Sunil Gavaskar's Debut in International Cricket

A man who labelled his wicket priceless, a man with an incredibly near to perfect technique, a man with immense focus and concentration. A man named Sunil Gavaskar could easily be placed as the best opening batsman of all time. He was the text book model batsman who probably never threw his wicket. He became the first man to score 10,000 runs in Test cricket and also became the first man to go past the 100 run mark in Test cricket for more than 30 times. He played a crucial role in many historic wins for India, he was also part of the 1983 World Cup winning team and later he retired from international cricket after losing the semi finals of the 1987 World Cup. 

Sunny as he is fondly known as first came into notice after he was named the Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year, 1966. He made his first class debut for Vazir Sultan Colts XI and remained in Bombay squad for 2 years without playing even a single game. Finally he was presented with an opportunity in the 1968/69 season but he failed to capitalize and was not able to even open his account. But he bounced back with a bang with three centuries which booked him a ticket for the flight to the Carribean tour of 1971.

Infection in his finger defied him from a getting his first Test cap in the first Test match of the series. After recovering from the infection he made his debut in the second Test on March 6, 1971, in which he scored 65 in the first innings and an unbeaten 67 in the second innings to chase the target down. This was India’s first ever Test victory over The West Indies and after this India did not lose any match in the series resulting in a historic series win for India. In his first Test only he showed the signs of a legend in making, but there was lot to come ahead in the series from him. He scored 3 centuries, 3 half centuries and a double century on the tour. He also became only the second Indian batsman to score centuries in both innings of the Test after Vijay Hazare.