Did you know that Sify and Gavaskar enjoy a unique record?
Some seven years ago, during my stint with Sify, we decided to run Gavaskar’s columns. I got in touch with him and we had a pretty long conversation. “Look, thanks for the offer, but please remember that it would be the first time in my life I would be writing for a website. I guess, you need to write differently and I am not very confident,” he said. I told him: “Sunny bhai, you just write, we will take care of the rest.”
After Sify published his first column, he called, wanting to know if the article met our requirements. “Just right, Sunny bhai. You are batting just great,” I reassured him.
Wish Sunil Gavaskar on his birthday | Border on the magnificent Sunny
We decided on Gavaskar because he wrote his own columns unlike a majority of other celebrity cricketers who employ professional journalists as “ghost writers”.
The first of the few times I met Gavaskar was in 1984 and not in the best of circumstances. He was in Bangalore with the Indian team attending a camp ahead of a home series. The newspaper I was with as a reporter had published a scathing story on the team regarding an issue that is not worth repeating here. The article raised the hackles of the entire team that then decided to take us on in a fight to the finish.
One afternoon, I was at the desk immersed in work when a call came through to say Gavaskar and the entire team would be visiting our office for a meeting with the Editor to register their protest. I called my Sports Editor and informed him. The word spread and virtually the entire staff suddenly showed some fascination for the third floor where the Editorial department was located.
Around three in the afternoon, Gavaskar and his team marched into the hall. He had a few choice words to offer by way of greeting. Anyway, to cut the story short, nothing much came out of the confrontation and on the contrary, our paper sold a few extra copies as we published pictures of the team in the office along with a short report. I could then strut around telling my friends I had met the great Gavaskar head-on!
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The point is that Gavaskar had this special ability to rally his troops around him, a trait he often demonstrated on the field and even off it, when required. I guess, him being an opener and taking on the fearsome fast bowlers that most teams boasted of during his salad days when helmets, leave alone the chest guards, thigh pads, arm guards and helmets, were a novelty, had toughened him up. He was unafraid to make his point and did so much like he played shots against the quickest of bowlers — firmly and without ambiguity.
Even these days, as a commentator and a columnist, Gavaskar is as forthright, if not more, as he was during his playing days. He fought for equality with missionary zeal in the age-old clash of the “colours” and like Pataudi before him, sought to instill a sense of pride among the Indian players. To this day, Gavaskar is sensitive on this issue of races as he always believed that the Asians got the wrong end of the stick from the “white-dominated” ICC.
Every time I watch Gavaskar on TV or see his pictures in the newspapers, it triggers a sense of nostalgia in me. After all, my generation grew up on Gavaskar’s feats. We worshipped the ground he walked on. For me, he was the ultimate opener (and still is) — fearless, and crafty, and one who played smart. We rejoiced at each of the 34 Test centuries he scored and shed tears of joy when he became the first batsman ever to get to 10,000 runs in Tests.
His record has since been surpassed, but as in the case of the late Sir Edmund Hillary, you remember the person who achieved a milestone first. Those who knew him better often pointed out that there was a streak of selfishness in him (show me a cricketer who doesn't have it) and hence he was also referred to as “Recordkar” as he hunted down batting records. In short, he was the Tendulkar of his era.
Being short was no handicap for Gavaskar. The balance and poise coupled with impeccable technique that he constantly worked on, made him a sight to behold. He might not have been as spectacular as a Tendulkar, but in terms of effectiveness or value to the team, Gavaskar was no less.
From the time he hit the headlines with the memorable debut series against the West Indies in the Caribbean, Gavaskar was destined to greatness. To an extent, he was a trail-blazer, not just in batting terms but as a cricketer-turned-entrepreneur. He was shrewd enough to recognise the fact that his iconic status could be profitably leveraged. He wrote the famous Sunny Days on his maiden overseas tour of the Caribbean, followed by a couple of more books.
From there on, he got into writing columns and then the popular TV series on Sundays when he anchored a programme that also aired highlights of some classic matches. Thanks to him, we got to see the likes of Lillee and Thomson, Sobers and Greg Chappell. By then, he had already launched Professional Management Group (PMG) along with Sumedh Shah. In fact, Gavaskar was among the first of Indian cricketers to be professionally managed. And thanks to his pioneering efforts, the Tendulkars, the Dhonis, the Dravids and their ilk are raking in crores of rupees through endorsements and columns.
It has been a typically long innings from the great man and he is far from finished. He is only 59 not out today, and I am sure, Sunny bhai would be eyeing the century. If he is not, then he was never a batsman!
More power to your arms, Sunny, and our salutations to you on your birthday.
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