Sunil Gavaskar - An Insight

In India, cricket is like a religion. Last week I saw a cricket book written by an Australian author in Landmark which has rated the top 10 cricketers of all time. It is one of the best book and almost all the ranking and the explanations given are very apt and unbiased one. It instigated me to write this blog and today I write about the cricketer who has been ranked as the 10th best in the world. Ranking is according to that book and I will try to justify their ranking in my own way.

At number 10 is Sunil Manohar Gavaskar.

First Teacher : Sunil Gavaskar, the cricketer, doesn't need any introduction to the cricket fans. Born to a middle class family in Mumbai - considered as New South Wales of Indian cricket - on 10 July 1949, his first guru was his mother. She used to bowl at him with a tennis ball for hours and this little genius, staying in a middle class apartment, had to hit the ball straight to his mother. If he couldn't hit the ball straight, glass windows in the neighbouring house would be broken and he had to pay for that. This forced him to hit the ball straight and this was one of the reason which made him one of the best in driving the cricket ball down the ground just past the bowler, if not the best.

Might have become a fisherman: He might have become a fisherman had it not been for his eagle-eyed uncle who spotted a small hole near his left ear lobe (or pinna) when he came to see the infant Gavaskar on the day of his birth. When he visited him again, he was shocked not to see the hole in his left ear which he spotted earlier and panic button was pressed and everyone started to search the correct baby. Later they realized the babies mix up had happened when the babies were given bath and spotted Gavaskar sleeping peacefully near a fisher woman.

Initial Period : From the day one, he possessed all the four Ts that is essential for any batsman- Talent, Technique, Temperament and Timing. He piled up runs for his school (St Xaviour school, Bombay) and college and rightly got the nod to play for the prestigious Bombay Ranji team. With his superlative technique, strong defense and tremendous concentration, he scored heavily in the domestic circuit which earned him a place for the tour of West Indies in 1971. He was selected as third opener.

Debut : He didn't play the first test at Kingston, Jamaica and the another young opener Jayanthilal got the chance ahead of him and was out for a low score. Courtesy a superb catch by Sir Garfield Sobers. He lost his opportunity to young Sunil in the next test match at Port of Spain, Trinidad. Destiny really played its part in both Gavaskar's as well as Jayantilal's life. Same man who caught Jayathilal dropped Gavaskar twice in the first innings and he went on to score 65 followed by a well made 67 in the second innings. It didn't stop there. Again Sobers dropped him twice in the very next test when he was on 4 and then on 94. Sunil went on to score his maiden hundred in Georgetown, Guyana. Great Sobers after dropping those four catches, asked Gavaskar 'Man Why you are after me, can't you find some other fielder?' with some embarrassment. In that series he accumulated 726 run - with one double century, 3 centuries and three fifties - a record for any batsman in his debut series. After that there was no looking back for this 'Bombay Bradman'.

His Style : Gavaskar strongly believed in sneaking singles even in longer version of the game and he had to confine his aggression as the quality of the bowling and the pitches in those days were of super standard. He and elegant Vishy were the one who had to hold India's innings and in later stages of his career he got some support from the stylish Azhar and Dilip Vengsarkar. Most of his life he played with a semi helmet and a hat on his head even against the deadliest of the attack. He had a very good eye and he was hare between the wicket. When there was a loose ball or when the fielding team started to feel the tiredness, that was the time he would look for some big shot. Most of the times, he would prefer to play in th 'V'. A cultured player, to compare him in the modern time, he was a 'Much Filtered Rahul Dravid'.

Memorable Moments :

There was quite a lot of memorable knocks played by this gentleman cricketer and also he had some unforgettable moments during his playing days. Called as 'Little Master' by the real Little Master - Hanif Mohammed - he played a crucial part in successfully chasing the mammoth target of 406, set by the WI in Port of Spain in 75/76 series, which was a record for highest fourth innings total then.

He almost repeated the same feat against England in 79 Series in Oval. Chasing 438 to win, this Bombay run machine alone scored 221, but received very little support from the Fragile middle order and India failed to win the match by 9 runs. Match ended in a draw. Gavaskar got a standing ovation not only from the capacity crowd but also from the opponent.

His 236 N.O. against West Indies in 1983 /84 was the highest Individual score for an Indian batsman which lasted for long time until VVS Laxman broke that record in the Eden Garden against Australia.

He was one of India's best slipper and he along with Farook Engineer, Wadekar, Venkataragavan and Solkar formed a formidable close catching cordon which enabled the four great spinners to dictate terms against the opponent. He was the first Indian to take 100 catches and he finished with 104 catches. His slip catching ability was one of the hidden reason for India to lift the world cup in 1983 against the mighty West Indies. He took 4 great catches on that day.

He had a great cricketing acumen and was a perfect recipe for captaining a side. With his astute leadership quality, he led India to victory in the World Series ODI tournament that was held in Australia in 1985. Only in that tournament, lot of youngsters like Srikkant, Sivaramakrishnan, Ravi Shastri came to lime light.

