#OnThisDay: The birth of Sunil Gavaskar - one of the greatest Test batters of all time
On March 7, 1987, Sunil Gavaskar stood at the peak of Test cricket's records when he scaled the then unimaginable peak of 10000 runs in the format, thereby becoming the first person to achieve the feat. 38 years later, 13 more batters have joined him in the exclusive club, including two more (Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid) from his own country. However, the first to scale a landmark are always special and there is no denying the fact that 'Sunny' (as he was popularly known) was more than special.
Gavaskar was also the first batter of the post-World War era to scale the record for most career Test hundreds, going past Sir Donald Bradman's tally of 29. The former eventually ended with 34, a record that was breached by fellow Mumbaikar Tendulkar who also went past the half-century count in terms of hundreds in the format.
Today's is the great man's 76th birthday and it is yet another opporunity to reflect on the greatness of the veteran. A product of the famous Mumbai school of cricket, Gavaskar was the most sublime of strokemakers, fully capable of showcasing his full repertoire of strokes at will. However, he chose to keep aside the temptation to plaay to the gallery and instead opted to go the more boring route of grinding out opposition bowling attacks. A water-tight technique, strong temperament and exceptional powers of concentration meant that Gavaskar was a very tough nut to crack, even for the most lethal of bowlers.
A batter's biggest test in the longest format is how he copes against the trickiest of opponents. Gavaskar ticked that box well as he had a penchant for scoring big runs against the best team of his generation - West Indies. As many as 13 of his 34 Test tons came against the formidable Caribbean attack, although there were times when the first-choice attack wasn't available. Nevertheless, West Indies always had a ferocious pace attack that often found Gavaskar difficult to dislodge.
Technically, there was negligible flaws in Gavaskar, if any. He was equally adept off the front foot as he was off the back foot. Being brought up in the cricketing circles of Mumbai, he knew how to tough it out on tricky pitches and could play spin flawlessly. Ironically, for someone who wasn't known to attack bowlers, Gavaskar did hold the record for the fastest Test ton by an Indian in 1983. It was also an innings in which he became the first Indian to carry the bat in Tests.
Another of Gavaskar's top knocks was the masterclass innings of 221 at The Oval in a game where India nearly pulled off an impossible chase of 438, only to eventually finish with a draw. Gavaskar's gargantuan aggregate of 774 runs in his debut Test series is still a record and it is a benchmark that may take a long while to get breached, if ever. Apart from his batting heroics, Gavaskar was unflappable in the field, mostly in the slips and was the first non-wicket keeper from India to go past 100 catches in the longest format.
While he was an absolute top-tier batter of all time in Tests, ODI cricket is where Gavaskar underachieved. His unexplainable innings of 36 from 174 balls in the 1975 World Cup remains an all-time low for both himself and the country. That said, he also had a lot of moments, including a quickfire century in the 1987 World Cup, a knock of 103* that came off just 88 balls. He also ended the format on a high, with two fifties and a century in his last five innings for the country.
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