Bhagwat Chandrasekhar bowled leg-spin with an arm that had been weakened by polio in childhood, and turned that arm into one of the most feared weapons in world cricket. He took 242 wickets in 58 Tests, bowled India to their first Test wins in England and Australia, and remains one of only two Test cricketers to finish with more wickets than runs. His bowling was unusual in almost every way, and batters of his era never fully got used to it.
Name: Bhagwat Subramanya Chandrasekhar | Born: 17 May 1945, Mysore | Sport: Cricket | Position: Leg-spin bowler
Polio and an arm unlike any other
Chandrasekhar contracted polio at the age of six, and the illness left his right arm thin and withered. It was the arm he bowled with. Rather than holding him back, it gave his bowling a whip and pace that conventional leg-spinners did not have. He ran in quickly, released the ball at close to medium pace, and mixed leg-breaks, top-spinners and googlies with very little change in action. On good days the ball spat off the pitch and batters found themselves playing before it had arrived.
He was educated in Mysore and later moved with his family to Bangalore, where he developed his game in the city’s club cricket before being picked for India while still a teenager.
A young debutant against England
Chandrasekhar made his Test debut against England at Bombay on 21 January 1964, at the age of 18. He was named Indian Cricket’s Cricketer of the Year for 1964, a sign of how quickly selectors and critics had recognised his talent. Over the following seasons his place was not always secure, partly because India had a surplus of top-class spinners and partly because his bowling could be expensive on days when the rhythm deserted him.
The Oval, 1971
The spell that defined his career came at the Oval in August 1971. England, leading on first innings, were bowled out in their second innings with Chandrasekhar taking 6 for 38. India went on to win the Test and with it the series, their first Test victory in England. Wisden later named it the best Indian bowling performance of the 20th century. He was named one of Wisden’s Cricketers of the Year in 1972, and he received both the Padma Shri and the Arjuna Award in the same year.
Melbourne and an identical double
His other great overseas match came at Melbourne in the 1977-78 series. Australia were set 387 to win, and India dismissed them for 164 to win by 222 runs, India’s first Test victory in Australia. Chandrasekhar took 6 for 52 in the first innings and 6 for 52 again in the second. He was the first bowler to return identical figures in both innings of a Test.
He was also part of some heavy wins at home. In a 1976 Test against New Zealand, he and Erapalli Prasanna shared 19 wickets between them, showing how hard it was for visiting batters to cope with India’s spin attack at full strength.
The spin quartet and a famous batting record
With Prasanna, Bishan Singh Bedi and Srinivas Venkataraghavan, Chandrasekhar made up the spin quartet that carried India’s bowling through the late 1960s and 1970s. He was the attacking option, the bowler a captain turned to when a wicket was needed quickly. His best innings figures in Tests were 8 for 79, and he finished with 16 five-wicket hauls and two ten-wicket matches.
His batting became part of cricket folklore for the opposite reason. He scored only 167 runs in Tests at an average of 4.07 and was out without scoring 23 times. With 242 wickets against those 167 runs, he and New Zealand’s Chris Martin are the only Test players with more wickets than runs over a full career.
Chandrasekhar played a single one-day international, against New Zealand in February 1976, taking 3 for 36. His last Test was against England in July 1979.
Honours
Along with the Padma Shri, the Arjuna Award and his Wisden recognition in 1972, Chandrasekhar shared the BCCI’s Col. C. K. Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award with his fellow spinners in 2004. His figures at the Oval and Melbourne remain among the most celebrated overseas performances by an Indian bowler.
Career record and honours
- Tests: 58 matches, 242 wickets, average 29.74, best 8 for 79, 16 five-wicket hauls, two ten-wicket matches
- Test batting: 167 runs, average 4.07, 23 ducks
- One-day internationals: one match, 3 wickets
- Test debut: 21 January 1964 v England, Bombay
- 6 for 38 at the Oval, 1971, in India’s first Test win in England
- 6 for 52 in each innings at Melbourne, 1977-78, in India’s first Test win in Australia
- Indian Cricket Cricketer of the Year, 1964
- Wisden Cricketer of the Year, 1972
- Padma Shri, 1972; Arjuna Award, 1972
- Col. C. K. Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award, 2004 (shared with the spin quartet)
