Name Hindi: सुनील गावस्कर / Gender Man
Sunil Gavaskar: The Little Master of Cricket
Born on 10th July, 1949, in Mumbai, India; Sunil Manohar ‘Sunny’ Gavaskar is a former Indian cricketer widely regarded as one of the greatest opening batsmen in cricket history. He was the first player to reach 10,000 runs in Test cricket, and he has set numerous records during his career spanning from 1971-1987.
Gavaskar’s Early Life and Career Start
Gavaskar was born into a family already involved with cricket. His father was a club-level cricketer while his maternal uncle, Madhav Mantri played for India. This early exposure nudged young Sunil towards a cricketing career.
A student of St Xavier’s College in Mumbai, Gavaskar started playing at University level. In March 1966, he got selected to play for Vazir Sultan Colts XI and achieved a scorecard displaying an impressive performance – not out at 137!
In November that same year, he made his debut for Bombay against Karnataka but failed to big scores until the final match where he scored 324 runs and shared an unbeaten partnership alongisde Ashok Mane.
International Debut & Achievements
- He made his Test debut match against West Indies on March 6th, 1971. Not only did he succeed in scoring phenomenal figures in both innings (65 & 67*), but he also helped India secure its maiden series win over the Caribbean team.
- In his first test series, Gavaskar scored an astonishing 774 runs at a batting average of 154.80, which is still the best record for a debut series.
- In 1978-79, he became the fastest and the first player to reach 10,000 Test Runs, emphasizing his proficiency in scoring ample runs consistently.
- Sunil Gavaskar served as captain of the Indian team on numerous occasions during the late ’70s and ’80s. Despite his impressive personal performance, India’s winning record under his leadership was less than remarkable with only 9 victories from 47 matches.
- His last test match was against Pakistan in Bangalore in March,1987 where he led his team successfully into victory after making an impressive score of 96 runs even when pitch conditions were far from ideal
Overall, during his career spanning over 16 years in international cricket; Sunil Gavaskar represented India in 125 Tests, notching up 10122 runs, including 34 centuries.
Beyond Cricket..!
Gavaskar retired from professional cricket in 1987 but remained involved through commentary, writing books about cricket such as Sunny Days and Idols, and serving as chairman of ICC’s Cricket Committee for many years. His contribution to sport has been widely recognized around the Globe. In fact, The Government of India conferred upon him its fourth highest civilian award – Padma Shri – and later on its third highest -Padma Bhushan- . He was also awarded Col CK Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award for Cricket in India by BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India).
While Sunil Gavaskar may have retired, his legacy in Indian cricket continues on. He remains to this day a symbol of talent, determination and class – in essence- The Great Wall of Indian Cricket.
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