Little Master Sunil Gavaskar turns 69 today. Gavaskar, the former Indian captain, was one of the finest players to have graced the gentleman’s game. In his 16 year long career he made and broke innumerable records. Let us take a look at the 10 interesting records that the Little Master held.
1. First to reach 10,000 Test runs –The Mumbaikar completed the milestone on 7 March 1987 against Pakistan at Ahmedabad. He has amassed 10,122 Test runs.
2. 34 Test Centuries : Gavaskar broke Sir Don Bradman’s record of 29 Test centuries in December 1983. He scored a total of 34 Test Centuries only to be broken by another Master- Sachin Tendulkar.
3. Most Runs by an opening batsman : The Little Master scored the most 9,607 runs as an opener. The record was recently breached by England’s Alastair Cook.
4. Most Runs in a Test Series : Gavaskar still holds the highest aggregate by a player in a Test Series. He piled up a mountain of 774 runs in 4 matches against the mighty WestIndies attack. Interestingly, it was his debut series.
5. Most Runs by a batsman against WestIndies: The Carribean attack in the 80s was nothing but ferocious. Micheal Holding, Malcolm Marshall, Charlie Griffin, Andy Roberts formed a formidable pace attack. Those days batsman had no protection and there was no limit on the bouncers. Inspite such hurdles, Gavaskar scored 2,749 Test runs against WestIndies.
6. Most Centuries against a particular opponent: Gavaskar is second in the list of most centuries against a particular opponent. He has scored 13 Test Centuries against WestIndies. Sir Don Bradman tops the chart with 19 centuries against England.
7. Highest score for an Indian in Tests: The Little Master’s brilliant innings of 236 not out against WestIndies in Chennai, 1983 was the highest score for an Indian in Test cricket. It was broken by VVS Laxman against Australia in 2001 when he scored 281 in a historic Test match at Kolkata’s Eden Garden.
8. First Indian to carry his bat throughout the innings: Gavaskar was the first Indian to open the innings and remain not out to the very end. He scored 127* against Pakistan in Faisalbad.
9. Lowest Strike Rate in an ODI innings: In the 1975 World Cup against England, Gavaskar scored 36* off 174 balls at a strike rate of 20.68. This remains the lowest strike rate for any player in an ODI innings of minimum 100 balls.
10. Maiden ODI century : The Little Master took 13 years and 110 days to register his first ODI century. This is the longest span between a player’s debut and maiden ODI hundred.
