Sunil Gavaskar turns 74: Revisiting Little Master's legacy in Indian cricket

Once a diminutive opener Sunil Gavaskar is doublessly among the greatest Indian cricketers to have graced the gentlemans gameThe former India captain who burst into the cricketing spotlight in his debut Test series overseas against the mighty West Indies fronting up to the fiery Caribbean quicks broke numerous batting records while setting new ones over the course of a spectacular career turned 74 on MondaySeveral of his historic and heroic innings in crickets logest and arguably the toughest format came between 1971 and 1987 Through his many memeorable knocks which came on some of the least hospitable surfaces got him among the pantheon of legendsHaving learned his first lessons with the willow in the dustbowls of Mumbai the city he was born Sunny was as much at home playing on some of the bounciest strips in the Caribbean as he was on rank turners of the Indian subcontinentAlso Read Would you drop a No 1 Test batterA distinguished member of Indias maiden World Cup winning squad of 1983 Gahaskar once held the record for scoring the most centuries in Tests The Mumbaikar who scored more than 10000 runs in redball cricket brought curtains to his career with 45 halfcenturies and 34 centuries against his nameThere is no better way to celebrate the 74th birthday of this cricketing colossus than relive some his best knocks and records some of which have stood the test of timeIn March 1987 Gavaskar became the first cricketer to reach 10000 Test runs a milestone that nobody dared imagine far less aspired to at the time By the time the legend made his curtain call and strode into the cricketing sunset the Little Master had a staggering 10122 runs against himThe number is dizzying in cricketing parlance even more so when one considers that they were made on some of most hostile of surfaces against the likes of Michael Holding Andy Goberts Joel Garner Jeff Thimpson and Denis Lillee to name a fewSunny held onto to his record for the most number of Test hundreds for a fairly long time Representing India in 125 Test matches Gavaskar scored 34 centuriesTo many the record seemed insurmountable till Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar dwarfed it in 2005The Little Master smashed 13 centuries in 27 Tests he featured in against the West Indies As history would bear witness the Caribbeans were a formidable redball team in the 70s and 80s but where most batters seem to fail or come unstuck Gavaskar triumphed and thrived on crossing batting milestones against some of the worlds most feared quicksAfter a breakthrough debut series against the West Indies in 1971 Gavaskar failed to cross the threefigure mark in his next eight Tests against EnglandBut the opener put all the doubts at rest as he struck a splendid 101 in Indias first innings of the Test tour of England in 1974 He followed that up with a halfcentury in the second innings as well but his heroics with the bat could not help India avoid defeat in the encounterGavaskar was seldom unfazed or intimidated even by the West Indian pace pack of Holding Marshall Robets and Garner He aggregated 774 runs in his debut series against the West Indies in 1971 and also had a doublecentury against his nameHe struck a century and a double century in the final Test He made 220 in Indias total of 427 in the second innings in which only one other batsman registerd a 50plus score The match ended in a draw sealing Indias historic Test first series win in the CaribbeanWhile his exploits with the willow is the stuff of legends he was shrewd fielder and a leader tooNot counting wicketkeepers he was the first Indian fielder to have achieved a milestone of a century of catches in Test cricketFor the record he took an incredible 108 catches in his Test careerWith ANI inputs