SUNIL GAVASKAR is born on July 10, 1949 at
Mumbai, Maharashtra.
His nickname is Sunny, He was a cricket player
during the 1970s and 1980s for Bombay and India.
He is considered one of the greatest opening
batsmen in the sport's history.
He made a spectacular test debut in 1971 scoring
774 runs in his first test series against the West
Indies helping India win for the first time in the
Caribbean.
From then until his retirement in 1987 he was a
mainstay of the Indian batting line-up.
In 1983 Gavaskar broke one of the oldest and most
prestigious records in the game: Donald Bradman's
29 test centuries.
Gavaskar is the only player to score centuries in
each innings three times.
Gavaskar was also the first batsman to reach
10,000 test runs and held the record for the most
number of runs until it was broken by Allan
Border.
Gavaskar was captain of the Indian team on several
occasions in the late 70's and early 80's though
here his record is more mixed.
Often equipped with weak bowling attacks he
tended to use conservative tactics which resulted in
a large number of draws.
Still he had several successes as captain especially
a 2-0 victory over Pakistan in 1979 and a victory
in the World Championhip of Cricket held in
Australia in 1985.
On the downside there was a heavy defeat against
Pakistan in 1982 which cost him the captaincy until
the 1984/85 home series against England.
Overall he played 125 test matches and scored
10,122 runs at an average of 51.12.
He scored 34 centuries and 45 half-centuries with a
highest score of 236 not out.
His solid and defensive style of play was less suited
to the shorter form of the game, at which he had
less success.
He famously scored an ignominous 36 not out
carrying his bat through the full 60 overs in his ODI
debut in 1974 against England.
Overall he played 108 ODI matches and scored
3092 runs at an average of 35.13 with one century
and 27 half-centuries and a highest score of 103
not out.
He was named Wisden Cricketer of the Year in
1980 and has also been awarded the Padma
Bhushan. He has served as the Sheriff of Mumbai
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