Veteran BCCI Curator PR Viswanathan Steps Down from His Post After a Long Career

P R Viswanathan who was a former BCCI curator for well over a decade retired from his post. He also worked as a member of the committee from the south zone which looked at improving the qualities of pitches and grounds. As he retired from his role Viswanathan spoke with bcci.tv and reflected back on his long career.

Speaking about his initiation as a curator, Viswanathan said, “I was in a business which did not go well. I had a background in Botany and was a post graduate in the subject, so I was doing a bit of landscaping work. At the time Chemplast wanted a ground prepared for them and I took the job. From there on it started. It has been about 25 years now.

“I prepared the grounds for Chemplast, India Cements, MRF, India Pistons etc. After about 10 to 12 grounds, I worked for Andhra Cricket Association. I did the initial work for the new stadium that they have now at Vizag and also Vijayawada. I did a good deal of work for Andhra. Once I took it up seriously, I left all the other things and focused on it,” he added. He also talked about the transition into profession full time.

When asked about his association with BCCI, the former curator said, “I think it was around 2002-03 when New Zealand came to India and there was an ODI to be played a day before Diwali (in Chennai). It had been raining very heavily for more than a week, so I covered the ground completely. From then on I started working with the BCCI.”

Vishwanathan also stated the fact that the work which he did with Mr. Daljit Singh in designing the courses in fulfilling the initiative of his tenure.  “Daljit Singh and I were given the responsibility of conducting segregation courses. We did a lot of training work and conducted three certification courses for curators. We also brought out a manual which has been appreciated by quite a few. As a natural progression from the segregation course, we did a course for Level 1 we brought in a scientific approach. There are quite a few people like Taposh Chatterjee of Rajasthan, Ashish Bhowmick from Tripura who is looking after the East Zone; they are capable people who will take this work forward,” he said.

Vishwanathan said that getting the Chinnaswamy Stadium match ready despite the inclement weather was one of the most memorable events for him. “The match was on 14th and I landed there on the 11th and India were to play South Africa. I had given instructions for rolling but just after two days of rolling, it started raining so nothing could be done about it. We started working but as we would remove the covers, it would start raining. Mr. Brijesh Patel from KSCA who was watching all this said, “Vishy can we do something and cover the ground?” A complete canopy extending almost 20 feet behind the wicket and either side was put up. Then from 1 pm in the afternoon till 10 pm in the night, we moved hot trolleys over the pitch, burnt charcoal, made hot plates and used them for six-seven hours. Then next day we came at 6 AM and the wicket was made. The match referee Jeff Crowe said that it was ready. Unfortunately, day and was rained off.”

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