Published: January 19, 2026 at 3:35 pm
Recently, a picture went viral on social media where former India left-arm spinner SL Venkatapathy Raju was seen chatting with New Zealand pace legend Richard Hadlee while Sachin Tendulkar was sleeping on the ground in the Hamilton dressing room in New Zealand. Photographs are said to be worth more than a thousand words. But in this artificial intelligence (AI) age, AI generated pictures are not only generating a lot of curiosity but at times creating confusion too. Raju’s picture was an AI generated one, but it got the venue wrong – it said M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.
Raju, who played 28 Tests and 53 ODIs, had a hearty laugh looking at the AI generated image. “The person in the picture is not me and does not look like me, rather it has features of late Raman Lamba. Interesting indeed. But the incident is true. It happened during the tour of New Zealand in 1994 where we played one Test in that series. Play was stopped because of steady drizzle and the temperature dipped to 7 to 8 degrees. It was very, very cold and the chilly winds did not help us either,” Raju said.
“We were in the dressing room and suddenly Sir Richard appeared. We were caught unawares by this surprise visit and luckily, I was there too and he immediately recognized me. He was then a commentator and brand ambassador of a company. He wanted a chat with Sachin but since he was sleeping, Richard did not want to disturb,” Raju said.
In his 11 years of international cricket (1990 to 2001), Venkatapathi Raju had the habit of cultivating friends
“Incidentally, I faced the first three balls of my Test career against this New Zealand great during my 1990 debut series. I came as a nightwatchman. I somehow managed to remain unbeaten as all the deliveries hit my thigh pad. He was unplayable sometimes. Apart from swinging and generating good pace that too in New Zealand conditions, he was also very accurate. It was a joy to watch him in action from the non-striker’s end, but he was a very dangerous customer with the ball,’’ recalled the 56-year-old spinner. “He joked with me saying: ‘I know I could not get you out’.”
Hadlee had a great admiration for Sachin. “He said he first saw Sachin in action in a double-wicket tournament in Bombay (Mumbai) and he immediately caught his attention with his technique and stroke play. He simply said Sachin was brilliant. Since those days there were not many restrictions for the media, a few of the Indian photographers took that photograph and there was no social media also to make it viral. But there was terrific camaraderie among the players. It was all fun,’’ said Raju.
In his 11 years of international cricket (1990 to 2001), Raju had the habit of cultivating friends. He said this habit was because of his boarding school days at HPS, Ramanathapur. “The boarding school helped me in cultivating new friends.’’
Raju was friendly with foreign players too
Raju was friendly with foreign players too. “My first friend was Chris Cairns who was a member of the New Zealand team. We gelled very well. During that time, Chris’ father Lance was having his benefit match. They wanted leg spinner (Narendra) Hirwani, who had made a name for himself by taking 16 wickets against the West Indies in the 1987-88 Test at Madras (Chennai). Since Hirwani was nervous and not fluent in English, Cairns wanted me to accompany him and that is how I could make a lot of friends on that tour. We travelled to a small place to play the exhibition match.”
My first friend was Chris Cairns who was a member of the New Zealand team. We gelled very well, says Raju
Raju also had a very good friendship with the late Martin Crowe. “He was my first Test wicket. He was very warm, but it was a big challenge to bowl to him. His footwork and technique were brilliant. He had all the strokes in his armory.”’
Much before he made his Test debut, Raju had once bowled in the nets for the New Zealand team in 1987. “John Bracewell saw me bowl at the nets against their team at the Lal Bahadur Stadium. He remembered this incident when I met him during India’s tour to New Zealand. ‘Hey, young Ravi Shastri, were you the same bowler who bowled at us in 1987?’ They thought I was copying Shastri’s action,” Raju said.
I bid goodbye to my career with a lot of cherished memories, says Raju
Raju, who has a very warm and affectionate demeanor, developed a good friendship with South African Brian McMillan, who nicknamed him `Mr Muscles’. This has struck with him till date. “McMillan playfully coined that name because of my skinny physique then and it stuck as a popular moniker,” Raju recalled with a chuckle.
Raju also spoke of his memories with two Australians – seam bowler Merv Hughes and batter Mark Waugh. “I used to be quite friendly with the huge Merv. He would allow me to tweak his moustache. It was all in fun.
Little did I know that I would play my last Test match and Mark Waugh would be my last International Test wicket,” Raju said poignantly
“I also enjoyed the company of Mark. But at the same time, I had the privilege to dismiss him on a few occasions. I remember I beat Mark by flight and turn at the Melbourne Cricket Stadium. The second time was at Eden Gardens in the famous 2001 VVS Laxman Test. Incidentally, it was my last Test wicket. I beat him with an armer. In fact, I accidentally bumped into him on a flight for the Kolkata Test. When I got a call to play in that Test, I was travelling to Indore to play in the Ranji match against Madhya Pradesh. I got the news when the AP Express reached Nagpur. From there I travelled by car to Delhi where I took the flight to Kolkata. The Australian team were on that same plane. He saw me and put a big thumbs up. Little did I know that I would play my last Test match and he would be my last International Test wicket,” he said poignantly.
Raju concluded our tete-e-tete with: “I bid goodbye to my career with a lot of cherished memories.’’
