Biography
Aneil Rajah was exposed to cricket by his father, Tanglal, who was the chairman of the St. Augustine South Village Council’s cricket team – the first team for which Rajah ever played.
Tanglal taught his son the basics of the sport from a very young age and, before he knew it, the young Rajah developed a passion for cricket. The father and son would regularly make the trek down to a small ground at the University of the West Indies (UWI), St. Augustine campus to work on some of his skills.
Rajah played schools’ cricket while attending both Tunapuna Hindu Primary and HillviewCollege. He played the role of opening batsman and wowed spectators with the level of skill he displayed even at such a young age.
When the cricket season was over, however, Rajah would gear up for the football season. The former Queen’s Park Club member equally loved football with an immense passion and participated in division II of the Nautico national minor football league for a few years. Rajah, who also played football for Queen’s Park as a forward, would have pursued national careers in both of these popular sports if he had had the opportunity to do so.
Rajah made his debut for the senior team of Trinidad and Tobago (T&T), in a Geddes Grant/Harrison Line Trophy 50-Over match against Barbados on March 26, 1980. Although he was only able to score 15 runs in that match, T&T still beat the Bajans by four wickets.
The following month, Rajah made his First Class debut for T&T in a Shell Shield four-day clash against Jamaica at the Queen’s Park Oval, Port of Spain. The left-handed batsman did not get much better results there either, scoring 11 and 18 runs in the first and second innings respectively..
Determined to prove his worth and remain on the national team, Rajah intensified his training in order to step up his game, and he did just that when he was selected to play in the 1981 Shell Shield tournament. The former HillviewCollege student blasted his first half-century ( 50 runs) against Jamaica at Chedwin Park, Jamaica, in January.
In 1982, it seemed like a case of déjà vu when Rajah blasted another half century (52 runs) against the Jamaicans in the Shell Shield, this time at the Queen’s Park Oval, Trinidad and Tobago.
The next two years proved to be the most memorable in Rajah’s career as he scored three remarkable First Class centuries. His first century (109 runs) was made while playing for North and East Trinidad, in a three-day match against South and Central Trinidad, from January 7 – 9, 1983.
And in 1984, Rajah continued his relentless batting form by smashing an unbeaten 141 runs against the Leeward Islands in the Shell Shield tournament, followed by a superb 100 runs in a four-day match against the touring Australians.
Rajah was a permanent fixture of the national senior team for an impressive nine consecutive years from 1980 – 1988, a feat of which few players can boast.
1988 was the last year Rajah wore the national colors; his highlight of that year being a well-played 56 against Guyana, in the Geddes Grant/Harrison Line Trophy 50-Over match, at Kayman Sankar Cricket Ground, Guyana on February 3.
Following his retirement from national cricket, Rajah qualified himself as a junior and senior level coach through the West Indies Cricket Board. He had several coaching stints including: a Coca Cola Youth Development Programme (1990), the Trinidad and Tobago Under-19 team (1997 – 1998) and Moosai Cricket Club.
Rajah, who now serves as technical advisor at Moosai, also coached the local club to two national titles.
In 1996, Rajah picked up radio commentary, upon the advice of talk show host and cricket commentator, Fazeer Mohammed, who met the former cricketer at a function at which he was the feature speaker. Rajah heeded Mohammed’s advice and qualified himself as a certified broadcaster through the Institute of Broadcasting Careers in Port-of-Spain. He has done freelance commentary for several media companies including 99.1 Talk City, World Indian Network Television (WINTV) and Caribbean New Media Group (CNMG).
