'A legspinner's run-up should be perfect' - Baloo
Baloo Gupte spoke to Cricinfo a few years back about legspin bowling, his career and more
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Subhash was a legspinner with a very accurate line and length, and had a tremendous legbreak and googly. He has influenced me in the sense that he told me how to bowl legbreaks and googlies. I didn't play any school cricket. In Mumbai I joined college and picked up my game there. I got a lot of guidance from Mantri and later I was able to play for Mumbai.
I was a good batsman also. Here I must say that I played the Test match replacing my brother Subhash, who was dropped. I initially bowled well but unfortunately I didn't get a wicket. While batting I had a good stand with Chandu Borde who got a century.
No, I was told just two days before the match that you have to fly to Kanpur. So I just took the flight and was not mentally prepared or anything. Anyway as long as one plays, one has to expect a call any time.
We had a good batting line up as well as a good bowling side. The side had players like Ramakant Desai, Ramchand and offspinner Sharad Diwadkar, left-arm spinner Bapu Nadkarni and myself. So it was a tremendous side. If one bowler failed, there were others to get at the opponents.
No, I would like to forget that, for unfortunately I didn't bowl well at all.
Any cricketer would like to play, but I think I didn't bowl well to be honest.
I don't know. What can I say about that? I bowled well initially in the first ten or fifteen overs. But the wickets those days helped the batsman, especially the Kanpur wicket.
Yes. I was relaxed and bowled very well and the wicket was very good. Polly Umrigar who was the captain then helped me a lot to get the nine wickets.
Some of my memories are having replaced my brother Subhash Gupte in a Test match. I bowled well. The other is the inter-varsity final against Delhi University at Baroda where I took 15 wickets that time, eight wickets in the first and seven in the second innings. I bowled around 116 overs in that match. The match was played on a matting wicket which had no dust or particles. It was a good batting wicket, but I still managed to get 15 wickets. That was my best match.
I enjoy watching cricket especially when my state side Mumbai plays. I come every year when there is a Ranji match, not only for the semifinals or final, I'm also here to see some of the league games.
I just watch cricket.
Because of my job, I don't have any time.
He should first concentrate on line and length and his run up. I learned my cricket that way from Madhav Mantri. He used to make me bowl for half an hour without a batsman and only a wicket keeper and he used to mark the good length spots and we had to bowl there.
Anand Vasu is assistant editor of Cricinfo