Three Puducherry cricketers suspended for assault on U-19 coach, face attempt to murder charges
3 min readApr 23, 2026 10:19 AM IST Following charges of assault on Under-19 coach S Venkataraman, three Puducherry cricketers have been suspended from “all cricketing activities” by the Cricket Association of Puducherry (CAP) on Wednesday. The local cricketers – J Karthiyeyan, A Aravindaraj, and S Santhosh Kumaran – allegedly assaulted coach Venkataraman over their non-inclusion in the team for the national T20 tournament (Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy) in December 2025. As reported by this publication earlier, Venkataraman had suffered a head injury and a shoulder fracture, following which an FIR was filed against the three cricketers at the Sedurapet police station. In his complaint to the police, Venkataraman, a former CAP Secretary, named Karthikeyan, a senior player who has appeared in six matches across formats, Aravindaraj and Kumaran, both of whom have represented Puducherry in Ranji Trophy matches. He also accused G Chandran, Secretary of the Bharathidasan Pondicherry Cricketers’ Forum, of instigating the attack. An investigation by The Indian Express, published in December 2025, revealed how the CAP administration was systematically denying adequate representation …
