With the Indian Cricketer of the Century Awards coming up on July 23, Wisden Online have been asking players for their opinions and memories about Indian cricketers. Today it's the turn of that great West Indian batsman Sir Everton Weekes to share his thoughts on Indians he played against. Forget Richie Benaud and Eric Hollies; Weekes said that the late "Fergie" Gupte, the little Indian wizard of the 1950s, was the "finest ever legspin bowler" he played against. Weekes singled out Gupte, along with Vinoo Mankad, as the main strength of India's attack in those days.

Mankad was also one of the batsmen Weekes referred to. He also praised Polly Umrigar, Hemu Adhikari and Vijay Hazare, who he called "a fine batsman" and a "top player at the time". And Umrigar, he said, was "the one person of the team to get out".

Weekes also had a debt to Mankad – who became his unofficial language tutor when things weren't going India's way. "I spent enough time out there that I could pick a few things up", he joked.

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