He had played Test before playing Ranji, despite being a keeper he bowled the new ball, Dhoni of the 60s, who did many untold things.

New Delhi. In the history of Indian cricket, there have been many players who stole the show with their game, but there has hardly been any other cricketer as ‘colourful’ and cool as Budhi Kundran. Usually players knock on the door of the national team by performing brilliantly in domestic cricket, but Kundran’s story was completely opposite. He first played Test for India and after that he made his debut in Ranji Trophy. This unique record is enough to show his uniqueness.
When we talk about Indian cricket of the 1960s, technique and defensive play are often mentioned, but even in that era, there was a player who used to come on the field wearing glasses and with the very first ball, he used to destroy the opposition bowlers and that was Budhi Kundran.

Unique journey: First Test, then Ranji

Kunderan’s story is like a film script. In 1960, when the Australian team was on a tour of India, Kunderan was directly selected in the Test team without any first-class experience. He played his first Test and after that he entered the field of domestic cricket i.e. Ranji Trophy. Such an example is rare in the world of cricket. Kunderan scores a double century in his very first Ranji match.

That historical series of 1964

The golden chapter of Kunderan’s career was written in the home series against England in 1964. In the Corporation Stadium of Chennai (then Madras), he spread his batting in such a way that the English bowlers were in panic. In that match, he played a stormy inning of 192 runs. Kunderan’s bat kept on fire throughout the series and he scored 525 runs in that series, which is still the Indian record for the most runs scored by a wicketkeeper-batsman in a Test series. There was aggression in his batting which was considered far ahead of its time according to that era.

Batsman, keeper and ‘new ball’ bowler

Kunderan was known not only for his batting but also for his versatility. Being a wicketkeeper, his main job was to handle the gloves, but an interesting twist in his story came when he bowled with the new ball in a Test match. This incident is from the Edgbaston Test of 1967. India had a shortage of fast bowlers at that time. Kunderan took off the wicket-keeping gloves and took over the responsibility of bowling. A wicketkeeper opening the bowling with the new ball was one of the rarest and most interesting scenes in cricket. He had the capability to do anything on the field.

an unmatched legacy

In his short career of 18 Test matches, Kunderan scored 981 runs at an average of 32.70, which included two centuries. He competed hard for a place in the team with stalwarts like Farooq Engineer, but his style of play made him a crowd favorite. Budhi Kundran’s game was like the cricketers of today’s T20 era, fearless and entertaining. He taught that cricket is not just a game of numbers, but it is also a medium to play with heart and entertain the audience. Even though he is not among us today, his record of ‘First Test, then Ranji’ and his unmatched batting in 1964 are still recorded in the golden pages of Indian cricket.