In the era when Pakistan and West Indies fast bowlers used to create havoc, many batsmen used to fear facing them. No helmets were invented during that period. But there was a legendary Indian batsman called Sunil Manohar Gavaskar who used to fearlessly bash fast bowlers.
The fearless Indian batsman was born in a Marathi family and like every other Indian even he dreamt of representing the country at the highest level of the game. On March 6, 1971, Gavaskar donned the Indian jersey in a test match against West Indies. He scored 65 runs in India`s first innings. Later in the second innings, he went on to score 67 runs including 7 fours.
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Sunil Gavaskar is known for his stout-hearted batting and dedication towards the game. Talking about his dedication, India`s 1983 World Cup-winning captain Kapil Dev in an interview, to a YouTube channel called `Breakfast with Champions`, praised Gavaskar. Dev, in the interview, said, “In my mind, Sunil was the true professional India produced. Number one.” “He was a true professional not only because of what cricket meant to him, but also he won`t even use to go to nightclubs, thinking that people smoking there can be harmful for my eyes”, Dev added.Sunil Gavaskar during a test match (Pic: ICC)
A player with so much dedication towards the game was meant to be one of the greatest batsmen to ever play cricket. Pakistan who is known for introducing quality fast bowlers to World Cricket was one of the toughest teams during that time. Pakistan`s legendary bowler Wasim Akram was asked on a show, “who was the toughest batsman to bowl during your prime?”. The fast bowler replied, “The one name to whom I wish to dismiss when I started playing cricket was Sunil Gavaskar. I was able to dismiss him just once in all three years.”
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Gavaskar holds the record of becoming the first-ever batsman in cricketing history to cross the 10,000-run mark in Test cricket. He achieved this milestone during his career`s 124th Test match against the arch-rivals Pakistan.
He is at the second spot on the list of players to take the most catches in a single ODI inning which are four. The legendary Indian batsman is the third on the list of players to score the most runs in a series by a captain which is 732 runs.
He also holds the fourth position on the list of oldest players to score a maiden century in One Day International which is 38 years old.
Sunil Gavaskar is truly a living legend. His dedication, tactics and understanding of the game are worth noting.
