Sunil Gavaskar Birthday: A look at his most historic and remarkable achievements

Sunil Gavaskar, India’s batting hero, is regarded as one of the best cricketers the country has ever produced. In his first Test series against the powerful West Indies in the Caribbean, the opener shot to prominence. Gavaskar went on to set a number of records during the course of his illustrious career. Today (July 10), on his 74th birthday, we look at some of The Little Master’s most illustrious and historic accomplishments.

The first cricketer to score 10,000 Test runs.

Gavaskar is the first cricketer to score 10,000 runs in Tests. In March 1987, he accomplished the feat. Sunny (Gavaskar’s nickname) scored against Michael Holding, Andy Roberts, Joel Garner, Jeff Thompson, and Denis Lillee, to name a few. Before retirement, he had accumulated a total of 10,122 runs.

34 Test Centuries

Apart from becoming the first cricketer to amass over 10,000 Test runs, Gavaskar also held the record for the most tons in the game’s longer version. During his 125 Test outings, the ‘Little Master’ smashed 34 tons.

For a long time, the record appeared unbreakable until another batting hero, Sachin Tendulkar, broke it in 2005. In terms of total Test centuries, Gavaskar is third, after Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid, in the list of most centuries by Indians.

Gavaskar’s track record against the West Indies

West Indies, who did not qualify for the ICC ODI World Cup 2023, were a dominant power while Gavaskar was playing. They bragged of having one of the most potent bowling assaults, with players such as Holding, Malcolm Marshall, and Garner in their lineup.

Despite his reputation, Gavaskar put on an outstanding performance against them. He scored 774 runs in his debut series against the West Indies in 1971, remains the most by anyone in their first series, and played a crucial role in India’s first series triumph in the Caribbean. In fact, Gavaskar has the most Test hundreds against the West Indies, with 13 from 27 matches.

Fielding honors

While most of us are familiar with Gavaskar’s exploits with the willow, few are aware of his skill as a fielder. If wicketkeepers are excluded, Gavaskar is also the first Indian outfielder to have a century of catches in Tests. For the record, he caught 108 balls during his Test career.

World Cup 1983 and Cricket World Cup glory

Gavaskar was a member of the World Cup-winning team in 1983, which earned India its first silverware in the showcase tournament. Gavaskar’s career reached a new high a year later when, as captain, he guided India to victory in the World Championship of Cricket 1984-85. Surprisingly, Gavaskar’s bat remained silent in both of these series.

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