Kunderan's death great loss to Indian cricket: Vishwanath

By Staff
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Google Oneindia News

Bangalore, June 24 (UNI) ''Cricket taught me that life is a team game,'' Budhi Kunderan, one of the finest wicketkeeper-batsmen of the country who died in Scotland yesterday, had once said.

Little Master G R Vishwanath, who had the opportunity to play with him, vouches for his hardcore team spirit.

Speaking to UNI, Vishy, as he is popularly called, said ''Kunderan was the most enjoyable and charming team man. I found this out when I played along with him and other legends like E A S Prasanna, B S Chandrashekhar and Subramaniam. He played for the then Mysore State for just one season during 1969-70. How enjoyable was his company. He was one of the most charming, graceful and talented cricketers who gave everything to whichever team he played for. He always had a tip or two for the new faces in the team and made them feel comfortable.'' He said Kunderan was one of the finest wicketkeeper-batsmen India had ever produced. There was healthy competition between Kunderan and Farooq Engineer during their playing days. Always a team man to the core, he played for the State for just one year, but his commitment to the team was overwhelming. His fine knock of 525 runs in a series against England in 1963-64, including 192 in an innings, which is still the highest score made by an Indian wicket keeper, had proved his class beyond doubt.

Paying rich tributes to Kunderan, Vishy said ''it is very sad that we lost him. It is a great loss to Indian cricket. I feel sorry that I could not meet him as often as I wanted to. I had called on him once when we went to Scotland during a England tour. After that we had no contacts.'' He said lovers of the game enjoyed the batting of hard hitters like Adam Gilchrist, Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Chris Gayle these days. However, he, and other players of his time, had the privilege to watch Kunderan, who had shown to the world what a hard hitting wicketkeeper-batsman was like with his exciting but unorthodox batting more than 35 years ago.

UNI RS GD DH HS1817

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