Gupte: Kumble's experience should have been utilised

Subhash Gupte, the legendary former Indian leg-spinner, was not happy with the Indian team management's decision to drop Anil Kumble from the recently concluded second Test at Port of Spain. One could not help but wonder whether that was because Gupte was a leg-spinner himself.

"I'll not call him a leg-spinner. He is almost a medium-pacer. In 1995, he came to me for some advice. I told him to decrease the speed of his deliveries while also trying to give the ball more air. I advised him to keep an eye on flight. But I have not seen him do that. Still, he has got more than 300 Test wickets which in itself is a big achievement. His experience could have been utilised," Gupte observed.

Being bed-ridden, the great man could not go to the Queen's Park Oval to witness India's memorable Test win. Here in the West Indies, the local television networks do not cover the game live and this meant that he had to content himself with listening to the radio commentary. When asked about India's third Test win at Port of Spain, the 73-year-old former leg-spinner said, "It's always nice to hear about an Indian victory. People respect Indian cricketers here. So, when they win, Indian cricket receives more respect. And personally I feel more proud. They respect me more too."

Even a batsman of Sir Gary Sobers' calibre has declared unhesitatingly that Gupte was the best leg-spinner he had ever faced. It was then interesting to hear Gupte name the great Australian left-hander Neil Harvey as the toughest batsman he has bowled to. "He was superb against me. I could never have his wicket. I still remember that innings in Mumbai where he scored 140-odd. And having completed the century he came to me and said, `Don't forget that as you have a reputation for being a good bowler, I too have one for being a good batsman'. It was real tough against him."

Gupte had always had great success against the West Indians. One cannot forget the nine wickets he claimed in an innings against the touring West Indies team at Kanpur. He could have claimed the perfect ten had Basant Ranjane been a bit more co-operative. "If Vinoo (Mankad) or Ghulam Ahmed were the bowlers, they would have bowled wide to give me the chance to take the last wicket in the next over. But Ranjane had Lance Gibbs in that particular over. I didn't get the chance to go for the tenth," he recalled. But he has no regrets.

When the discussion shifted to Indian cricket, the first thing he wanted to know was whether the officials continue to enjoy the same power that they used to during his playing days. "You know, I was scolded by the officials for wearing a half-pant in Chennai. But they did it only against some players. I have seen Pataudi (Jr) going to toss wearing the Indian blazer over a half-pant. Not a single official could say anything," he recounted.

Returning to the performance of the Indian team, he said, "They have to win more Tests abroad. And for that the bowling department should be strengthened. You can never win abroad without a good bowling line-up. I don't know whether the board is doing anything about it. They should stress on it first to have better results."

Despite the achievements of Sachin Tendulkar, Sunil Gavaskar still remains the greatest Indian batsman in his book. "India has never produced a better batsman than him. I fail to understand why people compare Vijay Merchant with him. When did Merchant score so many runs? Only once he scored 1000 runs in England and some people always quote that. Sunil has 13 centuries against the West Indies only. Tremendous achievement. And he was an intelligent cricketer. No, I can't compare him with anyone else," he said with an air of finality.