The Indian players were wearing black armbands during the 2nd day’s play of the 3rd Test Match at St.Kitts and that was to show their respect towards a former Indian Test Cricketer who had passed away yesterday. It was the unfortunate death of Budhi Kunderan, the former Indian wicket keeper who had played 18 Tests in the 60s. The dashing player of yesteryears was suffering from Lung Cancer. He had passed away at Glasgow, Scotland.
The most significant moment in Budhi Kunderan’s career was the swashbuckling 192 he had made opening the batting against England in the 1st Test at Madras in 1963/64. ‘Budhi’ as he was called was the first Indian player to play a Test without playing any first class cricket. This feat was later achieved by Vivek Razdan and Parthiv Patel. Kunderan had made a double century on Ranji Trophy Debut which had come after playing three test matches against Australia. He had scored a total of two centuries and three fifties in the 34 Test match innings of his career which was blocked due to unnecessary politics during that period. Budhi Kunderan had played 129 first class matches and he had represented Railways, Mysore and Scotland (1980-82). He had notched up 12 hundreds and 19 fifties in first class cricket. Budhi Kunderan will be remembered as one of the few Indian wicket keepers who batted in an explosive fashion.