Sunil Gavaskar is the first Indian batsman to reach 10,000 Test runs, as well as the first to make hundreds in each of the three innings of a Test match.
Sunil Gavaskar was the best opener in the history of cricket. He has tremendous talent and concentration, making it difficult to reject him.
His defensive techniques were also outstanding, demonstrating the man’s incredible patience.
Gavaskar retired from Test cricket with a total of 10122 runs at an average of 51.12. In ODIs, he scored 3092 runs at an average of 35.13.
Gavaskar’s family is cricketers family
Gavaskar is not his family’s only international cricketer.
Madhav Mantri, his maternal uncle, played four Tests for India.
Rohan Gavaskar, Gavaskar’s son, played 11 One-Day Internationals for India. Gavaskar’s brother-in-law is former India cricketer GR Viswanath.
Nutan Gavaskar, Gavaskar’s sister, was a member of the Albees Cricket Club, Mumbai’s first women’s club.
Gavaskar wanted to be a wrestler
Before choosing cricket, Gavaskar wanted to be a wrestler and was a huge follower of the renowned Maruthi Vadar.
When he saw the Indian team pullovers of his uncle, Madhav Mantri, who had played for India, he became inspired to play for India.
When he requested if he may take one of the pullovers, Mantri firmly reminded him that he had to earn them.
Umpire turns barber for him
Gavaskar reportedly demanded umpire Dickie Bird to chop his hairs during a game, which was one of the bizarre episodes of his career.
When he was batting against England at Old Trafford in 1974, he noticed that his hair was constantly getting in his eyes and asked Bird to clip it.
Bird had no issues, and he did so with a pair of scissors he had stored to clip threads off the cricket ball’s seam.
Most runs in a series
Sunil Gavaskar went on to score 774 runs in his debut series, averaging 154.80 and including four centuries and three half-centuries.
Career started with false runs
Sunil Gavaskar’s first runs in Test cricket was actually leg-byes that was not given. He revealed this fact in his autobiography ‘Sunny days;’
A song for his explosive batting
Trinidad Calypso singer Lord Relator (Willard Harris) wrote a song in Gavaskar’s honour, the “Gavaskar Calypso.”
It was Gavaskar, De real master
Just like a wall, We couldn’t out Gavaskar at all, not at all
You know the West Indies couldn’t out Gavaskar at all
Memory of 29th century
While batting, Gavaskar had a habit of not looking at the scoreboard.
As a result, he was frequently clueless of the runs he had scored.
When he struck his 29th Test century to tie Sir Don Bradman’s record, which had stood for more than three decades, he had no idea he had crossed a milestone.
The crowd erupted in applause but Gavaskar had no clue why they were doing so until non-striker, Dilip Vengsarkar told him “Bloody hell, it is your 29th!”
Great fielder
Gavaskar was also a good slip fielder, and his safe catching in the slips helped him become the first Indian to take over a hundred catches in Test matches (excluding wicket-keepers).
The Actor
In the Marathi film Savli Premachi, Gavaskar performed the lead role.
In 1988, he had a cameo appearance in Naseeruddin Shah’s film Maalamaal.
The singer
Gavaskar has recorded a Marathi song called ‘Ya Duniyemadhye Thambayaala Vel Konala,’ which depicts the parallels between a cricket match and everyday life.
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