Cricketing fraternity shower wishes as Sunil Gavaskar celebrates 74th birthday
Sunil Gavaskar was the first batsman in test cricket history to score over 10,000 runs.
Sunil Gavaskar, one of the best openers in history and the first batsman to accumulate 10,000 runs in test cricket, is celebrating his 74th birthday, today on July 10, 2023. He was born on July 10th, 1949 in Mumbai.
Sunil Gavaskar was a talented and technically sound batter who made huge runs in Indian domestic cricket for Mumbai and his club Dadar Union.
This led to him being named in the Indian squad for the West Indies tour of 1971. He didn’t play in the first Test match of the five-Test series but made his Test debut in the second Test match.
He went on to score 774 runs in his 4 Tests, still a record for most runs by a batter in a debut Test series, which included two centuries and a double century. In the final Test of the series, he struck a century and a double century, making 220 in India's second innings, with only one other batsman crossing the 50-runs mark.
This also started his love affair with the West Indies, as he scored heavily against the fierce pace attack of the Caribbean, wearing just a skull cap. His dominance against the West Indies was particularly notable, as he smashed 13 centuries in 27 Tests against them.
Sunil Gavaskar also captained the Indian team in patches, leading the team in a total of 47 matches, winning 9 and losing 8, while 30 matches ended in a draw.
Sunil Gavaskar and his numerous records
Sunil Gavaskar was consistent in his batting and scored heavily everywhere in the world. In 1983-84 season, he broke Sir Don Bradman’s record of 29 Test centuries and eventually finished with 34 tons in his Test career.
This record was later broken by his fan-turned-cricketer, Sachin Tendulkar in 2005 against Sri Lanka.
He was part of the Indian team which won the 1983 World Cup in England under the captaincy of Kapil Dev.
As a captain, he was decent, but led India to its second multi-nation tournament win, when they won the Benson and Hedges World Championship of Cricket in Australia in 1985 with Pakistan, Australia, England, and New Zealand being the other teams.
In his final Test series against Pakistan, Gavaskar became the first batter in Test history to complete 10,000 runs and was the first Indian to play more than 100 consecutive Test matches. He retired from the game after the 1987 World Cup at home when India lost to England in the semi-final.
However, in the same tournament, against New Zealand, Gavaskar scored his only ODI hundred which came in 80-odd balls.
In all, he participated in 125 Test matches and amassed 10,122 runs, including 34 centuries and a best of 236*, for an average of 51.10. Additionally, he participated in 108 ODIs, scoring 3092 runs with one century at an average of 35.1.
Currently, Gavaskar is omnipresent as a commentator and media personality and often writes columns for various newspapers, notably the mid-day.
As he celebrates his 74th birthday today, here are some of the wishes he received from cricket fraternity and fans.
Checkout the wishes here:
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