Birthday special: Sobers rated him as the greatest leg-spinner – Subhash Gupte

India’s spin heritage is immensely rich and is overflowing with talent and class. The list of legendary names goes on and on. While the celebrated quartet occupies the throne in the spin hall of fame, a wily leg-spinner preceded them whose skills were often hailed as magical. Born on 11th December 1929 in Mumbai, Subhash Gupte was one of the most spellbinding spinners ever.

Also read: India’s forgotten spinners light up an evening of cricket

Humble beginning

22-year old leggie made his Test debut against England at Eden Gardens in the third Test of the five-match series. Gupte suffered a wicketless-stint which included only 18 overs in total. He was not picked for the remainder of the series and played another solitary Test in the following series against Pakistan. By the time, he was selected to play in the West Indies, Gupte had five scalps to show from three matches.

Conquering the Caribbean

Gupte began with a bang in the first innings of the 1953 tour itself. He snapped 7/162 at Queens Park Oval. The legspinner finished the West Indies series with two more five-wicket hauls in his kitty to total 27 wickets in five matches. His victims included all three Ws (Everton Weekes, Frank Worrell and Clyde Walcott). This performance sparked a brilliant career as Gupte began mesmerising batsmen with his leggies and googlies.

A spectacular run

Dominating on the subcontinental tracks, Gupte registered three consecutive five-wicket hauls in three Test matches against Pakistan in the 1955 series. He totalled 21 wickets in the five-match series. Gupte then reached his peak versus visiting New Zealand side who had no clue of what the master was up to. The leggie snapped 34 wickets in five matches as India went on the clinch the five-match rubber 2-0.

The Caribbean connection

Gupte resumed his affection for West Indies by taking 22 wickets against the visitors in another five-match series. This haul includes his 9/102 at Green Park, Kanpur where he fell just one wicket short of registering the perfect bowling figures. This was also the same series where Garry Sobers faced him. In later years, Sobers proclaimed that Gupte was the finest spinner he had seen. The bowler had an average series against England and was later dropped for inexplicable reasons. As put by Mihir Bose in his book A History of Indian cricket – “India’s first great spinner ended his career because he happened to share a room with a man who wanted a drink with a girl”.

Legacy

Although Gupte missed out on taking all ten wickets in an international match, he did achieve the feat in first-class cricket. He picked up 10 for 78 for Bombay against Pakistan Services and Bahawalpur. The spinner then represented Rishton in the Lancashire League between 1954 and 1957. In 1956, he captured two hat-tricks in the same innings against Accrington.

Continuing his Caribbean love affair, Subhash Gupte married a Trinidadian woman. He later settled in her native country after being ignored by the Indian cricket team. He was nicknamed Fergie after West Indian leg-spinner Wilf Ferguson. The master of magical variations and immaculate control passed away in 2002 aged 72.

Subhash Gupte – Career statistics:

Tests: 36, Runs: 183, Highest score: 21, Bowling innings: 61, Wickets: 149, Best bowling figures: 9/102, Five-wicket hauls: 12