In spite of a heavy downpour the faithful turned up at the C.K. Nayudu Hall, Cricket Club of India (CCI), on Thursday evening for the Legends’ Club meeting convened to celebrate batting maestro Sunil Gavaskar’s 65th birthday.
It was an occasion for three generations of cricketers like Bapu Nadkarni, Milind Rege and Shishir Hattangadi to jog their memory and draw insights into what made Gavaskar a master technician and run-getter in Test match cricket.
``Gavaskar was to cricket like Nandu Natekar was to badminton and Krishnan to tennis. They made everything look easy. Enough has been said about his batting, but what distinguished him from the others was his decision not to use the helmet. It (to wear helmet) has become sort of mandatory today. Gavaskar relied on eye-sight and foot work. He climbed the ladder gradually from school to college and from university to first class cricket. He never forgot to play for his club Dadar Union when he was in Bombay,’’ said Nadkarni.
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The audience was taken aback when Milind Rege, Gavaskar’s childhood friend and classmate at St. Xaviers School, said he was not a prolific run getter in school and college. ``I still cannot say when exactly he became a great cricketer. We sat on the same bench in school, played school cricket and then college cricket. He did not score many runs in schools cricket, or in collegiate cricket, but then suddenly the fire in his belly started growing as he started playing inter-university cricket. During those days inter-university cricket was a very important part in the cricketers' curriculum,’’ said Rege.
Rege who played 48 first class matches for Bombay went on to say that there was intense rivalry between him and Gavaskar in school and college cricket. ``I thought Times Shield cricket was important, while for him (Gavaskar) inter-university was crucial and hence he took admission to do his Masters course. He was dropped from the Bombay team initially and spent a few matches as water boy and scorer. Probably the one thing that changed his outlook was perhaps when as a child his uncle Madhav Mantri told him not to touch his India cap unless he earned the right to wear it. He wore the Dadar Union cap in two warm up matches before the 1971 Test series in the West Indies. His temperament, powers of concentration and courage (while facing fast bowling) are unequalled,’’ Rege said adding that Gavaskar is a true legend of Indian cricket.
Former Mumbai opener Shishir Hattangadi narrated stories of his interactions with Gavaskar and recalled how the champion opener persuaded leg spinner Subhash Gupte to tweak a few deliveries during India’s net session at Trinidad in 1971. ``What was important to Gavaskar was the spirit demonstrated by Gupte in spite of his age,’’ said Hattangadi.
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