Subhash Gupte, the famous Indian leg-spinner, passed away last month in the West Indies at age 73. The legendary cricketer started playing cricket in 1951, and served the country, though for a very short while, as a quality leg spinner. He played 36 Test matches and took 162 Test wickets.
Born on December 11, 1929, in a Maharashtrian family in Mumbai, Gupte graduated in arts but was unable to pursue his studies because of his family's poor financial status. His father was an engineer with Indian Railways. After graduation he took to cricket and emerged as one of the best leg spin bowlers of India. He had immense talent but because he couldn't earn enough by playing cricket he quit the game. When he hung his boots, he had many achievements to his name. His excellent 'googly' ball kept many a great batsman guessing. He even troubled players like Rohan Kanhai and Garfield Sobers with his 'special' delivery. His best achievement was against the West Indies, in 1958, when he claimed nine wickets, at Kanpur, on a flat track, unresponsive to spin bowling. His 'googly' had Kanhai out for a duck. He also had excellent figures of 7 for 162 and 5 for 107, when India toured the West Indies.
After he quit the game, Gupte settled down in the West Indies and took up a job in a sugar factory. He even coached aspiring cricketer from Trinidad, where he lived.
Here's what some senior cricketers of his time had to say about him:
"His demise means the demise of the era of leg spin bowling. Subhash had tremendous spin control over line and length. I never saw him bowl a bad ball; this was his weakness, because sometimes you also get a wicket through a bad delivery.
"He was a tremendous bowler and a match winner. Mumbai has lost a great cricketer. When he used to play here [Mumbai], youngsters would learn and try to bowl with his action. But since he migrated no one took up his place and today we don't have good leg spinners in Mumbai; that is very sad for Mumbai cricket.
"Today, in Maharashtra and Mumbai, the art of leg spin bowling has been finished. Indeed, Subhash has been a great loss to Indian cricket. I have lost a good friend, a great soul on the cricketing field … blunt language, plain and open in heart, always brimming with confidence.
"May god rest his soul in peace."
Bapu Nadkarni - a spinner who played alongside Gupte:
Eknath Solkar - former India cricketer:
"I used to see him when I was young. He was a great player and an excellent leg spinner. We cannot have another Gupte. We have Kumble and other bowlers, but he was completely different. I used to field for him when he used to play in Mumbai and I met him for the first time on India's tour of the West Indies.
"He was a genuine leg spinner who could entice the batsman and earn his wicket, though he took major chunk of his wicket through the 'googly'.
"It feels bad to loose a class player, but more than India, it is a major loss to the West Indies, where he lived his later life and coached young students in Trinidad. The West Indians will lose out on his invaluable guidance, training and experience."
"In my cricketing career he was the best leg spinner I came across. He was very accurate and could bowl long spells. In fact, he used to flight the ball and draw out the batsman, which is control on the spin and very deadly. Today, Kumble and other spinners are not able to do what Gupte did in his playing days. It is very sad to loose out on such a great cricketer.
"Recently he was not very active, but since I have played with him, I am aware of his caliber . He was a great learner of the game and his achievements speak for his talent."
Polly Umrigar - Legendary cricketer who played alongside Gupte:
Subhash Gupte, the famous Indian leg-spinner, passed away last month in the West Indies at age 73. The legendary cricketer started playing cricket in 1951, and served the country, though for a very short while, as a quality leg spinner. He played 36 Test matches and took 162 Test wickets.
