Photo via Hindustan Times

Hit a 56-ball ton, man behind CSK's $1.5m Dhoni bid, shaped Dravid; played only 7 ODIs, committed suicide amid debt

Born in Madras in 1961, Vakkadai Biksheswaran Chandrasekhar took a non-traditional path to top-tier cricket, studying mathematics and engineering before making his first-class entry at age 25 with an 81-run innings for Tamil Nadu against Hyderabad in the 1986-87 Ranji Trophy. The following season, he amassed 551 runs across eight games to steer Tamil Nadu to the title, highlighted by 160 against Uttar Pradesh in the quarter-finals and 89 against Railways in an innings-and-144-run final victory.

He then entered the record books during the Irani Trophy at Chepauk, recovering from a golden duck to hammer 119 off 78 deliveries against an attack featuring Narendra Hirwani. Reaching three figures in just 56 balls, he equalled Rajesh Borah's mark for the fastest first-class century by an Indian—a joint record that stood until compiled a 48-ball ton in 2016—propelling Tamil Nadu past a 340-run chase with three wickets in hand.