-Karthik Gurumurthy
It is with a heavy heart that I share the news that J. Gokulakrishnan, a dear cricketing friend of many years, passed away this evening. He fell unwell at the gym and left us on his way to the hospital.
Gokul was just eleven months my senior, and I had known him since my playing days in the early ’90s. He was a fine fast bowler for Tamil Nadu, and through all those years he remained the same warm, approachable person.
Despite all his success, he always chose to stay in the backseat, away from the limelight. This evening, too, he slipped away quietly, almost unnoticed, in the backseat of an autorickshaw.
He was to leave this Friday to serve as a Match Referee in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. His brother and former Tamil Nadu Ranji teammate, J. Madanagopal, now an international umpire, was to travel the same day to officiate in the same tournament.
Another exciting chapter had been waiting for him. Just yesterday, he had spoken at length with his brother about an offer to take up a coaching role here in the US. Madanagopal told a friend of mine that Gokul had been approached this week about the role and was visibly excited by it, carefully weighing the pros and cons. With his sons in Class XI and Madanagopal likely to be travelling a lot for umpiring, Gokul’s one worry was who would look after their parents. It was one of the last conversations the two brothers had.
Had things been different, he might soon have left his cricketing friends in India for a while to pursue that dream. Instead, just a day later, he has left all of us, his countless friends across the cricketing world, forever.
Gokul was a gem to nearly every cricketer who knew him. He never said no to anyone who asked for help, and he gave his knowledge freely and generously. He never forgot his roots either: the friends he played alongside as a teenager and the people who stood by him in those early years.
Ever smiling, gentle, and deeply humane, his untimely passing is a profound loss. May his soul rest in peace, and may God give his family the strength to bear this grief.
For those who wish to offer their condolences to the family:
Lavanya Apartment, New No. 20 (Old No. 80)
2nd Main Road, Gandhi Nagar
Adyar, Chennai – 600 020
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