Mahadevan Sathasivam

Mahadevan "Satha" Sathasivam (Tamil: மகாதேவன் சதாசிவம்) (18 October 1915, Ceylon – 9 July 1977 in Colombo, Sri Lanka), or Satha as he was known, is one of the greatest batsmen from Sri Lankan whom Garry Sobers called "the greatest batsman ever on earth," and Frank Worrell called him "the best batsman he had ever seen".[1] He was the first, and probably the only, man to captain three national teams.[2] Sathasivam played cricket in the 1940s through the 1960s. He was captain of the Ceylon team in 1948, and then captain of the Singapore team, and finally captain of the Malaysian team. He was accused and acquitted of murdering his wife, which gained much attention in Ceylon.[3]

Mahadevan Sathasivam
Personal information
Born(1915-10-18)18 October 1915
Ceylon
Died9 July 1977(1977-07-09) (aged 61)
Colombo
BattingRight-handed
Career statistics
Competition First-class
Matches 11
Runs scored 753
Batting average 41.83
100s/50s 3/3
Top score 215
Balls bowled 84
Wickets 1
Bowling average 41.00
5 wickets in innings 0
10 wickets in match 0
Best bowling 1/8
Catches/stumpings 2/0
Source: Cricinfo, 16 April 2015

Early life and family

Sathasivam was educated at St. Joseph's College and at Wesley College, Colombo. With the on set of World War II in the Far East, he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Ceylon Light Infantry as part of the war time expansion in 1940.[4]

Sathasivam married Paripoornam Anandam Rajendra, younger daughter of Mr and Mrs Ramanathan Rajendra, a granddaughter of Sir Ponnambalam Ramanathan in 1941. Anandam Rajendra inherited substantial assets including half share of the family home "Sukhasthan" at Horton Place, Colombo 7. They had four daughters. The marriage turned out to be a unhappy one with, Anandam Rajendra filling for divorce in 1944 and again in 1951, after he had started an affair with Yvonne Stevenson.[3]

Cricketing career

Sathasivam started his cricketing career in his school days, playing for St. Joseph's and later for Wesley College until 1937. He then played in the club level matches, playing for the Tamil Union Cricket and Athletic Club and later captained its team.[5] He first played for Ceylon in 1945, when international matches started with visiting teams after the end of the war. In 1948, in a controversial decision of the Ceylon Cricket Association selected Mahadeva Sathasivam of the Tamil Union to lead the All-Ceylon XI team.[6]

Sathasivam murder case

In 1951, Sathasivam was arrested and accused of murdering his wife Paripoornam Ananda Rajendra, who was found dead at her garage adjacent to the kitchen on 9 October 1951. He was acquitted after a twenty-month sensational trial, having spent twenty-months in remand prison. He stood trial before a special jury at the Assizes Court of the Western Province, presided over by Justice Noel Gratiaen. He was acquitted by a unanimous verdict and three prosecution witnesses (a cab service manager, the driver of the cab and Mrs Sathasivam's legal advisor's son) were sentenced to jail for perjury in addition to the conviction of their servant, 18 year old Hewa Marambage William.

Sathasivam's defense team was led by Dr Colvin R de Silva and since the case had contradictory circumstantial and scientific evidence, the defense flew in renowned forensic pathologist Sir Sydney Smith from the United Kingdom, to aid in the case. Smith focused on the establishment of time of death based on the frequency of body temperature loss, degree of rigor mortis and digestion pattern of her stomach and intestine contents. Then he focused on the myriad injuries on the body and the condition of her dress, which contradicted the statement of William. The jury deliberated only a little and acquitted Sathasivam and convicted William.[7][3][8]

Later life

He later married Yvonne Stevenson in London, they had three children. Sathasivam settled in Singapore where he captained its cricket team, and then later, after that island's merger with its northern neighbour, Sathasivam led the Malaysian team as well.[9][10][11]

References & notes
  1. Gunasekara, C.H. (1996) The Willow Quartette, Colombo: Sumathi Publishers, p. 57
  2. "The story of De Saram and Satha: batting geniuses who went to jail". The Cricket Monthly. Retrieved 15 May 2019.
  3. Perera. "Famous cricketer acquitted of murdering wife after long ordeal 60th anniversary of Sathasivam murder trial". Island. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
  4. "Ceylon Light Infantry". Retrieved 9 March 2020.
  5. Epasinghe, Premasara. "Mahadevan Sathasivam Cricket Legend of Sri Lanka". The Island. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
  6. "Mahadeva Sathasivam, playboy cricketers & the book of Guinness" by Michael Roberts Cricket Online 12 Oct. 2004 Archived 18 October 2004 at the Wayback Machine
  7. "Sathasivam murder 70 years on". K.K.S.Perera for the Island (දිවයින - සී/ස උපාලි පුවත්පත් සමාගම). 10 October 2021. Retrieved 6 June 2023.
  8. "Mostly Murder: Sir Sydney Smith's Autobiography". Kessinger Publishing LLC., Montana, USA. 5 June 2023. Retrieved 6 June 2023.
  9. "Sathasivam the batting maestro by Edmund Dissanayake; M.Sathasivam by Christie Seneviratne; M.Sathasivam - 'Not Guilty' from the Sunday Island 11/4/04 Wesley College Colombo". Archived from the original on 4 February 2012. Retrieved 23 June 2006.
  10. "A Sri Lankan master" by Sriram Veera 3 December 2005 in CricInfo SriLanka; reprinted at uk.sports.yahoo.com
  11. "The Finest at Chepauk" by S. Muthiah[Usurped!] The Hindu 7 Nov. 2005;
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