Hitman
Senior T20I Player
- Joined
- Feb 25, 2013
- Runs
- 17,340
Before anyone accuses me of posting threads from the past, I've asked the permission of the MOD's and they have permitted me to create this thread (Thanks a lot, you wonderful MOD's of this site) 
This is an article by the legendary Australian cricketer Allan Border about the legendary Sunny Gavaskar. Border wrote this piece back in 2009, but it has never been posted here on PP. So here it is -
Link: http://www.sify.com/sports/the-magnificent-sunny-news-cricket-jhkhlIcbabbsi.html

This is an article by the legendary Australian cricketer Allan Border about the legendary Sunny Gavaskar. Border wrote this piece back in 2009, but it has never been posted here on PP. So here it is -
Link: http://www.sify.com/sports/the-magnificent-sunny-news-cricket-jhkhlIcbabbsi.html
The magnificent Sunny
Allan Border, the second member of Test cricket's '10,000-run club' , pays a tribute to its founder member.
The Australian summer of 1977-78 was an eventful one.
World Series Cricket had just started, and the public was split between its allegiance to the 'establishment' and the 'rebels'.
The prominent players were missing when we took on a full-strength Indian side in a five-Test series.
India's biggest strength was their spinners.
Their batting line-up was formidable as well.
It comprised names like (Dilip) Vengsarkar, (Gundappa) Vishwanath and(Mohinder) Amarnath, and was headed by an opening batsman called Sunil Gavaskar.
A lot was expected of him, for he had been consistency personified in the previous two or three seasons.
He lived up to his billing, getting three hundreds against a reasonable attack that included Jeff Thomson, Wayne Clarke, Alan Hurst and Sam Gannon.
I first saw Sunny 'on the field' on our tour of India in 1979-80.
Technically, he was as good as good can be against quality fast bowling.
He had the technique, and more importantly, the character to come through in the most testing of conditions.
What I saw from close quarters during that tour of India impressed me no end.
He was very quick on his feet, and his run-hunger was insatiable. He always looked compact, and this trait is something not many have managed to emulate.
Sachin Tendulkar has probably come the closest.
He did struggle in Australia in 1980-81.
The captaincy may not have rested well on his shoulders. He might well have found it difficult to combine the responsibilities of opening the batting, taking tactical calls and trying to look after everyone. All of us go through a tough phase at some point in our careers.
Australia is a particularly stressful place to tour. The country is sports-mad,and there is an in-built tendency to put visiting sides under a lot of pressure.
We did get the impression after the first Test at Sydney that the Indians were wilting under the pressure. But they came back strongly and squared the series at Melbourne, dismissing us for 83 as we made a mess of a chase of 143.
Sunny deserves the credit for the turnaround.
We had some issues those days about chasing small targets, but ten wickets still had to be taken, and the Indians, Kapil Dev in particular, gave us no breathing space.
My next series against Sunny was when India toured again in 1985-86.
He was 36 at this stage, but at no stage did he seem to be affected by the 'ageing process'.
He batted in the same serene and skillful manner as he had in the 1970s to score two hundreds in the three-Test series.
He retired after the 1987 World Cup, but I am convinced he could have played international cricket for a few more years.
Nobody who saw him score 188 for the World XI in the MCC Bi-Centenary match earlier that year will disagree.
I was his 'captain' in that game, and I will never forget him handling the likes of Malcolm Marshall, Richard Hadlee, Clive Rice, John Emburey and Ravi Shastri with aplomb. That innings was, to put it simply, an epic.
If I remember correctly, he announced his retirement from first-class cricket on the evening of the second day, when he was 80 not out overnight and within striking distance of his maiden first-class hundred at Lord's.
What a way to go!
Another cherished memory is the fax he sent me after I joined him in the '10,000 club' in the 1992-93 season.
It read:
Congratulations,and welcome to club 10,000. It's good to have you as it was getting pretty lonely out here. For your information, I am sending you some of the rules of the club:
Membership is open only to players of restricted height and strokes - you have to be under five feet ten inches and you cannot play the reverse-sweep.
You must have taken at least one Test wicket.
I always enjoyed playing against India.
It was the 1979-80 tour that made me come of age as an international cricketer.
Some memories of India, like the 1987 World Cup and the 1986 tied Test, will never fade.
The decision of the Australian and Indian cricket boards to institute a trophy in our name (the Border-Gavaskar Trophy) was a great honour.
It was a pleasure to watch Sunny bat, although not when he was thriving against our bowlers!
I guess comparisons are an unavoidable fact of life, and young cricket-lovers may be curious to know how he would have measured up against the Tendulkar's and Dravid's.
All I can say is that Sunny Gavaskar can hold his head high in any company.
He made runs all over the world, on different types of wickets, and against outstanding fast bowlers. He is right there at the top.
It has been a privilege knowing him and playing with and against him. Thanks for all the memories, Sunny!