S Thyagarajan: Remembering the meticulous chronicler hockey and cricket deserved

The game of cricket has been blessed with some fine writers mdash wordsmiths who can paint a picture of a match to make you feel as if you are sitting beside her or him witnessing the ebb and flow of the game and the atmosphere that comes with itOften these writers get their share of deserved kudos while others who toil away as well but for another sport are only read and donrsquot get spoken about by the public respect from the practitioners of the sport they cover notwithstandingAs an example Irsquom thinking about S Thyagarajan the former Deputy Sports Editor of The Hindu who passed away in Chennai on Monday aged 85Only a certain section of Mumbaikars read The Hindu newspaper but The Sportstar magazine provided us an opportunity to read Thyagarajanrsquos hockey reports If there was a hockey story published it was a given that the byline at the end would be hisA couple of exIndia hockey players who I broke the news of his death to were deeply saddened ldquoHe covered most of our hockey events at home and abroad He had good knowledge about the game Will miss his coveragerdquo said Merwyn Fernandis His fellow 1980 Moscow Olympics gold medallist MM Somaya said ldquoHe covered hockey over many decades very knowledgeable and insightful in his coverage His contribution to hockey will be long rememberedrdquoFellow journalists were no less glowing ldquoS Thyagarajan or lsquoMr Trsquo was a man of precision He was as immaculately dressed as his writing Can I call him a mentor Yes He helped me navigate the intricacies of hockey writing and the inner workings of the federation IHF If six matches were played in a day at a major championship he watched all six minute by minute half after half While the rest of us would be halfway through our copy he would already be finishedrdquo wrote Sundeep Misra who covered hockey for this paperMany a time three deaths come close on the heels of each other It held true for journalist Anand Philar ldquoItrsquos been a difficult few weeks with the passing away of a few people I knew mdash JK Tyre motorsport supremo Sanjay Sharma Hardy and his understudy Hari Singh undoubtedly one of the finest rally drivers India has produced and today Subramanyam Thyagarajan 85 of The Hindu I covered many hockey tournaments both in India and abroad with Thyagu back in the day We competed fiercely for stories but always had a cuppa and a meal together after work while on assignmentsrdquo Philar wrote on Facebook on MondayThyagarajan reported on some of Indiarsquos lowest moments The 17 loss to Pakistan in the 1982 Asian Games final was surely one of them Of one Indian player he wrote in The Sportstar ldquoHe presented a pathetic picture as the Pakistanis pounded the citadelrdquo And when the Indian team wasted opportunities during their gold medal defence at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics he wrote ldquoIf hockey is mere aesthetics India will certainly be a top contender But here the team despite a fine start progressively lost the edge and played incredibly poor hockey win against the West Germans when a win was essentialrdquoThe hockey officials in Los Angeles were not spared ldquoThe Indian officials did not cover themselves with any credit by refusing to meet the media men after the match against West Germany And these are the men who quibble that media neglects hockey in Indiardquo Thyagarajan wroteAfter Mumbai created a buzz by winning the Nationals in 1989 ahead of Indiarsquos forthcoming challenge at the following yearrsquos international events Thyagarajan put things in perspective ldquoIt is naive to assume that there was a cornucopia of talent during the National What should however be evaluated is the form of a few that would serve the Indian team This should be balanced against the showing of some who have donned the national colours in recent monthsrdquo he wrote in The SportstarThyagarajan also understood the pressures sportspersons endure and didnrsquot go after them for their transgressions In the same article he made a case for Mumbairsquos Mark Patterson the goalkeeper now settled in Australia ldquoNo discussion will be complete if it does not take into account the calibre of a player like Mark Patterson of Bombay Maybe he had made certain intemperate remarks But they must be judged from the background of frustration and disappointment that the youthful player was subjected to on return from Seoul Olympics 1988 Why should a goalkeeper of such proven ability be sidelined in a junior competition within a monthrdquoI had the pleasure of meeting Thyagarajan for the first time during the 1999 India vs Pakistan cricket Test at Chepauk He walked into the Chidambaram Stadium press box without a fuss took his seat and complimented a colleague who was also covering the Test on his reportThyagarajanrsquos forte was hockey but he knew his cricket and edited the Indian Cricket annual from 1980 to 1989That death of Indiarsquos answer to Wisden is a big loss and so is Thyagarajanmiddayrsquos Deputy Editor Clayton Murzello is a purist with an open stanceHe tweets ClaytonMurzello Send your feedback to mailbagmiddaycomThe views expressed in this column are the individualrsquos and donrsquot represent those of the paper