Chandra Nayudu
Born1933
Indore, Indore State, British India
Died4 April 2021 (aged 88)
Indore, Madhya Pradesh, India
Occupation(s)Sports commentator, cricketer, professor

Chandra Nayudu (1933 – 4 April 2021) was an Indian cricket commentator, cricketer, professor, and author. She was India's first female cricket commentator, as well as one of India's earliest woman cricketers.[1][2][3]

Life and family

Chandra Nayudu was born in 1933 in a Telugu-speaking Kapu family.[4][5][6][7] Her father, C. K. Nayudu, was a well-known cricketer and the captain of India's first Test cricket team.[8][3] She was the youngest of the three daughters of C. K. Nayudu from his first wife.[9] Her uncle C. S. Nayudu also played for India, while her nephew Vijay Nayudu was a first-class cricketer.[8][10] Her ancestors hailed from Machilipatnam town in Andhra Pradesh.[11][12]

Career

Nayudu graduated with a degree in English, and taught English at a government college in Indore, Madhya Pradesh.[3] Nayudu competed briefly in domestic women's cricket, leading the first Uttar Pradesh women's cricket team,[13] and played cricket for her college, before taking up cricket commentary in the 1970s.[10] She was India's first female cricket commentator.[1][2][3] She began her career in commentary in a match between the touring Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) vs. Bombay in the 1976–77 season, and continued to comment for domestic and international matches in Hindi and English.[14] She was also a commentator during the English team's tour of India in 1979-1980 for India's public broadcaster, All India Radio,[15] and later recorded her experiences in cricket commentary for an interview with cricket historian David Rayvern Allen, archived with Lord's.[13] According to Nayudu, she was the first female international cricket commentator, preceding an Australian woman commentator.[13] In an interview with ESPNcricinfo, she stated that her interest in cricket commentary began as a way of honoring her father's achievements in cricket.[16] In 1982, she was invited to the Golden Jubilee Test Match between India and England.[17]

She was a life member of the Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association, and undertook several efforts to promote women's cricket in the region, including establishing an inter-university tournament.[3] According to her nephew, former cricketer Vijay Nayudu, she created several trophies in memory of her parents for cricket tournaments, including the presentation of a silver bat to the Cricket Club of India, and a collegiate memorial trophy for her mother.[2] Her last posting was as a principal in early 1990 at the Government Girls PG College in Indore.[3] In 1995, she published a memoir of her father titled C.K. Nayudu: A Daughter Remembers.[14]

Death

Nayudu lived at Manorama Ganj in Indore, close to the Holkar Stadium, where her father frequently played.[1] She passed away in Indore on 4 April 2021 at the age of 88.[2]

Publications

  • Chandra K. Nayudu, C.K. Nayudu: A Daughter Remembers (New Delhi, Rupa Publications 1995), ISBN 9788171672837

References

  1. 1 2 3 Dani, Bipin (5 April 2021). "India's first woman commentator Chandra Nayudu no more". Mid-Day.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Chandra Nayudu, regarded as India's first female cricket commentator, passes away". ANI News. 4 April 2021. Retrieved 6 December 2021.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 TNN (5 April 2021). "India's first female cricket commentator Chandra Nayudu passes away". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 5 April 2021. Retrieved 6 December 2021.
  4. ↑ M. L. Kantha Rao (July 1999), A Study of the Socio-Political Mobility of the Kapu Caste in Modern Andhra. University of Hyderabad. Chapter 6. p. 301–303. hdl:10603/25437
  5. ↑ A. Vijaya Kumari; Sepuri Bhaskar (1998). Social Change Among Balijas: Majority Community of Andhra Pradesh. M.D. Publications. p. 14. ISBN 978-81-7533-072-6.
  6. ↑ Singh, Gurdeep (1966). Cricket in Northern India. Cosmo Publications. pp. 61, 62.
  7. ↑ Mukherji, Raju (2005). Cricket in India: Origin and Heroes. UBS Publishers' Distributors. p. 13. ISBN 978-81-7476-508-6.
  8. 1 2 "C. K. Nayudu Profile". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 6 December 2021.
  9. ↑ "Chandra Nayudu had more knowledge than us players: Edulji". Sify. 6 April 2021. Archived from the original on 26 March 2022. Retrieved 14 April 2023.
  10. 1 2 PTI. "CK Nayudu's Daughter, Commentator Chandra Nayadu Dies". Outlook India. Archived from the original on 8 May 2021. Retrieved 6 December 2021.
  11. ↑ Nayudu, Chandra (1995). C.K. Nayudu, a Daughter Remembers. Rupa. p. 3. ISBN 978-81-7167-283-7.
  12. ↑ Naidu, T. Appala (29 June 2018). "Row over C.K. Nayudu's statue". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 11 April 2023.
  13. 1 2 3 "Chandra Nayudu interviewed by David Rayvern Allen". Lord's Cricket Ground. Retrieved 6 December 2021.
  14. 1 2 Dani, Bipin (5 April 2021). "World's first ever woman commentator Chandra Nayudu no more". Deccan Chronicle. Retrieved 6 December 2021.
  15. ↑ Ugra, Sharda. "Girls aloud". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 6 December 2021.
  16. ↑ "FACE-TO-FACE". static.espncricinfo.com. Retrieved 6 December 2021.
  17. ↑ "The First Lady of Indian Cricket". Paperclip. 1 April 2022. Retrieved 14 April 2023.
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