Former Bengal cricket captain Gopal Bose passes away in Birmingham

Bose had gone to London along with his wife to meet their son. But after the chest pain, he was admitted to a nearby hospital where the doctors diagnosed with some kidney problem as well. He was in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) for the last three days.

Known for his gritty batting, Bose played one ODI for India in 1974. During the 70s, he used to be a batsman who could spend a lot of time in the middle without throwing his wicket away. Making his debut in the 1968-69 first-class season, the Bengal cricketer went on to score 3757 runs from 78 matches at an average of 30.79. He scored eight hundreds and 17 half-centuries in his 10 year-long first-class career and in addition to that he was also a good off-break bowler and had picked up 72 wickets.

The former Bengal skipper was also considered for the national team and toured Sri Lanka (then Ceylon) for unofficial Test after he scored 170 for Rest of India in an Irani Trophy match against Bombay. On the tour to the Island nation, he added 194 runs with Sunil Gavaskar for the opening wicket.

He was also a part of the Test squad for England in 1974 but didn’t get a game to play. However, he made his international debut in the second ODI at the Oval against the hosts and coming out to bat at number 3, Bose scored 13 runs before he was picked up by Robin Jackman. He showed his off-break skills in the ODI as well and picked up the wicket of David Llyod. He was also in the national team for a home series against the Windies after that.

The Bengal all-rounder was the manager of the Indian U-19 team that won the World Cup in 2008 under Virat Kohli. The Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) conferred him with the lifetime achievement award in 2016.

Many former cricketers expressed their condolences after the sad demise of one of the legends of Bengal cricket.