Courtesy-The Better India
Sunil Gavaskar was a legendary right-handed batsman who went on to score over 10,000 Test runs for his country. Gavaskar was the first cricketer to score 10,000 runs in the longest version of the game. The former India opener was also a key asset of the squad that won the World Cup in 1983.
Gavaskar played 125 Tests in his illustrious career, amassing a total of 10,122 runs and 34 centuries. He has appeared in 108 One-Day Internationals, scoring 3,093 runs. In his first-class career, Gavaskar scored 25,834 runs.
Let’s take a look at five unknown facts:
1.Sunny Gavaskar, who was born on July 10 with a birthmark near his ear, was almost mistaken for a fisherwoman’s boy. His uncle had seen the birthmark on Sunny during a previous visit, but when he returned, he was shocked to discover that the baby in Sunny’s crib had none. His uncle eventually found the true Sunny, who was hiding in a fisherwoman’s crib, after a desperate search.
“I could never have been a cricketer, and this book would definitely not have been published, if an eagle-eyed relation, Narayan Masurekar, had not came into my life the day I was born,” he wrote in his autobiography, “Sunny Days.” about his life.
2. Sunil Gavaskar is one of the few cricketers who has received a haircut from the umpire during a match, as strange as it can seem. Yes, that is right. In 1974, when playing England at Old Trafford in exceptionally windy weather, Gavaskar was irritated by his hair covering his vision.
As a result, Gavaskar requested that the umpire, Dickie Bird, cut his hair during the match. Bird complied, trimming his hair with a pair of scissors. About the fact that India lost the match and the series, Gavaskar’s courageous 101 (apart from the haircut) was remembered.
3. March 7th, 1987 — The “little master” was the first batsman in history to cross 10,000 Test runs. In his 124th Test, he accomplished the feat against Pakistan. The match, on the other hand, resulted in a stalemate. This is the 11th meeting among arch-rivals India and Pakistan.
4. It may be pouring sixes in ODI league matches, but things were a little slower 43 years ago. Sunil Gavaskar’s slow innings of 36 runs from a whopping 174 balls in the Prudential World Cup against England took place on June 7, 1975.
With just one boundary, the opener had a strike rate of 20.68. Despite the fact that the batsman was not out in the innings, Gavaskar was unable to keep India from losing by 202 runs. Until 1984-85, it was the largest ODI win.
5. Gavaskar, who is known for not staring at the scoreboard, once skipped a landmark. What is the reason for this? He didn’t know and he didn’t know. Gavaskar was completely unaware that he had equaled Sir Don Bradman’s record of 29 centuries, which had stood for more than three decades. Gavaskar faced the relentless West Indian attack in the second Test of the six-match series and scored 121 runs in just 94 deliveries, bringing up his 29th century. The audience erupted in cheers, but Gavaskar was unimpressed and wondered what all the fuss was about. The non-striker, Dilip Vengsarkar, came to his rescue and told him of his milestone.