He was also involved in one of the most thrilling matches in cricketing history - Tied test match played between India and Australia - where he scored an important 90 while chasing 348.

He was a prolific scorer against the West Indies pace battery which itself was a strange record as many other player from other team found very difficult to handle the Invincible West Indies of 70s and 80s. This made the renowned Calypso singer Lord Relator to compose a song on a non West Indian for the first time. And the song goes like this “It was Gavaskar, the 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”

This list is endless........

As a bowler : He was a dibbly-dobbly bowler who rotated his arm only to take the shine away from the ball to aid the Indian spinners. He took only one wicket in both ODI and Test and the casualty on both the occasions was Pakistani Zaheer Abbas.

Statistics : He is the first batsman to score 10000 runs and he holds the record for most number of centuries - 34 in total - still a record. He has taken 104 catches. He averages around 51 and he has a decent ODI record too. No wonder why Sir Don selected him as the opener in his dream team.

Anecdotes :

Ian Botham and Gavaskar shares one thing in common. That is they played for same county in England - Somerset - for many years. On one fine morning, being a prankster by nature, 'Beefy' Botham knowing that Gavaskar had cynophobia - Fear of dogs - tied his two big German Shepperd in front of a phone booth when Sunny was making a call inside that booth. Gavaskar, being allergic to dogs, didn't come out of that booth and finally he was released by Botham nearly after 3 hours.

Another special moment is during the series against West Indies in 1983. Gavaskar tried to bolster Indian middle order and he planned to come down at number 4 in the Chennai test. Unfortunately India lost two quick wicket for no run and Viv, from the second slip, murmured to Gavaskar in a humorous manner 'It doesn't matter whether you come at number 1 spot or number 4 spot, India's score will be on 0.'

When Sachin Tendulkar made his mark in Bombay cricket, he came to see Sunil and Sunil after seeing the heaviness of Sachin's pad, advised him to use a lighter pads and Sachin requested him to present his used pads and Gavaskar magnanimously presented it to him.

He also had some bad incident like the one where he questioned a LBW decision given by a Australian umpire in a test match against Aus and when he didn't get a proper response, he along with the non striker left the field. After that, a request from ACB and BCCI official appeased him and the game continued but Gavaskar was not in the mood to continue his innings.

Some Accusation : He was always accused for selfish playing and by seeing the record itself we can come to a conclusion that this is just a myth and not the truth. Some considered him as defensive captain. He had to be defensive as Indian bowling till date is not penetrative enough to win matches for India consistently. Another thing which was considered as a minus point is that he scored his runs very slowly and every one will instantly cite his 36 N.O. as an example. And again the reason was Team India. If he had not been playing in that way India would have lost at least 60% of the match within 3 day with disdain. Only because of his slow batting, India gained some respect from their rivals. Some foolish commentator even said that he scored his run against weak bowling attacks as most of the bowlers left the International scene to play Kerry Packers Series from 78-79. Yes he didn't have the same average against the best bowler as what he had against some mediocre bowler. This case is true in all cricketers. But his average against them is not poor either. In India cricket circuit, there was some rumors in those days that he quenched his personal vendetta against some player (like Dilip Doshi) by influencing the selection panel and depriving them the place in the team. For this case no one knows the real picture. It's up to the readers to decide.

What they said about Sunny :

Michael 'Whispering Death' Holding : 'To dismiss Sunny in a lively pitch itself was a tough job. If the track is placid, then it would be a uphill task for any bowler.'

Sir Don Bradman : "I would have been proud to have played cricket with him"

Viv Richards : "I personally would like to say that Sunny Gavaskar is the best. His record speaks for itself"

Ian Botham : "The Indian combines Boycott's steadiness and Greenidge's ability to keep the runs flowing"

Mike Proctor : "If I have to bet on someone making a hundred in a match he is the one most likely to achieve it"

Imran Khan : "His perfect technique makes him the most difficult batsman alive to dismiss"

Sir Len Hutton : "If I were to recommend a schoolboy to copy a modern master, I would go for Gavaskar"

Sir Colin Cowdrey : "A pocket-sized battleship armed with an impenetrable defense and astonishing gunpowder. The bigger the battle, the better the performance"

Mohinder Amarnath : "You cannot compare Sunny with anyone. For him batting was everything. He didn't want to fail or throw away his wicket. He had perfect technique, perfect temperament".

Andy Roberts : "He had scored tons of runs against all countries but not one against India,which has the weakest attack.It speaks volumes about his greatness"

Life after cricket : He is doing as a successful commentator. He also acted as a match referee for a brief period. He was appointed as Shrieff of Mumbai in 1994. He coached India when the regular coach Ajit Wadekar was indisposed during 92 Sharjah. He is one of the few Asian cricketer who is very articulate in English and he is writing a lot of cricketing articles in many sport magazines including the 'On the write lines' - a Gavaskar Column - in India's most popular sports magazine, SportStar.