By

S.Muthiah

Mahadevan Sathasivam

A friend from Colombo recently informed me that there was a book about Mahadevan Sathasivam (Satha to all) that had just come out and was sure that I would be interested in it. When he told me that Sathasivam of Ceylon – The Batting Legend was by Prof. Ravindra Fernando of the Department of Forensic Medicine, University of Colombo, I was even more interested.

For, I thought, it would shed further forensic light on the murder of the wife of that legendary South Asian playboy cricketer whom many an old-timer in Madras still remembers for an innings at Chepauk in 1947 that they still consider the finest they ever saw played on that turf.

Writing back to that former colleague for more information about the book, I got the reply that it was only about Satha’s cricket. And with it came a couple of quotes that my correspondent was sure I’d be able to use in this column. But before getting to them, there’s the reason Dr. Fernando, a cricket enthusiast, gives for writing this book. “Sathasivam,” he says, “was perhaps the best batsman Sri Lanka produced. The great Frank Worrell, captaining a Commonwealth XI against Ceylon, and his teammates clapped Sathasivam off the field during a ‘Test’ in 1950. Satha had scored 96 out of Ceylon’s 153 against a high class attack on a bowler-friendly wicket, leading Worrell to describe him as ‘the best batsman in the world; my first pick as a batsman for a World XI’.”

Those who watched that 1947 innings in Madras would be inclined to agree with that assessment. Certainly two Indian sportswriters who looked back on his life and that innings said as much in the words that follow:
Sriram Veera, the chief cricket correspondent of the Mumbai Mirror, recalling that innings for All-Ceylon against South India wrote: “In 1947, a slim figure glided to the centre of the wicket with a ‘bewitching elegance’, his cap worn at a rakish angle, a white handkerchief tied around his neck, and proceeded to dispatch the ball to all parts of the ground while making 215.

If the old-timers are to be believed, that knock from Mahadevan Sathasivam, the legendary and flamboyant Ceylonese batsman, was the finest innings ever played at Chepauk.” And an obituary in The Mail, Madras, stated, “…Ever since, as a lanky stripling, Sathasivam made his mark in the cricket-crazy island, he had been a regular member of the Ceylon team that visited India until his wife’s death involved him in a court case, which ruined his career. Probably because of this, he left the island and worked in Malaysia, which country also he had the distinction of captaining…

“Such had been the name and fame that preceded the Colombo run-getting machine that he was the cynosure of all eyes…He had by then blossomed into one of the world’s greatest batsmen of the time. He emphasised his rise to the highest class by making mincemeat of an attack that comprised the pace of M.J. Gopalan and C.R. Rangachari, the latter in his heyday, and the spin of N.J. Venkatesan, Ghulam Ahmed, C.P. Johnstone and B.C. Alva. He was on dancing feet as he proceeded to erase the Chepauk record of 213 by making 215 in almost even time before a spellbound crowd.

“From Jack Hobbs to Joe Hardstaff and Dennis Compton… from Gary Sobers to Vijay Hazare, batsmen have enthralled the intelligent and knowledgeable Chepauk crowds and enriched Chepauk’s history with their batsmanship of varying styles. But no one has played an innings like Sathasivam’s record-making double century – 215 dazzling runs – that contained the fireworks of Nayudu, the footwook of Weekes, the subtlety of Hassett, the driving power of Sobers and (all) the (other) ingredients of batsmanship of the highest class. A great batsman… one whom Chepauk will never forget.”

Whoever has seen Satha bat would have views about his batting not very different from these. He was a cricketer who would spend all night carousing and score a most elegant century the next day. Madras saw him only too often in that form.COURTESY:THE HINDU