Former commentator B Alaganan dies

B Alaganan, who captained Madras (now Tamil Nadu) to their maiden Ranji Trophy title in 1955, has died aged 87. He played six first-class games between 1946 and 1955, batting in the middle order, and was later a well-known radio commentator.

Alaganan served as assistant manager on India's tours to New Zealand and West Indies in 1975-76, and had a stint as selector too. He was also involved in the administration of the game in Tamil Nadu, serving as TNCA vice-president between 1961 to 1986 before taking over as president between 1988 and 1993.

WV Raman, the former opener who captained Tamil Nadu when Alaganan was TNCA president, remembered him fondly. "He was a rare kind of administrator, not the sort who thought he was doing the players a favour," Raman told ESPNcricinfo. "Being a cricketer himself, he could see things from a player's point of view. He was also a very approachable person, and always looked to help the boys out. A great quality in him was that he always wanted to serve the game."

The TNCA praised Alaganan in its condolence note. "Alaganan was a very popular personality in the field of Tamil Nadu cricket," TNCA joint secretary G Natarajan said. "It will not be an exaggeration to call him the 'Prince of Tamil Nadu cricket' because he was one in every sense of the term. His passing away has robbed the TNCA of a senior statesman and it will be a long time before we can recover from this loss."