MUMBAI: Former Indian skipper Sunil Gavaskar got a nice gift on the occasion of his 64th birthday on Wednesday, as he became the fourth Indian cricketer to be inducted into the Legend’s Club at the Cricket Club of India.
The club, a brainchild of Late BCCI president Raj Singh Dungarpur, was started in 2003, with the intention of celebrating the careers of some of the greats of Indian cricket such as Vijay Merchant, Vijay Hazare and Vinoo Mankad.
Gavaskar couldn’t make it to the function as he is in the UK. However, there was no better person than Ravi Shastri, to do the honours. Shastri, who has spent close to 30 years of his life with Gavaskar, as a player and broadcaster. He took over the microphone to regale the audience with some lesser known anecdotes about the legendary opener.
Speaking passionately, Shastri brought to light Gavaskar’s on-field tussle with the fiery Malcolm Marshall during India’s tour of West Indies, prior to the 1983 World Cup.
Recalling an on-field incident, Shastri said, “Sunny had not scored many runs in the first two Tests. In the third Test at Georgetown, Marshall was bowling round the wicket to him. He bowled a nasty bouncer which hit Sunny smack on the forehead and ricocheted eight or ten feet towards the bowler. None of the West Indian players inquired about how Gavaskar was feeling. That was how ruthless they were. The next delivery was hit straight past the bowler for four. Sunny went on to score an unbeaten 147.”
Former Mumbai captains Milind Rege and Shishir Hattangadi, who were also present, spoke on the Little Master and paid him rich tributes.
