Indian cricketing legend Sunil Manohar Gavaskar, better known as ‘Sunny’ and ‘Little Master’, turned 73 on Sunday. The legendary batter represented India in a career that spanned from 1971 to 1987.
A member of the 1983 World Cup winning Indian team, Gavaskar holds various records in the longest format of the game. He once held the record for most centuries in Test cricket.
Gavaskar scored over 10,000 runs in Tests, scoring 45 half-centuries and 34 centuries. Today on his birthday, let us revisit some of the unbelievable milestones set by him in the game.
Sunil Gavaskar became the first cricketer to reach the milestone of 10,000 runs in Test cricket in March 1987, an incredible feat at the time. He scored a total of 10,122 runs in Tests.
He smashed 34 centuries in 125 Test matches which remained the most number of hundreds in Tests for a long time. It was broken by none other than Sachin Tendulkar in 2005.
Gavaskar scored 13 centuries in 27 matches he played against the then formidable West Indies. At a time when the world feared facing the Windies, the Little Master made them his favourite opponents.
In his debut series against West Indies in 1971, Gavaskar scored 774 runs. He also scored a double century against them in the same series.
Apart from being an impressive batter, Gavaskar was good at fielding too. Excluding wicket keepers, he became the first Indian fielder to take a century of catches in Test cricket. He has taken 108 catches in Tests in all.
