Venatappa Muddiah

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Venatappa Muddiah India (IND)

Batting style	Right-hand bat
Bowling type	Right-arm off-break, Right-arm medium pace
	Tests	First-class
Matches	2	61
Runs scored	11	805
Batting average	5.50	13.87
100s/50s	-/-	-/4
Top score	11	67
Balls bowled	318	9948
Wickets	3	175
Bowling average	44.66	23.76
5 wickets in innings	-	10
10 wickets in match	-	1
Best bowling	2/40	8/54
Catches/stumpings	-/-	62/-
Test debut: 12 December 1959 Last Test: 16 December 1960 Source: [1]

Venatappa Musandra Muddiah pronunciation (help·info) (born June 8, 1929, Bangalore, Karnataka) is a former Indian cricketer who played in 2 Tests from 1959 to 1960.

Muddiah came up through the Mysore University and Mysore State 'B' team. He joined the Indian Air Force in 1948, but was soon found 'unfit for flying'. He left the Air Force and represented Mysore in 1951-52 but was recalled to the IAF as an Air Traffic Controller in the next year. He went on to become a Wing Commander before taking voluntary retirement in 1979.

Muddiah started off a batsman, then became a medium pacer and finally an off-spinner. He retained his fifteen step runup even while bowling spin. He had a great start to his first class career when he took 8 for 54 for Services against Southern Punjab in 1949. But for most of his career he had to live in the shadow of Ghulam Ahmed who was the primary Indian off spinner at the time. Muddiah was not selected to the Indian team till Ghulam retired in 1959.

He toured England in 1959, took thirty wickets in first class matches but did not appear in a Test. He failed to take a wicket on Test debut against Australia at Delhi in 1959-60. In his only other appearance, against Pakistan a year later, he took the wickets of Mushtaq Mohammad, Hanif Mohammad and Imtiaz Ahmed and had Wallis Mathias dropped at short-leg by Polly Umrigar. He took 175 wickets in his first class career that lasted until 1962.

Muddiah had his benefit match in 1980. The Government of Karnataka provided him with five acres of land. Muddiah has two daughters and a son who is a lieutenant colonel in the Army.