"My batting idol": Sachin Tendulkar's birthday post for Sunil Gavaskar wins hearts
Jul 10, 2023
New Delhi [India], July 10 : Legendary India cricketer Sachin Tendulkar on Monday sent a special wish to his "batting idol" Sunil Gavaskar on his 74th birthday and posted a beautiful message for the man whom he idolised growing up.
Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar, also known by the nicknames 'Sunny' and 'Little Master', is doubtlessly among the greatest Indian cricketers to have graced the gentleman's game.
The diminutive opener, 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 Monday.
"Happy birthday to my batting idol, the man we all wanted to bat like while growing up. Happy birthday, Gavaskar sir!" Sachin Tendulkar wrote on Twitter.
Several of his historic and heroic innings in cricket's longest and, arguably, the toughest format, came between 1971 and 1987. Through his many memorable knocks, which came on some of the least hospitable surfaces, got him among the pantheon of legends.
Having 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 subcontinent.
A distinguished member of India's 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 10,000 runs in red-ball cricket, brought curtains to his career with 45 half-centuries and 34 centuries against his name.
There is no better way to celebrate the 74th birthday of this cricketing colossus than relive some of his best knocks and records, some of which have stood the test of time.
In March 1987, Gavaskar became the first cricketer to reach 10,000 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 10,122 runs against him.
The '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 red-ball 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 world's most feared quicks.
Not counting wicketkeepers, he was the first Indian fielder to have achieved a milestone of a century of catches in Test cricket. For the record, he took an incredible 108 catches in his Test career.
