ON THIS DAY
Follow UsOne of the best leg-break bowlers cricket ever saw, Subhashchandra Pandharinath "Fergie" Gupte was born in Bombay on December 11, 1929, and went on to become India’s premier wrecker-in-chief for almost a decade.
The West Indies side of the 1950s had a horrid time facing the Indian spinner, who had stated that the Indian could even spin the ball on the glass. The likes of Jim Laker and Sir Garry Sobers had pegged Gupte to be the best spinner they saw in the game.
Not largely built, but Gupte compensated that with an intelligent mind and his ability to spin the ball sharply. Giving the ball a lot of air, Gupte preyed on opponents with impeccable line and length and a lethally deceiving googly. More importantly, he was among the very few bowlers in cricket history who had two different googlies up his arsenal.
Gupte made his international debut in the 1951-52 season against England at the Eden Gardens but went wicketless in his first game. In his home ground in Brabourne, however, Gupte took 5/119 against Pakistan in the next game.
It was the 1952-53 season that changed Gupte’s fortune though, as India toured West Indies for a five-match Test series. Gupte took an impressive 27 wickets as the visitors lost just 1-0 on foreign soil. Caribbean's bouncy pitches had very little for the spinners but Gupte’s guts to flight the ball on them earned him worldwide accolades.
Gupte ended the season with a 50-wicket tally and replaced the legendary Vinoo Mankad as India’s leading spin bowler thereafter. Playing for Bombay in 1954, Gupte would become the first Indian to take all ten wickets in first-class cricket when he returned with 10/78 against Pakistan Combined Services and Bahawalpur XI.
Gupte’s confidence knew no bounds and he followed that up with a 21-wicket haul in Pakistan in 1955 across five Tests. He would follow that up yet another 10-wicket haul in an innings against Todmorden while playing for Rishton in the Lancashire League Worsley Cup final. The Indian was a legend in the Lancashire league as he would take two hattricks in a single match a year later.
On the international level, Gupte had become almost unplayable. When New Zealand visited India in 1955-56, Gupte tallied a whopping 34 wickets. He would reach his 100th wicket, the second Indian after Mankad to do that, by dismissing Rohan Kanhai during West Indies’ tour of India in the 1958-59 season’s second Test.
Gupte took nine wickets in one innings of that Kanpur Test and the one batsman he didn’t pick, Lance Gibbs, was because wicket-keeper Naren Tamhane had dropped his catch.
This was a statement match for Gupte after he was hammered by Neil Harvey during Australia’s tour of India in 1956-57, which many believed to have dented the bowler’s confidence. However, his 22-wicket haul against West Indies had cleared all doubts.
Gupte tallied 149 wickets in 36 Test matches at an average of 29.55 before his career controversially ended during England’s tour of India during the 1961-62 season. While sharing a room with compatriot A.G. Kripal Singh, a receptionist had complained that they had called her after her working hours.
The matter was taken up by the authorities and the veteran never got a chance to play for India again. Gupte participated in domestic competitions for Rishton, Heywood, and Lancaster in the UK, as well as Bengal, Bombay, and Rajasthan in India. The BCCI's highest award for a former player, the C. K. Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award, was given to him in 2000.
