Sadanand Viswanath
Encyclopedia
Sadanand Viswanath (born November 29, 1962, Bangalore
, Karnataka
) is a former India
n cricket
er who played in 3 Tests
and 22 ODIs, from 1985 to 1988. Currently, he is a first class umpire and coach.
Vishy gained recognition during the height of India's ascendancy in world cricket in the mid '80s. He was first selected in the Indian team which won the World Championship of Cricket tournament in Australia and the Rothmans Cup in Sharjah days later, in 1985. The thumping triumphs, where India did not lose a single match, validated its claim as the world's best ODI team. People had started to believe in the qualities of a team they earlier thought had won the 1983 World Cup by fluke.
An aggressive wicketkeeper-batsman, Vishwanath is remembered for a hard six he hit out of Bangalore's Chinnaswamy stadium against Allan Border
’s Australians. Border commented later, “The ball probably had ice on it when it came down!”
Vishwanath’s stint in international cricket was brief but the fiery wicketkeeper was noticed by all.Sunil Gavaskar
commented in his book 'One-Day Wonders', “People will talk about many other reasons why we won the World Championship of Cricket in 1985 but one of the main reasons was the presence of Sadanand Vishwanath behind the stumps.” The Australian media too had written that “ this good-looking wicket-keeper may be on his way to becoming India’s best ever.”
India's poster boy was not to fire fully in the late '80s. The death of his parents within a short span of time had a demoralising effect. Vishwanath was not able to fulfil the expectations placed upon him, and was replaced as wicketkeeper by Kiran More
and Chandrakant Pandit
. The legacy of this firebrand cricketer remains though.
He now runs his private cricket coaching academy for young boys in bangalore kundanahalli and also follows the game closely as an umpire in India's domestic championship for the Ranji Trophy. Recently, he was promoted to the Elite Panel of Indian umpires which makes him eligible to umpire the upper tier, that is, the zonal matches played for the Duleep and Deodhar Trophies.
Bangalore
Bengaluru , formerly called Bengaluru is the capital of the Indian state of Karnataka. Bangalore is nicknamed the Garden City and was once called a pensioner's paradise. Located on the Deccan Plateau in the south-eastern part of Karnataka, Bangalore is India's third most populous city and...
, Karnataka
Karnataka
Karnataka , the land of the Kannadigas, is a state in South West India. It was created on 1 November 1956, with the passing of the States Reorganisation Act and this day is annually celebrated as Karnataka Rajyotsava...
) is a former India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
er who played in 3 Tests
Test cricket
Test cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. Test matches are played between national representative teams with "Test status", as determined by the International Cricket Council , with four innings played between two teams of 11 players over a period of up to a maximum five days...
and 22 ODIs, from 1985 to 1988. Currently, he is a first class umpire and coach.
Vishy gained recognition during the height of India's ascendancy in world cricket in the mid '80s. He was first selected in the Indian team which won the World Championship of Cricket tournament in Australia and the Rothmans Cup in Sharjah days later, in 1985. The thumping triumphs, where India did not lose a single match, validated its claim as the world's best ODI team. People had started to believe in the qualities of a team they earlier thought had won the 1983 World Cup by fluke.
An aggressive wicketkeeper-batsman, Vishwanath is remembered for a hard six he hit out of Bangalore's Chinnaswamy stadium against Allan Border
Allan Border
Allan Robert Border AO is a former Australian cricketer. A batsman, Border was for many years the captain of the Australian team. His playing nickname was "A.B.". He played 156 Test matches in his career, a record until it was passed by fellow Australian Steve Waugh...
’s Australians. Border commented later, “The ball probably had ice on it when it came down!”
Vishwanath’s stint in international cricket was brief but the fiery wicketkeeper was noticed by all.Sunil Gavaskar
Sunil Gavaskar
Sunil Manohar "Sunny" Gavaskar is a former cricketer who played during the 1970s and 1980s for Bombay and India. Widely regarded as one of the greatest opening batsmen in cricket history, Gavaskar set world records during his career for the most Test runs and most Test centuries scored by any...
commented in his book 'One-Day Wonders', “People will talk about many other reasons why we won the World Championship of Cricket in 1985 but one of the main reasons was the presence of Sadanand Vishwanath behind the stumps.” The Australian media too had written that “ this good-looking wicket-keeper may be on his way to becoming India’s best ever.”
India's poster boy was not to fire fully in the late '80s. The death of his parents within a short span of time had a demoralising effect. Vishwanath was not able to fulfil the expectations placed upon him, and was replaced as wicketkeeper by Kiran More
Kiran More
Kiran Shankar Murat More was the wicket-keeper for the Indian cricket team from 1984 to 1993. He was the Chairman of the Selection Committee of the BCCI till Dilip Vengsarkar took over the job in 2006. He is presently working with Indian Cricket League.-Early career:More played for the India...
and Chandrakant Pandit
Chandrakant Pandit
Chandrakant Sitaram Pandit is a former Indian cricketer who played in 5 Tests and 36 ODIs from 1986 to 1992. After his retirement as a player, Pandit became a cricket coach, enjoying successful stints with the Mumbai cricket team.In the 1980s he was given the status of second wicketkeeper behind...
. The legacy of this firebrand cricketer remains though.
He now runs his private cricket coaching academy for young boys in bangalore kundanahalli and also follows the game closely as an umpire in India's domestic championship for the Ranji Trophy. Recently, he was promoted to the Elite Panel of Indian umpires which makes him eligible to umpire the upper tier, that is, the zonal matches played for the Duleep and Deodhar Trophies.