SUNIL MANOHAR GAVASKAR
Birthday : Jul 10,
1949
Birth Place : Bombay
Country : India
Batting : Right hand
batsman
Bowling : Right arm medium pace bowler
Test Debut : vs West
Indies, at Port of Spain, on 6/3/1971
Last Test : vs Pakistan, at
Bangalore, on 13/3/1987
Profile
Sunil Gavaskar was a
complete opening batsman. He combined a rock solid defence with an ability
to dispatch the bad ball for four. For a part of his career, he eschewed
the cut and the hook, preferring to play within the "V". Though short in
stature (5'4"), his best strokes were drives off the front foot, to both
sides of the wicket. His success in his debut series in the West Indies in
1971 (774 runs at 154.80) led Lord Relator to lament in a calypso, "We
couldn't out him at all!" For a large part of his career, he seemed to
stand between India and defeat. Some of his best innings came in Indian
losses, including 3 centuries in Pakistan. During his career, he played a
significant role as India managed to score the highest 4th innings totals
to win (102 out of 406/4), and tie (90 out of 347) a Test, and the second
highest to draw (221 out of 429/9) one. During his 221, he personally
added 179 on the last day, still the most runs scored by an Indian in a
single day of Test cricket.
In 1983-84, after a string of low scores
against Marshall and the West Indies, he decided to shed the shackles, and
answered with a 94-ball century at Delhi. 4 Tests later, the series lost
3-0, he came in at no. 4, with India 0/2, and scored his 30th Test
century, surpassing Don Bradman. His 236* in that innings still stands as
India's highest individual Test score.
Slow to adjust to one-day
cricket, he scored 36* off 60 overs against England in 1975. At the other
end of the scale, his only century, coming in his last but one one-day
match, was off 85 balls. His captaincy appeared too defensive at times,
perhaps conditioned by his many solo battles as a batsman in defence of
India. The highlights of his captaincy were a 2-0 Test win over Pakistan
in 1979-80, and a win the World Championship of Cricket in 1985.
After
having battled speedsters around the world for 16 years, his last Test
innings was a classic display against spin bowling, a 96 on a minefield at
Bangalore. His safe catching in the slips led to his being the first
Indian (excluding wicket-keepers) to take over a hundred catches. Early in
his career, he occasionally opened the bowling for India, which says more
about India's disregard for opening bowlers than anything else. After
retirement, he has been a popular, sometimes controversial commentator,
both on TV and in print.
For more information on Sunil Gavaskar
visit
www.sunilgavaskar.com
