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The Rediff Special /Celebrating Sunil Gavaskar

'We were the best of mates...'

My association with Sunil (Gavaskar) goes back to 1966, when I was playing for Pune University and Sunil played for Bombay University.

I was a resident of Pune at the time, and we used to keep meeting during tournaments. We played together for the West Zone in the Vizzy trophy, before ending up opening the innings together for the country.

Sunil has always been a great friend to me. During the early days of our association itself, it was clear to me that Sunil was destined to be a great player. He was different from all of us -- his temperament was astounding, his hunger for runs always indicated that he was destined to break many batting records -- which, as it happened, he eventually did.

I got close to Sunil when we played in the Duleep Trophy in 1969. After that I played with him in '72-'73, when the English team under Tony Lewis visited India. I was unceremoniously dropped from the side after that, and it was only in 1977 that I opened with Sunil.

From there on, we opened for India regularly till 1980-'81. Sunil in his playing days was a superb batsman, with the complete technique an opening batsman needs.

We developed an unspoken understanding, which was based on our friendship. I was closest to him during those days. He would confide in me, about everything under the sun -- his cricket, his captaincy, even his personal problems. He often consulted me about his game, and I say this with the utmost modesty.

We always motivated each other while playing, and indulged in a lot of pep talks during and before the matches. We egged each other on to spend more time at the crease, to score more.

I recall now two great innings that we shared. Though we had a number of century partnerships, these two remain firmly in my mind because these innings were played under great pressure and tough conditions.

In 1978, we were playing Pakistan in Lahore, and trailing by 340-odd runs. Sitting in the dressing room before going out to bat, Sunil and I decided that we must save the side from an innings defeat, and we were determined to hang in there. Though we both were under immense pressure, the moment we looked at each other we found ourselves even more determined to succeed. And we nearly saved the game, with Sunil and I sharing a record partnership of 192-odd runs for the first wicket.

We saw the second new ball off, and were by that stage very sure that we could save the game. But both of us were out to bad decisions. I was given out caught behind while Sunil was given marching orders for a bat-pad appeal.

We failed to draw the game by just a few minutes.

The other innings that I treasure was the one we played at the Oval, England, in 1979. It was the fourth Test and we needed to score 437 to win. Doing that would have been a world record. In fact, India alone had at that point chased a score of over 400 to win a Test.

We took guard under great pressure, because the task was monumental -- hang in there to save the game, try and get 437 to win it. All through our partnership, we constantly talked to each other, egging each other on. If either of us lost our concentration, the other guy would be walking down the pitch with words of caution.

We scored 213 for the first wicket. And from a stage of possible defeat, we nearly won the Test for India. As it happened, we drew -- falling short of the huge target by just 8 runs.

I remember another incident, during the last Test, in 1979, against Pakistan. We needed 80-odd runs to win. After stroking the ball into the outfield we ran two runs, and Sunil turned back for the third run but I refused.

In a sudden fit, he screamed at me and I replied to him that the reason why I refused the third run was that I wanted him to do well and hit his way out of bad form.

Sunil was often compared to another legendary batsman, Sir Geoffrey Boycott. I personally rate Sunil much higher than Boycott. Boycott was very boring to watch, whereas Sunil had an array of attractive shots, which marked him ahead of Boycott.

Sunil Gavaskar was a very patient and gutsy batsman. His temperament and technique helped him make a niche for himself. But most importantly, it was his confidence in his ability that pushed him up the ladder compared to other batsman of his time. There were times when he, like most other batsmen, ran into bad form. But he never let it get to him. He still had the same assured gait and exuded the same confidence when he walked out to take guard.

He never let the opposition bowler know, from his body language, if he wasn't feeling one hundred per cent confident. And it was this that helped him recover from temporary lapses of form or confidence.

Sunil Gavaskar was an attacking captain when he wanted to be, but overall he could be pretty defensive. I would definitely not rank him as a great captain. Bishen Singh Bedi was too attacking a captain and he paid the price for it. Though Ajit Wadekar is one of India’s most successful captains, I think he was too defensive, besides being a very jittery leader of men.

In the captaincy stakes, Tiger Pataudi for me For me Tiger Pataudi still stands head and shoulders above any of the captains India has ever had. One must take into account the fact that Pataudi led a unit of individuals who were not very talented. He hardly had a bowling attack with which to bowl sides out, yet the way he handled the limited resources speaks volumes of his leadership qualities. With the exception of Ramakant Desai, he never had a genuine fast bowler. Tiger himself was a great player, who could and did lead by example.

Coming back to Sunil Gavaskar, we’ve had great times together. We partied a lot together, since we were the best of mates. In fact, other players were envious of our friendship, the reason for this being that Sunil was in general a very reserved kind of person, always keeping to himself. Yet, there was no topic we did not discuss while we were together, and I was usually the first person whom he would drag along to a party.

But there was one thing I disagreed with him about, and that was the fact that he had very strong likes and dislikes. If he did not like someone, he would make it obvious and he would never be able to take a moderate view on that.

I wish him all the best on his 50th birthday, and through this piece, I'll take my chance to tell him that I enjoyed every moment of our association, both on and off the field.

As told to Faisal Shariff

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