Subramaniam Badrinath an unlucky cricketer who born in the wrong era

Subramaniam Badrinath was a run machine in Indian Domestic cricket. Despite that, he is another most unlucky cricketer. Badri was a middle-order batsman with rock-solid technique. Because of his consistency, he was named “Mr Dependable” in Tamil Nadu cricket. Badri was an excellent fielder at the point and elsewhere in the circle.

S Badrinath: Born in the wrong era

Early Life of Badrinath

Badrinath was born on 30th August 1980 in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. Badrinath was a big Sachin Tendulkar fan when he was in early childhood. He started playing cricket, but his batting style was more like Rahul Dravid.

Badrinath in Domestic Cricket

In the year 2000, he made his first-class debut for Tamil Nadu. With his performance, Badri became a crucial part of the Tamil Nadu batting lineup. But he was not able to attract much attention until 2005-2006. Badrinath came to national prominence during the 2005-06 Ranji Trophy season, scoring 636 runs in seven matches at an average of just under 80. Amol Muzumdar scored 36 runs more than him, but he played one more game. He was appointed the captaincy of Tamil Nadu as a reward for his performance.

In comparison, Badri scored 436 runs at an average of approximately 50 in the 2006-07 domestic season. But in the 2007-08 Ranji Trophy season, he scored 659 runs at a strike rate of 65.90. 

Badrinath, however, did not make many in the 2013/14 Ranji Trophy season and was inconsistent in other first-class games as well. In 2014, he prefers to play for Vidarbha. But a few years later, Hyderabad appointed him as the captain of the team. When he scored a century (134) for Hyderabad against Chhattisgarh at Valsad in November last year, he became another cricketer to achieve 10,000 first-class runs in the Indian Domestic Cricket. Badrinath is the 47th Indian batsman who scored 10000 first-class runs. Badrinath finished the Ranji Trophy as the sixth-highest run-scorer with 7850 runs.

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The majority of which came during a 14-year tenure with Tamil Nadu that began in 2000-01. In 2002-03, 2003-04, and 2011-12, he was a key member of the Tamil Nadu teams that reached the Ranji Trophy finals. His career-best 250 vs Mumbai at Bandra Kurla Complex was the foundation for Tamil Nadu’s remarkable turnaround in 2009. On day one, when TN had been reduced to 50 for five before lunch, Badrinath led them to 501, and they ended up with a first-inning lead.

S Badrinath played 145 first-class matches and scored 10245 runs with an average of 54.49. In his List A career, he played 144 matches and scored 4146.

Badrinath in Test Cricket

Despite being a domestic cricketing legend, Badrinath has never had a bit of good luck. He spent the majority of his cricket career in a time when the Indian middle-order had grates such as Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, and VVS Laxman. It was always difficult to break into a side packed with those names. Subramaniam Badrinath made his debut in test cricket against South Africa at Nagpur on February six, 2010. In that match, Wicket-keeper Wriddhiman Saha also made his test debut.

That match was a disaster for India. Indian batsman was clueless before the pace and swing of Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel. But Subramaniam Badrinath showed his class. With his perfect technique and composer, Badri played 139 balls and scored 56 runs. It was the second-highest run of the first innings. But in the second innings, he scored only six. Although his 56 was an inning of many promises.

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After that, he had played only one more test. The next test match of that series was at Eden Gardens Kolkata. India won the test. But Badri scored only one. 

He was not selected for the following Test tour of Sri Lanka. Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina preferred to select for the test team. After that, he never played a Test match for India.

Badrinath in ODI

He first made an impression on the national stage in 2007, when he scored runs for India A on their tours to Zimbabwe and Kenya. He subsequently scored 200 against a visiting South African A team. Because of that performance, Badrinath was first time selected for the first three One-Day Internationals against Australia. However, he did not play a single match. 

When India toured Sri Lanka in 2008, he finally got his chance to play his first ODI on 20th August 2008. He went in to bat when India was in a tight chase and instantly put his experience to good use, forming a match-winning partnership with MS Dhoni to get India home. Although the pitch was difficult to bat on, Badri fought his way to an unbeaten 27 off 57 balls. In that series, Badri played two more ODIs before being suddenly dropped from Team India.

In between, Badrinath led India to victory in Brisbane’s Emerging Players event in 2009. Badrinath was outstanding as a captain on that tour. He also contributed admirably with the bat, scoring a match-winning not-out 81 in one game. 

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Despite the harsh dropping, Badri continued to fight in the domestic circuit and, through regular performances, found his way into the West Indies squad for the 2011 tour. But he underperformed with the bat in the three ODI opportunities he had. Badri played his last ODI in that tour. 

Badrinath played only seven ODI for India and scored 79 runs. 

Badrinath in T20

Badrinath played only one T20 international for India. That match was against West Indies in Port of Spain on June 4, 2011. Badrinath scored 43 runs in 37 balls. An interesting fact is that he was named Man of the Match of that match. Despite that, Badri was never selected for any T20 Matches.  

Badrinath in IPL

Badrinath was a key member of the Chennai Super Kings team during all five editions of the IPL. In a lineup full of power hitters, he usually came to his team’s rescue and provides a much-needed steadying influence. In the IPL, he has scored over 1000 runs, suggesting that he is not a one-dimensional player.

In IPL 2011, Badri had success with Chennai Super Kings, scoring 396 runs as a floater in 13 innings, including five fifties and six not-outs, at an average of 56.57 and a strike rate of 127. Between 2008 and 2013, he appeared in 114 games for CSK. He was an integral part of Chennai Super King’s back-to-back IPL titles in 2010 and 2011.

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But he had a good 2013/14 session in domestic cricket. So, he did not receive an IPL contract for 2014. It was shocking for Badri. Who called it “a great blow to my chest.” In 2015 Badrinath was picked by Royal Challengers Bangalore(RCB). But he did not get the chance to play a single match for RCB. His contact with Royal Challengers Bangalore was £29,400 (£3,000,000) per year.

Badri played a total of 95 matches in IPL and scored 1441 runs. His IPL highest score is 71.

 Retirement of Badrinath

S. Badrinath announced his retirement from all forms of cricket just after a day of his 38th birthday. On his retirement, Badrinath said, “it was a difficult call for me, but having turned 38 yesterday, I have decided that It is the right time to make the call.” Badri played 17 years of professional cricket.

He had all quality to play international cricket for many years. But he played the game in such a period when the Indian middle-order batting lineup was packed with some all-time grates like Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, and VVS Laxman. So Badrinath did not get enough opportunity. When there was an opportunity, he was ignored by the selectors. So, he ended his career as a domestic giant. Subramaniam Badrinath truly is one of the most unlucky cricketers of Indian Cricket.

Team Played

India, Chennai Super Kings, India Red, Board Presidents XI, Tamil Nadu, India Blue, Rest of India, India A, Vidarbha, Royal Challengers Bangalore, Karaikudi Kaalai, Hyderabad, Maratha Arabians, India Legends