This story is from July 11, 2019

Former Bengal leg-spin great Soumendranath Kundu no more

Bengal lost one of its greatest leg-spinners with the passing away of Soumendranath Kundu in the city on Thursday. He was 77. A humble, down-to-earth human being, Kundu always preferred to stay away from the limelight and seldom boasted about his achievements. No wonder he was a forgotten cricketer.
Former Bengal leg-spin great Soumendranath Kundu no more
Soumendranath Kundu
KOLKATA: Bengal lost one of its greatest leg-spinners with the passing away of Soumendranath Kundu in the city on Thursday. He was 77.
A humble, down-to-earth human being, Kundu always preferred to stay away from the limelight and seldom boasted about his achievements. No wonder he was a forgotten cricketer.
An almost self-made cricketer, Kundu honed his skills under Kartick Bose and blossomed under the leadership of Pankaj Roy and Shyam Sundar Mitra — all Bengal greats who are no more.

Kundu was a lethal bowler in the mid-sixties. Born on January 5, 1939, he played for Bengal from 1958-64 to 1968-70 and also represented Railways from 1964-68. He picked up 127 wickets in 30 first-class matches @ 16.81 that included 13 five-wicket hauls and three 10-wicket hauls.
He represented the All India University side against Pakistan in 1960-61 and President’s XI versus Pakistan in 1960-61. He was also a member of the East Zone side that played the visiting Pakistan side in Jamshedpur in 1960-61 and England in Cuttack in 1962-63.
Kundu was bestowed with the Lifetime Achievement award by the Cricket Association of Bengal in 2013-14.
In local competitions, he played for several clubs like Albert Club, Sporting Union, Aryan, BNR, East Bengal and Mohun Bagan.

Operating from a small run-up, the slightly-built Kundu deceived most batsmen with his flight. He used to bowl the googly well too.
Although he didn’t make the India cut, Kundu troubled many of his illustrious contemporaries like Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi, Abbas Ali Baig and ML Jaisimha.
Even West Indies great Conrad Hunte expressed surprise on learning that Kundu had not played a single Test match for India after facing him in the nets once.
Kundu himself had no regrets, though.
“I never considered myself to be a great cricketer, and yet I got a lot of love and respect, which remain my greatest gift,” he had stated after being honoured by the CAB.
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