మా.. రోజులలో క్రికెట్ వీరులు .. నాకునచ్చిన వికెట్ కీపెర్లు ...12.

మా.. రోజులలో క్రికెట్ వీరులు .. నాకునచ్చిన వికెట్ కీపెర్లు ...12.

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1.బుధికుందేరన్.. 2ఫరూఖ్ఇంజనీర్... 3సయాద్క్రిమాని.

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ముగ్గురికిముగ్గురే...

నాకు కుందేరన్అంటేచాలఇష్టం.. ఆరోజులలోనే వన్day క్రికేట్లాగ బాట్చేసేవాడు..

ఇక ఇంజనీర్ చాలస్టైలిష్గావికెట్కీపింగ్చేసేవాడు...

క్రిమని గొప్పవికెట్కీపర్..

ఇకఇంగ్లీష్ లో

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Full name Budhisagar Krishnappa Kunderan

Born October 2, 1939, Mulki, Karnataka

Died June 23, 2006, Scotland (aged 66 years 264 days)

Major teams India, Scotland, Mysore, Railways

Also known as changed name from Budhisagar Krishnappa Kunderam in 1964

Batting style Right-hand bat

Bowling style Right-arm medium

Fielding position Wicketkeeper

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Born on the same date as Mahatma Gandhi, Budhi Kunderan was rather more violent in his chosen profession, hitting the cricket ball with a power and confidence that came naturally to Indian wicketkeepers who knew they had two strings to their bow. He opened India's batting in 21 of the 34 innings he played, averaging 41 in that position. His Karnataka captain V Subramanya rated Kunderan as a better batsman and wicketkeeper than his contemporary Farokh Engineer. Kunderan played his early cricket in Mumbai but, with Naren Tamhane established as wicketkeeper there, Kunderan turned his attention to Railways. It was a good move. Kunderan was picked to play for India even before he had played a single first-class game and showed his gratitude to his Railways captain Lala Amarnath by scoring a double-century on Ranji debut.

Farokh Engineer, the original poster boy of Indian cricket, was born on February 25, 1938. He was an aggressive batsman and for a tall and a well-built man, he was deceptively quick as a wicket-keeper. Interestingly, if we look back at his career, Engineer didn't do much of note in the first 11 Tests of his career. He also had tough competition from another fine wicket-keeper, Budhi Kunderan.

Now, everything changed in the 12th Test of his career, when he was asked to open the batting against West indies in Chennai in 1967. From nowhere, Engineer amassed a century against the likes of Wes Hall, Charlie Griffith, Lance Gibbs and Garry Sobers, and the rest is history. He certainly gave the famed opposition line-up sleepless nights as on the back of Engineer's belligerent batting, India rocketed to 72 for no loss in a mere 12 overs! The other man vying for that spot, Kunderan though, would have been a disappointed man as he had compiled a century in the tour game against West Indies, but wasn't selected for that Test.

In 1967-68, Engineer also played a pivotal role in India's first ever Test series victory away from home in New Zealand. He showed good glove-work behind the stumps and also chipped in with useful runs. In fact, he ended that series with more than 300 runs to his name. The Indian selectors continued to play musical chairs as Pochiah Krishnamurthy was preferred over him when India overcame West Indies in 1971. But as Krishnamurthy struggled to make a mark, he was back in the side for the tour of England.

In the famous Test at The Oval in 1971, Engineer's innings of 59 helped India to recover after they found themselves in a spot of bother. India eventually won that Test and the series on the back of Chandrasekhar's amazing spell. Engineer did extremely well in the Test series against England at home in 1972-73 by compiling a shade over 400 runs. He was also one of the few Indian cricketers, who enhanced their reputations by playing with self-belief when India toured England in 1974. He though, soon hung up his spiked boots after the series against the West Indies in 1974-75. Unfortunately, in his last game, he bagged a pair.

Remember, Engineer was a brilliant keeper, too. None other than his former Lancashire teammate, Brian Statham, once reckoned that he would have likely taken more wickets for his country, if Engineer had been the keeper. Even now, fans remember him fondly for the spectacular catch he took to dismiss John Edrich in the Test at Lord's in 1971. After retiring from the game, Engineer made his name in County cricket for Lancashire. He married a Lancastrian and made Lancashire his home. On a side note, Engineer also endorsed the Brylcreem product and that turned out to be a successful advertisement. 

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Popularly known as 'Kiri', Syed Kirmani is generally regarded as the finest wicket keeper to play for India. Replacing the effervescent Farokh Engineer, Kirmani quickness and spunky keeping caught one's eyes. Kirmani can be ideally said to be the bridge between the spin quartet and the emergence of pace brigade led by Kapil Dev. Kirmani was proficient under both generations with his astute sense of keeping skills.

Starting as an understudy to Engineer, Kirmani made his debut against New Zealand and in the second test equalled the world record of six victims in an innings. His form though dropped considerably and Kirmani was left out of the squad for the 1979 WC held in England. Though Kirmani was dropped ostensibly for performance, there was a rumour that the real reason was that both he and Gavaskar had been approached by the organisers of the Kerry Packer's World Series Cricket.

He made a comeback into the Indian team against Australia and shone with both bat and gloves. This was followed by a splendid series against Pakistan when he equalled Naren Tamhane's Indian record for most dismissals in a single series. Kirmani had 17 catches and 2 stumpings in the series. He followed it up with a flawless performance against Englad in 1981-82. The visitors scored 1964 runs in the 3-Test series and Kirmani did not concede a single bye.

Kirmani's batting was dogged yet effective. He partnered Sunil Gavaskar in a record 9th wicket partnership against West Indies in 1983 at Chennai. He is always remembered for his 126 run 8th wicket stand with Kapil Dev during the 1983 WC which spared India the blushes.

Kirmani's form dipped with age and was replaced by younger keepers such as Sadanand Vishwanath, Kiran More and Chandrakanth Pandit. A leg injury sustained during the World series cup in 1985-86 effectively ended a superb career.

Kirmani was awarded the Padma Sri in 1982 for his con