New Delhi: Legendary batter and former Indian skipper Sunil Gavaskar turned 76 on Thursday. Regarded as one of the finest batters in Test cricket, Gavaskar remains one of the pillars of Indian cricket, who le the foundation for the country’s rise in the game.
In a 16-year career, Gavaskar played 125 Tests to amass 10,122 runs with 34 centuries, inspiring a generation of Indian batters that followed.
A member of India’s 1983 ODI World Cup winning squad led by Kapil Dev, he was also the captain of the side that lifted the 1985 Benson & Hedges Championship in Australia.
He was honoured with the Arjuna Award and Padma Bhushan and was inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame in 2009, having made his Test debut in 1971.
Fondly called the ‘Little Master’, he was conferred with the CK Nayadu Lifetime Achievement Award in 2012 by the BCCI. Known as Sunny in the cricketing fraternity, Gavaskar became a successful commentator and TV pundit after retirement in 1987
Records
The former opener remains a benchmark for modern batters as he is the first batters to score 10,000 runs in Test cricket. In 125 Tests, he scored 10,122 runs while in 108 ODIS he managed 3092.
Gavaskar also held the world record for most Test centuries (34) for nearly two decades, till Sachin Tendulkar surpassed his idol.
1️⃣9⃣8⃣3⃣ World Cup-winner 🏆
233 international matches 👍
13,214 runs in international cricket 👌
First batter to score 1️⃣0⃣0⃣0⃣0⃣ runs in Tests 🔝Here’s wishing Sunil Gavaskar – former #TeamIndia Captain & batting legend – a very Happy Birthday! 🎂👏 pic.twitter.com/mBCMwsDWcm
— BCCI (@BCCI) July 10, 2025
The right hander scored 774 runs on his debut Test series in an away series against the fearsome West Indies, a record that still stands.
His unbeaten 236 against the West Indies in Chennai in 1983 was the highest by any India batter at the time and his 108 Test catches made the first Indian non-wicketkeeper to grab a century of catches.
Gavaskar’s 127 not out against Pakistan in 1983 was the first instance of an Indian batter carrying the bat through a Test innings.
Legacy
Not only is Gavaskar regarded as one of the greatest Test openers, his record against the world’s finest fast-bowling attack of the West Indies, that too without having a helmet, makes his achievement a mighty achievement.
His technique was flawless and his concentration paralleled a monk. His grit and determination is also evident in the manner in which he tackled the four-pronged West Indies pace attack to score a record 13 hundreds on way to become a dominating batters of the 1970s and 80s.
He was primarily admired for his defensive technique, but Gavaskar could also tonk the ball as he did against the West Indies with a 94-ball century against the West Indies in 1983 in Delhi, which was the then fifth-quickest in Tests.
In ODIs, his lone century was against New Zealand (103 off 88 balls) in an 1987 ODI World Cup game in Nagpur.