Sudhir Naik pays tribute to 'pleasing' Gopal Bose

Former India opener Gopal Bose

Sudhir Naik, the former India opener, paid rich tributes to his former opening partner Gopal Bose, who passed away yesterday in Birmingham following a cardiac arrest. "Gopal and I batted together on several occasions on the 1974 tour of England and we became good friends. He was a pleasing batsman to watch and although he couldn't be at his best against pace, he was very good while tackling the swinging ball," Naik told mid-day yesterday.

Bose, 71, was the first cricketer from Bengal to figure in an ODI - against England on the same tour. He scored 3757 runs in 78 first-class games with eight hundreds and 17 fifties. His brand of off-spin fetched him 72 wickets. "Apart from being an attractive batsman, Gopal was a thorough gentleman and as I speak, I remember the time when we opened the innings for the Board President's XI against the West Indies at Jaipur in 1974," remarked Naik.

Sudhir Naik

PTI adds: Interestingly, Bose was the manager of the Virat Kohli-led India U-19 team that won the colts World Cup in Kuala Lumpur in 2008. After a prolific 1973-74 season, during which he scored a big hundred for Rest of India in the Irani Cup, Bose was included for India's unofficial tour of Sri Lanka, where he scored a hundred and shared a 194-run opening stand with Sunil Gavaskar.

He was also picked in the squad for a 1975 Test match against the West Indies in Chennai when Gavaskar was injured but the erstwhile selection committee decided to promote Eknath Solkar as Farokh Engineer's opening partner. Bose never got a call-up after that. However, he made a name for himself as one of the most respected coaches in Bengal with sharp insight.

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