One of the greatest batters of all time, Sunil Gavaskar, is a name synonymous with absolute discipline, grit and perseverance on the field.
In red-ball cricket, Gavaskar’s stature is arguably unmatched in Indian cricket. His ability to deal with bowlers of absolute top quality, producing fearless batting irrespective of the conditions, remains unmatched. While Gavaskar belongs to the generation of purists, in comparison to modern T20-styled cricket, even he knew the importance of adapting oneself in dire situations. During a 1981-82 Ranji Trophy game, the original Little Master actually batted left-handed in order to thwart the threat posed by the bowler.
Reverse sweeps, switch hits and similar forms of shots weren’t as common when Gavaskar used to bat for India, especially in red-ball cricket. But, during a Ranji Trophy game in Bengaluru, Gavaskar turned into a left-hander in order to counter the threat posed by left-arm orthodox spinner Raghuram Bhat, who had already taken 8 wickets in the first innings as Bombay scored 271 runs.
In the second innings, Bhat had already ripped through the Bombay top-order, taking 5 wickets. Gavaskar, the team’s Mr. Dependable, knew he had to do something.
Bombay were staring at a defeat, and all Karnataka needed was the remaining 5 wickets to qualify for the final. The strategy for Bhat was simple, to target the rough patch on the pitch, which had troubled right-handers the entire match.
Gavaskar, however, had an ace up his sleeve. He decided to bat left-handed against Bhat. As a left-handed batter, the ball pitching in the rough would now turn into Gavaskar’s pads rather than away toward the slips. This allowed him to use his pads and bat safely without the risk of edging the ball off the outside edge.
What was truly majestic is that Gavaskar would turn into a right-hander again whenever a right-arm bowler would come to bowl from the other end of the pitch. He batted for over 60 minutes left-handed, scoring an unbeaten 18 runs.
Together with teammate Ghulam Parkar, Gavaskar safely carried Bombay to 218/9 by the close of play on the final day, leaving Karnataka frustrated.
Gavaskar revealed his decision to bat left-handed in a chat with Open magazine. He said: “The ball was turning square and Raghuram Bhat was pretty much unplayable on that surface. Since he was a left-hand orthodox spinner getting the ball to turn and bounce sharply away from the right-handers, I thought that the way to counter that was by playing left handed where the ball would turn and bounce but hit the body harmlessly (without the risk of getting out leg before wicket).”
“I could understand the adverse reactions,” Gavaskar says. “It was felt that it was done in pique, but it was nothing like that at all. I felt I had zero chance against Raghu batting right handed, and since the match was already decided in Karnataka’s favour, I tried the tactic. If the match was in the balance, I certainly would not have batted left handed. Also, please remember I batted left handed only against Raghuram Bhat. When a right hand spinner (B Vijayakrishna) came along, I switched to batting right handed again.”