A taste of Fergie

It was difficult to have heroes in the era in which I grew up. There wasn't much media coverage, and even if you heard about a great player, you rarely saw him perform. You had to imagine him and the way he played and try to emulate him. It was only when I began playing competitively that I began to meet and see the greats of the game and formed my heroes.

I was fortunate enough to be part of the South Zone side that played the Duleep Trophy semi-final against Central Zone in 1963. Subhash Gupte was in the Central team. It was his final first-class match in India, and it was in that game that I felt the effect of his genius.

On a turning final-day wicket in Bangalore, he was close to unplayable. I still remember how he flighted the ball and teased as I tried to bat out time to force a draw. We were lucky that he got just one wicket in that game. The way he was bowling, he could have wrapped us all up easily. In my estimation Gupte is the greatest spinner the game has produced.

Despite his greatness he was a very simple man. Talking to him was an education like none other. Ask Sir Garfield Sobers about him, he'll tell you he was the greatest spinner he's seen. He had flight, control, spin ... everything.