Legendary Indian legspinner Subhash Gupte died on Friday at his home in the West Indies, his family announced. Gupte, 72, died in his sleep at his home in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad, where the touring Indian team is scheduled to play the fourth one-day international against West Indies on Saturday.

"Maybe he wanted his spirit to travel back to India with the team," Gupte's brother Balu, also a former Test spinner, said in Bombay.

Subhash Gupte captured 149 Tests wickets at an average of 29.55 in the 36 matches he played till the 1960s, before migrating to the Caribbean. His most memorable performance was the 9-102 he claimed against West Indies, led by Gerry Alexander, in the Kanpur Test of the 1958-59 series.

"The entire cricketing fraternity in India is shocked to learn about the sudden demise of your husband," India's cricket chief Jagmohan Dalmiya wrote in a condolence message to Gupte's widow, Carol.

"It was just yesterday that I had advised the manager of the Indian team to meet Mr Gupte and discuss the possibilities of a visit to India. But destiny had a different plan. Subhash was truly the doyen of leg spin bowling in Indian cricket," Dalmiya said.

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