|
Former Indian Stumper Budhi
Kunderan is no more |
June 23, 2006
The Indian players were wearing black armbands
during the 2nd day’s play of the 3rd Test Match
at St.Kitts and that was to show their respect
towards a former Indian Test Cricketer who had
passed away yesterday. It was the unfortunate
death of Budhi Kunderan, the former Indian
wicket keeper who had played 18 Tests in the
60s. The dashing player of yesteryears was
suffering from Lung Cancer. He had passed away
at Glasgow, Scotland.
The most significant moment in Budhi Kunderan’s
career was the swashbuckling 192 he had made
opening the batting against England in the 1st
Test at Madras in 1963/64. ‘Budhi’ as he was
called was the first Indian player to play a
Test without playing any first class cricket.
This feat was later achieved by Vivek Razdan and
Parthiv Patel. Kunderan had made a double
century on Ranji Trophy Debut which had come
after playing three test matches against
Australia. He had scored a total of two
centuries and three fifties in the 34 Test match
innings of his career which was blocked due to
unnecessary politics during that period. Budhi
Kunderan had played 129 first class matches and
he had represented Railways, Mysore and Scotland
(1980-82). He had notched up 12 hundreds and 19
fifties in first class cricket. Budhi Kunderan
will be remembered as one of the few Indian
wicket keepers who batted in an explosive
fashion.
Top of the Page |
