"He comes and says 'Hello Bunny, how are you?" - Sunil Gavaskar recalls hilarious story involving Allan Border ahead of 2024-25 BGT
It is no secret that the blockbuster India-Australia Test series trophy is named after legendary batters Sunil Gavaskar and Allan Border. While the duo dominated the batting records in the 1980s, Gavaskar recalled the time Border got one up over him with the ball, and how he never fails to remind him of it to this day.
In one of the first Test matches of his career at the end of 1979, Border, with his part-time slow left-arm spinners, dismissed Gavaskar in the sixth Test of the series at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. Yet, the batter had already a majestic 123 to help India reach 458-8 declared in their first innings.
Talking to 7 Cricket ahead of the upcoming India-Australia series, Gavaskar recalled the hilarious story about Border calling him his 'Bunny'.
"Well, because he's (Border) got me out, that's the problem. You see, he's got me out. So you know, I am reminded of it every time I bump into him. He comes and says 'Hello Bunny, how are you?' What do I say to that?," said Gavaskar.
"I never got a chance to bowl to him. If I got a chance to bowl to him and get him out it might have been different. But you know he's a little, you know, things that you know, used to come in and do this and bowl. And can you imagine he got one ball to turn, and I played that down the wrong line, top edge and I was out," he added.
Despite Border's brief moment of joy, India won the outing by an innings and 100 runs. They also won the six-match Test home series by a 2-0 margin.
Meanwhile, the next edition of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy begins in Perth on November 22.
A look back on Sunil Gavaskar and Allan Border's Test careers
Sunil Gavaskar and Allan Border were the two pioneers of Test batting in the second half of the 1970s and the entire 1980s.
Gavaskar was the first-ever player to breach the 10,000-run mark in Tests and finished his illustrious career with 10,122 runs. Meanwhile, Border overtook the Indian legend's tally in 1993 and finished with 11,174 runs - the most Test runs until Brian Lara broke the record.
The duo also combined for 61 Test centuries with Gavaskar smashing 34 and Border 27. The champion Indian batter ended with a slightly better average of 51.12 in his 125 Tests, compared to Border's 50.56 in 156 outings.