Srinivas Venkataraghavan

Padmakar Shivalkar and Rajinder Goel, who are honoured by the BCCI this week, were so much more than hard-luck stories

Life is endlessly touched by the game when you're the child of a cricket-crazy parent

Had India pulled off a remarkable victory at The Oval in 1979, Sunil Gavaskar's 221 would be up there as the greatest Test innings

What sort of interminable arguments have you had with your friends and relatives about cricketers?

For much of the 1960s and '70s, India's bowling attack consisted almost entirely of spinners who were varied and highly skilled. Just how good were they?

India came to England in 1971 with a record of no wins and 15 defeats in their 19 Tests... but all that changed at The Oval

A poor tournament for India's spinners but a good one for two New Zealander and a Sri Lankan in that team's first World Cup

The Indian board (BCCI) has decided to "infuse new, young blood" in its team of umpires to improve the standard of umpiring in the country

The track for the Ranji Trophy final in 1972-73 was vicious, and then there was Shivalkar

The board has also arranged a six-day training camp for 105 Indian umpires with Simon Taufel at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bangalore

India's wretched series against England in 1974, a Test whitewash, internal rows, a slighted high commissioner, and an opener in court

Partab Ramchand on India's miserable tour of England in 1974

The Indian board has decided to introduce the concept of an umpire's coach from the forthcoming domestic season

Seven former Indian captains - Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev, Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi, Ravi Shastri, Kris Srikkanth, S Venkataraghavan and Chandu Borde - met the BCCI bigwigs to suggest ways to move forward from the World Cup debacle

The extreme developments of the last couple of days had prompted the Board of Control for Cricket in India to take no chances with the high-powered meetings set to take place in Mumbai on April 6 and 7

Hanumant Singh, a batsman who played 14 Test matches for India between 1964 and 1969, has died in Mumbai at the age of 67. He was suffering from Hepatitis B and dengue, which led to kidney and lung complications

The Indian board (BCCI) has introduced three new umpires to the ICC's International Panel

The International Cricket Council's proposal to have lbw decisions referred to third umpires by batsmen has evoked a strong reaction from S Venkatraghavan, the former Indian umpire

Memories of India's 1970-71 tour of the Caribbean from Ajit Wadekar