For a few years in the 50s, Subhash Gupte was unquestionably the best spinner in the world. Some of his Indian team-mates from that era shared their memories of him with Wisden.com. GS Ramchand
He was the greatest exponent of legspin bowling I have played with and against. I will not venture into if he is the greatest legspinner of all time or not but definitely, as a bowler, few could match him. He flighted the ball beautifully and had tremendous variety, with two kinds of googlies and a deceptive topspinner.

I still remember the way he tied down the three Ws in 1953. To do that in his first Test abroad on Indian's first tour to the West Indies speaks volumes of his bowling and remarkable will and courage. Equally memorable was the Test against West Indies in Kanpur, in 1958, where he took 14 wickets (9 & 5) on a jute matting wicket. West Indies had in its ranks the likes of Sobers, Kanhai and Hunte.

I had the privilege of scoring four hundreds against him while playing for Bombay against Rajasthan, which he represented. He was a jovial person and I and my family have wonderful memories of all the good times we had on our journeys together. It is tragic that he is no more.

Chandu Borde
I am deeply saddened to hear that Subhash Gupte is not amongst us anymore. He was the finest legspinner I have played and seen as he could turn the ball even on placid wickets. Just consider the Kanpur Test in 1958, where, on a wicket that was a batsman's paradise, he deceived the West Indies line-up with his flight, all the while maintaining a perfect line and length. Another important weapon of his was his googly, which was very difficult to spot.

I may add that if we hadn't dropped a few catches off his bowling he would had picked up a few more wickets during that series. He was a very lively person. I remember meeting him in the `70s as a manager of the junior cricket team which toured West Windies and admired the respect `Fergie' got from the folks there. Again, a few years back on his last visit to India, when I met him at Madhav Apte's bungalow in Pune, he was full of memories of all our cricketing days. Thought he couldn't walk anymore he still cracked a lot of jokes. He was not only a team-man but also popular amongst the opponents. After a days's play he would go and enjoy a beer with his opponents. Fergie will be missed.

Bapu Nadkarni
I played with him in 1955 against New Zealand in India and then in 1959 on the tour to England. We also played against each other - he played for Shivaji Park, I representated Hindu Gymkhana. I have never seen a legspinner better than him. He was the greatest. He had an easy, simple action with beautiful flight and perfect line and length.

Although I was not part of the team in 1958 against the touring West Indies, I had arranged with my company (ACC) to send me to the Kanpur branch so that I could watch the match. And what a performance it was by him. He should have been part of the 1962 squad to the West Indies but I don't know why he was dropped. People misunderstood him because of his bluntness. He was harsh at times. But he was a very frank and jovial person. It's sad that he is not amongst us anymore.

GS Ramchand, Chandu Borde and Bapu Nadkarni were talking to Nagraj Gollapudi.

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