Chennai, August 17
Former India opener and national selector VB Chandrasekhar committed suicide over debts, the police said, ruling out speculation that he died after suffering a cardiac arrest.
According to a senior police official, Chandrasekhar ended his life by hanging himself at his house in the city on Thursday evening due to debts, a day after it was reported that his death was the result of a cardiac arrest. “He was under a lot of stress due to the debts incurred,” the police official added.
The former Indian opener owned a team (VB Kanchi Veerans) in the Tamil Nadu Premier League, the fourth edition of which concluded on Thursday. “He was under a lot of stress due to debts but it has also come to light that his health was deteriorating and he had become very frail,” a source said.
“The Tamil Nadu cricket fraternity is in a state of shock as he always shared a close relationship with former BCCI president N Srinivasan. He was instrumental in getting MS Dhoni to Chennai Super Kings,” the source added.
The right-hander, who was only six days short of his 58th birthday, is survived by his wife and two daughters.
Chandrasekhar played seven ODIs between 1988 and 1990, scoring only 88 runs, but at the domestic level, he was prolific for a few seasons, aggregating 4,999 runs in 81 games with a highest score of 237*.
A qualified engineer, VB, as he was popularly known in the cricketing circles, was a member of the state team that won the Ranji Trophy in 1987-88. The cricketing fraternity across the country was shocked to learn about Chandrasekhar’s death. Chennai Super Kings, for which Chandrasekhar was director-operations and a selector, said Chandrasekhar was “one of the main architects behind CSKs strong foundation and brand of cricket.” “VB Chandrasekhar’s contribution to TN cricket as a player, mentor and official is immeasurable. He was an integral part of the Super Kings family and it is truly a personal loss to all of us,” the CSK said on its Twitter handle.
