NEW DELHI: The first cricketer ever to score 10,000 runs in Test cricket, Sunil Gavaskar is one of the greats in Indian cricket.
The little master had an illustrious career spanning 16 years where he featured in 125 Tests for the country.
Gavaskar, who was predominantly a Test player, was also part of 108 ODIs where he scored 3092 runs.
However he did not have the best of times in the format, scoring a solitary century.
One such occasion when Gavaskar — the ODI batter — garnered criticism was during the 1975 World Cup match against England at Lord’s Cricket Ground.
It was the first match of the first-ever World Cup and Gavaskar played the infamous innings of 36 runs off 174 balls — a performance which is remembered for its unusually slow pace and contributing to India’s heavy defeat by 202 runs.
In that match, England, led by Mike Denness, batted first and scored 334 runs in 60 overs. Dennis Amiss was the standout performer firing a 147-ball 137 which had 18 fours in it. Keith Fletcher and Chris Old also contributed with valuable half-centuries in the contest.
The Indian team, expected to chase the total aggressively, instead struggled.
Seeing that India had no chance of chasing the target, opener Gavaskar batted extremely slowly and remained unbeaten throughout 60 overs.
The Gavaskar knock which came at a strike-rate of 20.68 frustrated his coach and captain as India finished at 132 for 3 in their 60 overs.
The India loss in the match remained the biggest one-day defeat until the 1984-85 season.
Despite his unusual knock, Gavaskar was India’s top scorer in the 1975 World Cup, amassing 113 runs at an average of 113, with his highest score 65 not out.
The little master had an illustrious career spanning 16 years where he featured in 125 Tests for the country.
Gavaskar, who was predominantly a Test player, was also part of 108 ODIs where he scored 3092 runs.
However he did not have the best of times in the format, scoring a solitary century.
One such occasion when Gavaskar — the ODI batter — garnered criticism was during the 1975 World Cup match against England at Lord’s Cricket Ground.
It was the first match of the first-ever World Cup and Gavaskar played the infamous innings of 36 runs off 174 balls — a performance which is remembered for its unusually slow pace and contributing to India’s heavy defeat by 202 runs.
In that match, England, led by Mike Denness, batted first and scored 334 runs in 60 overs. Dennis Amiss was the standout performer firing a 147-ball 137 which had 18 fours in it. Keith Fletcher and Chris Old also contributed with valuable half-centuries in the contest.
The Indian team, expected to chase the total aggressively, instead struggled.
Seeing that India had no chance of chasing the target, opener Gavaskar batted extremely slowly and remained unbeaten throughout 60 overs.
The Gavaskar knock which came at a strike-rate of 20.68 frustrated his coach and captain as India finished at 132 for 3 in their 60 overs.
The India loss in the match remained the biggest one-day defeat until the 1984-85 season.
Despite his unusual knock, Gavaskar was India’s top scorer in the 1975 World Cup, amassing 113 runs at an average of 113, with his highest score 65 not out.
