Chandrasekhar, Bhagwath (1945-…), was one of the greatest bowlers in Indian cricket history and an essential part of a team that turned India into one of the leading teams in the world. In cricket, a bowler is a member of the fielding side who delivers the ball. He became one of the most successful leg spinners in the history of the sport. Leg spinning is one of the most difficult ways of delivering the ball. For a discussion of cricket positions and play, see Cricket (Playing cricket).
Chandra, as he was popularly known, was named a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1972. He was also honored for the Best Bowling Performance of the Century for his performance against England in 1971. He took 6 wickets for 38 runs to set up India’s first series victory in England. Chandra also played a crucial role in India’s first win in Australia, taking 12 wickets for 104 runs. He was one of four leg spinners who formed the famous Indian spin quartet that dominated the world of spin bowling during the 1960’s and 1970’s. The others were Bishan Singh Bedi, E. A. S. Prasanna, and Srinivasaraghavan Venkataraghavan.
Bhagwath Subramanya Chandrasekhar was born on May 17, 1945, in Mysore. He suffered from an attack of polio as a child that left his right arm thin and weak. In spite of this apparent disability, he had great success bowling with his right arm. He was unpredictable and delivered the ball much quicker than most spin bowlers, which kept the batsmen guessing and rushed them into a shot. Chandra made his Test debut in 1964 against England and made his final Test appearance against the same country in 1979. Chandra played First Class cricket, the highest level of the sport in India, from 1963 to 1980. During his career he played for the Indian national team as well as Karnataka and Mysore. He played in 58 Test matches and took 242 wickets. Chandra retired from international cricket in 1979 and from domestic cricket in 1980.
