entry to the Indian team as they were competing against the quartet. This book also sheds light on these spinners who were unfortunately not able to make a mark for themselves on the Test arena.

Fortune Turners is our homage to the Spin Quartet and the other Indian spinners who competed with them for the coveted spot in the Indian Test team.

Sachin Bajaj
Founder & MD,
Global Cricket School

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o start with, this book would not have been possible had my fatherSuniti Bhushan Prasad not introduced me to the exploits of the quartet.Seeing any Indian spinner of the last few decades, he would always tell me that these guys were not as good as our spinners of the 1960s & 1970s were. Then, my mother Nita Prasad and my wife Akanksha Srivastav for their constant encouragement and support throughout. My father, mother and wife also helped with the editing of the book.

My sincere and humble thanks to the protagonists of Fortune Turners Bishan Singh Bedi, Erapalli Prasanna, Bhagwat Chandrasekhar and Srinivas Venkataraghavan. They not only took time to meet and discuss their career with me, but they also provided me with contacts of their contemporaries. Whenever I went to them with a request, they would oblige me. I would also like to thank and apologise to Ranjani Venkataraghavan (Venkataraghavans wife) for bothering her to get me in touch with Venkat Sir.

Special thanks to the spinners of yesteryear who had to compete all their career with the quartet like Padmakar Shivalkar, Rajinder Goel and VVKumar. They took me back to the times when every state team in India had a quality spinner.
I am grateful to all other cricketers who provided their valuable insights
Kapil Dev, Syed Kirmani, Farokh Engineer, Syed Abid Ali, MohinderAmarnath, Roger Binny, S Madan Lal, Anshuman Gaekwad, Bharath Reddy, Yajurvindra Singh, Saad Bin Jung, Patamada Belliappa, R. Sudhakar Rao,KS Viswanath, JK Mahendra, Ashley Mallett and Ian Chappell.

JK Mahendra was also kind enough to allow the painting of the quartet from his collection to be used in the cover of the book.
My gratitude to the superstar of badminton - Prakash Padukone - who had several stories to tell from his growing days in Bengaluru.

I am indebted with the help provided by ace statistician Mohandas Menon. He took time from his busy schedule to provide the different slices and dices of data that I required.

Thanks to sports writers Chandrasekhar Luthra, Suresh Menon, R Mohan and Makarand Waingankar who shared their rich experiences having covered the matches played by the quartet.

I cant thank Clayton Murzello enough for his continuous guidance. He hasbeen just a message or a phone call away for any help that I needed at variousstages. I came in touch with him during the research of my first book on Col.CK Nayudu and since then he has been a constant source of encouragement.

A noteworthy mention to V Shankar from the KSCA who provided contacts of many cricketers and also provided access to the library at the club. Similarly, Sanjay Jaywant and Silloo Medhora from Cricket Club of India (CCI) helped a lot at different stages. Both KSCA and CCI have been kindenough to allow the usage of photographs.
Thanks to my school friend Snehajit Roy for designing the cover and the book. He has always been there with his photography and creative design skills whenever I needed him.

While all my family members and friends have been supportive in this endeavour of mine, few of them like my uncle Vishnu Shankar have gone out of their way to provide me with the contacts of journalists and cricketers.

Last, but not the least, thanks to my co-author and publisher Sachin Bajaj. He had given a go-ahead to publish the book even before the first words were written. His team at the Global Cricket School comprising of Parth Kalke, Shailesh Bharadwaj and Shailesh Kahar have also been instrumental in getting things done at the ground. Here, I would also like to thank former Ranji cricketer Vijay Nayudu for introducing me to Sachin Bajaj.

To all these wonderful people, this book is a result of the assistance provided by you all. Words will never be able to do justice to the help and encouragement that I have received from each one of you.

Aditya BhushanJuly 2019 W

henever I am asked to comment on our spin quartet, an entire movie starts running in front of my eyes. It starts with Erapalli Prasannas debut in 1962 and continues even post my retirement in 1975. The memories of those golden days are priceless. Even though, it has been many decades since we walked together onto a cricket field wearing an India cap, everything is still fresh in my mind.

I remember a young Prasanna walking out against the Englishmen in his first Test and then to see him graduate into the best off-spinner in the world was a journey in itself. In fact, not just him, the way in which Prasanna, Chandra, Bishan and Venkat formed a web around the batsmen was a sight to behold.

There couldnt have been a better place to watch this than from behind the stumps and I am grateful to God to have provided me with this opportunity. It was a sheer joy to watch Prasanna and Bedi make batsmen dance to their flight. Similarly, Venkats control over line and length of the ball was simply remarkable.
And what do I tell about Chandra, he was in a league of his own. I always used to find it interesting to keep wickets to him. I have the highest degree of respect for him as despite the defect in his bowling hand (polio affected), he went on to become a great bowler. He turned his defect into his advantage. Had it been any lesser mortal, he would have given up pretty early in life, but Chandra fought against all odds to emerge as a winner.

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