Cup for bowling stardom

By V Ramnarayan

(From Madras Musings, February 1996)

The Wills World Cup promises to be a bowlers' contest for stardom more than any of its predecessors, with a number of exciting new talents emerging in the recent past. Veteran of 200 Test and 87 one-day international wickets, Shane Warne will certainly figure at the very top of the popularity charts unless he decides to skip India as well as Sri Lanka and Pakistan. Easily the most glamorous spinner of the Cup, the Aussie will face the sternest test of his career if and when he comes up against the Indians who have, in the past, succeeded in collaring him. The other wrist spinners, Anil Kumble and Mushtaq Mohammed, will almost equally be the cynosure of all eyes as they spring to their task to the accompaniment of deafening local roars.

The spin department may even draw more attention than all the others with Paul Adams of South Africa and his extraterrestrial bowling action providing drama of a kind not witnessed before. Muthiah Muralitharan will be another centre of attraction and his bowling action will be debated, until the cows come home, at cricket grounds and in drawing rooms across continents. For Aashish Kapoor of India, who learnt his cricket in Madras, this will be a great opportunity to display his flair for instant cricket. Besides his offspin, Aashish can bat attractively and innovatively. If the young man grabs his chances, he may achieve international celebrity status before the end of the championship. And let us not forget Venkatapathy Raiu, who may surprise the lot.

Among the quickies, it will be every Indian's fond hope that Javagal Srinath will enhance his reputation as one of the fastest improving bowlers in the world. His stint with Gloucestershine in the English county circuit was an education that helped the' Karnataka paceman's graduation into the ranks of the world's leading speed merchants. With experience has come the maturity to bowl within himself in limited overs competition. Perhaps Azharuddin will feel emboldened to bring him on in the slog overs instead of turning to his second string as he did last season. Venkatesh Prasad too is an improved bowler while Salil Ankola, if he finds a place in the playing eleven, may prove the surprise package of the Indian attack, to go by his recent track record.

I cannot escape the feeling that the World Cup may mark the beginning of the end of the road for veteran all- rounder Manoj Prabhakar, to judge from the decline in pace and accuracy noticed in the series against New Zealand. With Prabhakar, however, you can expect always the unexpected and he may well bounce back, stung by suggestions that he may be over the hill.

Dominic Cork, the new Botham whom England supporters want so desperately to live up to that expectation, is the only English paceman with the ingredients of charisma, though his relatively workmanlike colleagues may ensure yet another semi-final berth for their team with their professional competence. Even little fancied Zimbabwe can boast of a more colourful attack with the young Heath Streak improving by leaps and bounds. Dion Nash and Danny Morrison of New Zealand are worthy performers in both kinds of cricket, but fall short of the aggression and precision of their trans-Tasman counterparts, McDermott, McGrath and Reiffel.

Pakistan has Akram and Waqar Yunus and New Zealand has Chris Cairns. These are three pace bowlers who can be expected to turn matches upside down with their aggressive bowling.

Man to man, however, no other side in the competition appear capable of matching the South African combination of Allan Donald, Fanie De Villiers, Shaun Pollock and Brian McMillan. Young Pollock, one of the world's most exciting young fast bowling prospects, some say he's the fastest bowler in the world, will be keenly watched by the critics to see how he fares on the placid wickets of the subcontinent.

"Never make the mistake of writing off the West Indians", is probably the most sensible piece of advice you can offer anyone going into the World Cup. The old firm of Ambrose and Walsh, supported by new partners, can wring life out of the deadest of playing surfaces. Smarting under recent reverses, the West Indians will be thirsting for success in the Cup. With Lara back in the side, their fast men will be bowling with their tails up.

Sri Lanka has a sharp new pace attack consisting of Vaas, Wickremasinghe, and Pushpakumara. While Wickremasinghe came into his own in the WSC matches in Australia after a relatively indifferent Test series, Pushpakumara has impressed one and all with his persistent pace. But their left-handed partner, Chaminda Vaas, has been the pick of the Lankan attack. If I were to pick the one quickie likely to emerge as the strike bowler of the World Cup, I'll put my money on this talented left armer. It will be a shame if the threat of violence denies this fine young athlete the chance to bowl Sri Lanka to glory in the Wills World Cup.

The best of two worlds

By V Ramnarayan

(From Madras  Musings, June 1995)

Jayakrishna Ambati has a string of achievements to his credit, achievements that put him in the prodigy class. This 24-year·old physician, medical scientist, artificial intelligence expert and electronics engineer rolled into one has been recognised as outstanding and lionised in the US where he now lives. 

If on reading of Jayakrishna's exploits. you think they are hard to better, wait till you read about his younger brother's. By now it is common knowledge that 17 -year-old Balamurali Krishna Ambati has become the world's youngest doctor, with honours in all basic sciences, medicine, paediatrics, psychiatry, neurology, emergency medicine, community medicine, ophthalmology, otolaryngology and neurosurgery. Bala has been featured in newspapers and magazines in four continents and appeared in several TV and radio programmes worldwide.

I had the pleasure of meeting the parents of these gifted brothers. To meet proud parents Murali Mohan Rao and Gomathy on their recent visit to Madras was to catch a brief glimpse of the well-directed love and guidance responsible for the growth and development of the two gifted brothers.

