Venkatraman was born on 7 September 1958 in Bombay and brought up in Calcutta.
[1] He played as an attacking left-handed batsman for Bengal and East Zone, appearing in 41 first-class and 8 List A matches between the 1980/81 and 1991/92.
He was part of the Bengal team that won the 1989–90 Ranji Trophy as well as the one that finished runners-up in the previous season.
[1] In 2008, he became a member of the Indian team selection panel, representing East Zone, for a term of four years.
[2][3] In 2015, he made revelations about the committee meetings during his tenure, causing a controversy.