Sunil Gavaskar

Diminutive and masterful

Gavaskar is the most successful of all opening batsmen. Compact and possessed of infinite patience and an exemplary technique at 21 he announced his genius by scoring 774 runs at 154.80 in his first series in the West Indies. Equally proficient off front and back foot he was always beautifully balanced and boasted an impregnable defence.

Credited for teaching his teammates and their successors the virtue of unconditional professionalism he shattered records throughout his career. While some of them have fallen to other acknowledged masters he realised an ambition to score 10,000 Test runs. A captain of India he overtook Don Bradman's record of 29 Test centuries. Subsequently his mark of 34 hundreds was eclipsed by his protégé Sachin Tendulkar.

'I grew up watching Sunil Gavaskar, he has always been one of my heroes - his solid technique, defence, concentration and grit ... it was always fantastic to watch him.' Sachin Tendulkar

'Concentration was his greatest weapon, and he could concentrate when other cricketers were easily distracted'. Mihir Bhose

The Stats

Gavaskar showed a generation of young batsmen around the world how to bat correctly. His technical soundness and ability to adapt his batting to the circumstances required were exemplary. He also earned widespread respect for his courage and determination against hostile bowling. In the end he inspired the Indian people with his achievements.

Did you know?

Gavaskar was top scorer for his Team on 60 occasions. This is 28% of his 214 Innings, the highest proportion of any batsman who has scored 8,000 Test runs.