A few minutes after I reached their newly built home in Mahalingapuram, where the Ambatis were staying, the family arrived after a hectic round of visits. It was 8.00 p.m. and pitch dark, thanks to a power breakdown. "I thought the power cut was confined to the morning," remarked Bala, innocent of the ways of Tamil Nadu's power supply agency. After a few minutes of desultory conversation, we decided to go ahead with the interview in the dark! Unknown to us, Jayakrishna had gone walkabout, in search of candles, as I learnt later, a search that took him as far as T Nagar.  Bala was by then resigning himself to yet another press interview only to be reassured that I'd talk to his parents. Obviously grateful for this reprieve, he gave a wonderful, boyish smile that said it all.

It is pretty obvious to even the casual bystander that the Ambatis are a closely knit, old-fashioned family where traditional South Indian values are respected. Much of the conversation within the family is in Telugu, without a trace of an American accent. In attire, too, the family is difficult to tell apart from the average Madras family. Murali Mohan Rao takes pride in the way his children have been brought up to be truly Indian in their cultural outlook.

Murali Mohan Rao was the fifth of eight sons born to Ambati Subbaraya Gupta, ICS, the first Indian District Magistrate of Cuddapah District. Ambati senior was an ashtavadhani, or an adept at the simultaneous performance of eight different feats of mental agility. After his schooling at RECC High School, Perambur, Murali Mohan Rao finished his B Tech at IIT Madras in 1969. From then, until his departure for the States in 1980, he taught maths at Voorhees College and CMC School in Vellore, followed by a stint at IIT, Madras. In the US, he studied industrial engineering and operations research.

As Murali Mohan Rao grew up, the atmosphere at home was conducive to learning and academic excellence. Another brother to benefit from this helpful atmosphere was Ramalingeswara Rao,  who recently retired as Deputy Director of Health Services. "He does not even own a house," remarks Murali Mohan Rao, proud of his family's standards of integrity. He strongly believes that the mother's presence at home is vital to the well- being of the children, the reason why his wife Gomathy has not taken up a full-time job, though qualified. "Why should the wives of Indian doctors in the US take up jobs when they are so well off? I call It greed."

Gomathy, who is from Madurai, had a degree in mathematics before she went on to higher studies in Tamil. In the US, she obtained a master's degree in education. She teaches a couple of courses at the University, once she has completed her daily household duties. During the first three years of the Ambatis' stay in the US, it was Gomathy who took care of the boys' educational and development needs at home, while Murali Mohan Rao was settling down in his studies. Jayakrishna was ten and Bala three then.

It was Gomathy who first noticed Bala's precocious talent, his language skills, cognitive ability and mathematical aptitude. Jayakrishna would also participate in honing young Bala's prodigious intelligence and memory. Bala could spell quite well at three and knew the multiplication tables before he was five. Yet the US school system did not permit him to join school until he was six.

It was only after Murali Mohan Rao completed his higher studies and started his teaching career that he started devoting time to Bala's intellectual stimulation. He used his new professional status to repeatedly argue with the administrators to win Bala double promotions.

There were, and still are, several brainstorming sessions in the Ambati home, making learning a pleasurable experience - the word 'fun' is anathema to Murali Mohan Rao. There would be quizzes on maths, physics, the environment and so on, in which all four would take part enthusiastically.

The Ambatis follow a traditional lifestyle at home - respect for elders, humility, our spiritual heritage, discipline are important ingredients. There is much Telugu spoken and an effort to bring the boys up as normal persons. Sport is not ruled out - basketball is a favourite and chess is more than a hobby with both the sons. All four are regular visitors to the Hindu temple where they conduct an Educational Excellence Programme on Saturday afternoons to train middle and high school students to prepare for the National Merit Scholarship and SAT exams.

It is easy to see the close ties of the Ambati family, the parents' affection and pride in their children, tempered by orthodox Hindu parental ideas of discipline. No smoking or alcohol is allowed in the house. The young men are models of good behaviour and excellent manners.

Just as the family was getting ready to leave for elder statesman  C Subramaniam's house for dinner, Jayakrishna returned triumphantly with the candles, to lighten the gloom, but, alas, too late to join the conversation. In a refreshing display of adolescent curiosity, Bala asked me whether I spoke Tamil or Telugu and we exchanged notes on our respective heights. 
I asked him whether he watched the TV serial 'Doogie Howser, MD.', the story of a teenage surgeon much like Bala. He is quick to point out that he has been around longer than the serial. In fact, after graduating in biology at 13, he had declared his intention of completing his medical degree by the time he was 17. The TV serial followed a year later, perhaps even inspired by Bala. Like Doogie Howser, Bala is a brilliant young doctor with a maturity and wisdom far beyond his years. Like Howser, too, he does show flashes of boyish innocence and humour.

Power supply as yet unrestored, I came away seeing in different light the simplicity of a family that finds itself in the limelight, their patience with the irritants of life in Madras after the  luxuries of America, there fierce pride in their Indianness. They appear to have found the right mix of tradition and modernity. They are excellent examples of the merits of the best modern education, aligned with a world-view and nourished by the values of a well-knit, traditional Indian family.