All Ten: The Ultimate Bowling Feat

191 Fergie Gupte Bombay v Pakistan Combined Services and Bahawalpur XI, 1954/55 Brabourne Stadium, Bombay on 3, 4, 6 December 1954 Toss won by Pakistan Combined Services and Bahawalpur XI Bombay won by an innings and 125 runs Umpires: JR Patel, KA Pradhan Pakistan Combined Services and Bahawalpur XI 152 (SP Gupte 10-78) and 145; Bombay 422 (GS Ramchand 101) Pakistan Combined Services and Bahawalpur XI first innings +Imtiaz Ahmed b Gupte 28 Alimuddin st Tamhane b Gupte 11 *AH Kardar c Umrigar b Gupte 13 Maqsood Ahmed c Sunderam b Gupte 8 Shujauddin lbw b Gupte 56 Raees Mohammad b Gupte 5 Mohammad Ramzan st Tamhane b Gupte 4 Zafar Ahmed lbw b Gupte 1 Zulfiqar Ahmed not out 14 Baseer Shamsi c Rele b Gupte 9 Khan Mohammad lbw b Gupte 0 Extras 3 Total (all out, 63.2 overs) 152 Fall of wickets 1-33, 2-53, 3-54, 4-65, 5-79, 6-107, 7-127, 8-132, 9-132, 10-152 Bombay bowling: GR Sunderam 4-2-3-0, GS Ramchand 7-3-15-0, HT Dani 5-2-12-0, SP Gupte 24.2-7-78-10, MH Mankad 23-8-41-0 Bombay: P Roy, YK Rele, VL Manjrekar, PR Umrigar, HT Dani, GS Ramchand, CG Borde, NS Tamhane (wk), SP Gupte, MH Mankad (capt), GR Sunderam Subhash Gupte was the first Asian to take an all-ten. A slightly-built wrist- spinner fit to rank with the best, he played during a period when Indian cricket was not at its strongest, and his figures would probably have been even better if he had not at times been overbowled. Born in Bombay in 1929 he was nicknamed ‘Fergie’ after Trinidad leg-spinner Wilf Ferguson who had toured India with the West Indies in 1948/49. Four years after his first-class debut in 1947 he was selected for the Third Test against Nigel Howard’s visiting England side. Although he didn’t do enough to go on the 1952 tour of England, he soon became a regular member of the side. His form on the 1952/53 tour of West Indies was a revelation: his 27 wickets, on perfect pitches against a home side for whom the Three Ws scored 1,571 runs, were only eight fewer than the rest of the attack took between them. A big spinner of the ball with a high arm action, Gupte achieved a mesmerising variety of spin without compromising on accuracy and in 36 Tests would eventually take 149 wickets at 30 runs apiece. At the time, among leg-spinners, only Clarrie Grimmett and Richie Benaud had more victims.