Budhi kunderan biography for kids
He was a fine stumper and in the season had 13 stumpings from eight matches. The following season was probably his finest: He played 17 first class matches in which he scored over thousand runs and as a keeper made 16 stumpings and took 20 catches. Kunderan had exhibited his unorthodox, uncoached and ultra-aggressive batsmanship in his very second Test against the likes of Alan Davidson, Ian Meckiff and Richie Benaud while plundering 71 in a total of But it was only in the season that he made a major presence as a batsman at the Test level.
Opening the innings against the English attack, he scored in the first Test at Madras — the highest score by an Indian keeper till this date. He hit 31 fours, which was an Indian record till VVS Laxman supplanted it during his magnum opus against Australia in The Madras Test also saw Kunderan end up with a tally of six dismissals. Kunderan followed that near double century with another hundred in the 4th Test to become the first wicketkeeper in history to pass runs for a Test series.
Incidentally, it was during this innings that he was declared out caught by Sobers, who later withdrew his appeal saying that he had taken the ball on the bounce. But he was dropped for the third Test at Madras Test where Engineer came in and scored 94 before lunch. In an uncharacteristic show of defiance, he opened the innings and held a tottering India together before he was eighth out for 47 in a final total of The next Test at Edgbaston proved to be his farewell game for India.
India went in with their famed spin quartet leaving Kunderan to open the bowling with state-mate V Subramanaya. The end was premature and unfair. He was full of life and was very friendly. Tall, dark, lean and handsome, Kunderan was certainly part of the good-looking brigade. And it came as no surprise when he fell in love with an Englishwoman, Linda, who remained his loyal wife till his very end.
How does one remember Kunderan? Calling him Dhoni of yesteryear may be correct, but inappropriate. One would rather draw a more appropriate analogy by calling Dhoni a latter day Kunderan. That sums up the brilliance of a man who would have been a superstar in the overs-limit format. Rest In Peace, Budhi. Natarajan, You are one of the best on blog world writing on cricket.
This is inspiring. You know, we were watching the test and my wife asked me the reason behind Indian players wearing black armband. I mentioned about Budhi Kundaran and she asked me what he is like and I used the exactly same anology as ' He is like Dhoni but better both as a batsman and wicketkeeper'. I agree with your statement 'One would rather draw a more appropriate analogy by calling Dhoni a latter day Kunderan.
What a lovely tribute to one of the greatest hard hitting openers in Indian cricket who was also a great stumper! Indian officialdom had a long and vengeful memory. The interview ensured that Kunderan did not get an invite for the Jubilee Test at Bombay held in But, by then Kunderan had made his own arrangements. That way he was a trendsetter for Rahul Dravid as well — the great Indian batsman represented Scotland in Playing for India, sleeping under the skies.
He changed his name much later, when he was well into his international cricket career. He was never coached, and his father, a clerk for Voltas Air-Conditioners, vehemently discouraged him from playing cricket. He went on to hit on his first foray on the cricket pitch. He made 21 in the first innings and three in the second, while taking 3 catches and effecting 2 stumpings.
This effort caught the eyes of the selectors and Kunderan was drafted into the side for the third Test against Australia at Brabourne Stadium, Bombay. He lived in a chawl in the Bazaar Gate, sharing his room with six siblings, most of whom slept outside on the corridor. But, he did live in Bombay, and this stopped him from availing accommodation provided by the Indian Cricket Board.
Local players were not put up in hotels at that time. So, in search of a quiet night with his thoughts and ambitions for the morrow, Kunderan emerged with his pillow and bed-sheet and made his way towards Bombay Gymkhana from the Victoria Terminus. A gymnasium on the way was his destination. He lied down on the grass of its garden and looked at the stars above before drifting off.
But, Kunderan slept this way for all the five nights and went on to keep wickets for overs in the Test.
Budhi kunderan biography for kids
He batted at No 8 in his first innings, scoring 19, but was promoted to number three in the second. And he got was hit wicket for 3, attempting to pull Ian Meckiff. He kept wickets with the gloves borrowed from Naren Tamhane, the very man he had replaced. The bat and pads were properties of his club, Fort Vijay. Only Kunderan, who had got his first victim in the Australian innings by stumping Les Favell off Bapu Nadkarni, was not about to be sacrificed.
He pummelled the bowling all over the park, hitting 12 boundaries in 71 before being third out for The capitulation of the rest underlined the quality of his innings. By the time he made his debut in Ranji Trophy, he had already played 3 Tests — a rarity of sorts in Indian cricket. He was blooded against Jammu and Kashmir, and coming in at one-drop he hammered Only Worcestershire batsman George Abell, also a wicketkeeper, had scored a double-century in his first Ranji Trophy match when he turned out for Northern India against Army in Only five others have managed the feat since Kunderan.
A side effect of this was that he was able to keep wickets to the bowling of Chandrasekhar , Prasanna and Venkatraghavan in domestic matches. Early on in the innings, he appeared to have been caught by Garry Sobers but as the batsman prepared to depart, Sobers indicated that he had taken the catch on the bounce. One Test later, Kunderan again found himself out of the team.
The team that toured England in included both Kunderan and Engineer, but from here Engineer asserted himself as the primary 'keeper. Kunderan played purely as a batsman in the second and third Tests of the series. When Sardesai retired with a hand injury in the Lord's Test, he opened with Engineer and topscored with 47 out of India's all out.
He opened both batting and bowling at Birmingham where India played four spinners. This was to be Kunderan's last Test. Kunderan rose to fame when he scored 71 at a run a minute against the —60 Australians at the Chepauk Stadium. He was noted for his "outrageous" strokes. He served as a professional in the Lancashire league and then with Drumpellier in the Western Union in Scotland.
Kunderan lived in Scotland from the turn of the s. His brother Bharat, also a wicket-keeper, played first class cricket for Indian Universities in — Budhi played his first Test against Richie Benaud's Australians in at the Brabourne Stadium after playing just two first class matches. Playing for Mysore from the season, Budhi kept wicket to Bhagwat Chandrasekhar, Erapalli Prasanna and Srinivas Venkataraghavan after which he was back in the Indian team for the series against the West Indies.
He smashed 79 in 92 minutes at the Brabourne Stadium. He's the first of three Indian cricketers who played a Test before making an appearance in the Ranji Trophy. The other two are Vivek Razdan and Parthiv Patel. Budhi scored runs in the Ranji Trophy tournament. Budhi was also in a select band of wicketkeepers who have scored in excess of runs in a Test series.
He aggregated runs against the M. Smith-led England in Disillusioned by the politics in Indian cricket, Kunderan left the country at the age of