Former Indian cricket team star Karsan Ghavri revealed the power and prestige Sunil Gavaskar used to enjoy during his playing days. Gavaskar is considered to be one of the best batters to play Test cricket ever and Ghavri narrated a stunning story about the legend. A particularly infamous moment in Gavaskar’s career came during the 1975 World Cup when he scored 36 off 174 balls against England. Ghavri said that several people in the dressing room were not happy with his approach and even asked Gavaskar to change his game but the legendary cricketer remained adamant.
“We, as Indian cricketers, did not know how to play one-day cricket. In the first match, England scored 334, but when we came to bat, Sunil played out all 60 overs in that particular match. So many times, messages were sent, asking him to either accelerate or get out, trying to pick the pace. But Sunil Gavaskar was Sunil Gavaskar in the 1970s. He wouldn’t listen to anyone.”
“He just played out Tony Grieg, Geoff Arnold, Chris Old and Bob Willis. The reason he gave after the match was, ‘I was facing these guys, practising against them for the Test matches in the future’. There was turmoil in the dressing room. When our manager asked him, Gavaskar said ‘Leave me alone’,” Ghavri told Vickey Lalwani on his YouTube channel.
Ghavri shared another incident when Gavaskar refused to meet the Prime Minister of India in order to concentrate on his batting.
“Sunil Gavaskar was all set. Padded up. He was sitting in the dressing room and concentrating. Raj Singh Dungarpur was there, and in the meantime, he was concentrating. Sunil was about to go out and bat in a few minutes. Raj Singh said ‘Come on, everyone. The Prime Minister is here. The introduction will take place. It will take just 2-3 minutes.’ Everybody went out, but Sunil said, ‘I am not coming’. He said, ‘Let me concentrate. My batting is important for me and my team.’ They left him alone.”
“Sunil batted till tea, and scored some runs also. At the end of the day’s play, we didn’t know that the PM had come to the dressing room only to meet Gavaskar. This is how Sunil Gavaskar, in his prime, right from 1971 to 1987, was always a champion. He could get away with murder.”