NEW DELHI: Amitabh Bachchan was captivating the audience with ‘Zanjeer’ and ‘Deewar’ while Kishore Kumar was belting out iconic chartbusters during those heady days of ’70s. And what was Sunil Gavaskar doing? He was carrying a young nation’s hopes on his shoulders, using cricket as a metaphor for life, giving a lesson or two in “how to fight a good fight”.
Come March 6, Gavaskar will complete 50 years of his association with Indian cricket five decades when he has remained ever-relevant taking on a variety of roles.
“Mr Bachchan still is India’s greatest icon and the late Kishore Kumar is evergreen and unforgettable. So if you ask me, I am humbled to have been even thought of in the same bracket,” Gavaskar told PTI in an exclusive interview on the eve of the 50th anniversary of his Test debut in the West Indies.
So, how was the feeling when he walked in to face the Caribbean attack on this day five decades back at the Port of Spain. “There was elation at finally being able to wear my country’s cap. There was nervousness too because we were playing a team led by the greatest, Sir Gary Sobers.” His 774 runs in his debut series have stood the test of time but when Gavaskar looks back, he feels that he would have been happy to score even 400 runs. But it did feel surreal at that time, didn’t it? “It sure took a long time to sink. All I wanted at that stage was not to make a fool of myself. If I had scored even 350 to 400 runs I would have been satisfied,” Gavaskar said.
—PTI

Press Trust of India