Sunil Gavaskar
People feel that SMG is mellowing and then some new controversy comes up. So, has Gavaskar mellowed?
[Laughs] I don't know... If I feel strongly about something, I say it. The problem is, I haven't learnt to use my head when I speak or write, despite doing it for all these years. I still feel with my heart and say something and then a storm is created. Using words which cause little or no offence is a creative activity. But I write or speak from the heart and not the head.
But you can deal with criticism better now?
Because I no longer feel the pressures of performing.
From your huge experience and wisdom, what do you have to say to budding cricketers, the whole generation growing up to play for India?
Dream big and then go all out, focus all out to achieve the dream. It could be that you want to go for the moon, it could be that you want to develop a medical marvel. To achieve something, dream big, be focused and be determined.
When is the definitive autobiography coming?
Maybe I am writing too much. I have got columns and match reports, so maybe that has dulled my need to write any more. Besides, my first autobiography [Sunny Days] created a storm! Again I used my heart and not my head, perhaps the usage of words could have conveyed the same meaning without causing offence. So, if I have to write a definitive book, it would have to be honest. Some big reputations might get a bit of a dent once again. So why...
You have never pushed your son Rohan, but do you have any sense of disappointment that he could not go the distance with the India cap?
Look, I wanted him to be a good human being. For me, that was the most important thing. Being a cricketer or a doctor, engineer, journalist was his choice. I just wanted him to be content with what he was. All the feedback that I get from all those who have interacted with him is nothing but positive, which pleases me to no end. As far as his cricket is concerned, I keep teasing him all the time that his father used up all the luck, that's why he didn't have much left for him.
Now that you are a grandfather, too, that must be filling up your time quite a lot?
I travel a lot, but I try and spend whatever time I get with him. That's another part of life which you have to experience to realise how wonderful it is. I know somebody had said that if he had known grandchildren were so good, he would have had them before his own children. I can't say that because Rohan has been absolutely terrific, so it's a double whammy, a great kid as well as a great grandkid.
You batted perfectly in your career, you believe in structures and systems and temperament and in the hard logic of batting technique — everything to suggest that you are a very rational person. How do you explain your strong faith and trust in Sai Baba?
If I tried to go deep into that, I don't think people would understand. For me he is everything. He is the ultimate. Just thinking of him gives such a sense of completeness, such a sense of well-being. And the knowledge that he is looking after me is such a great sense of comfort, not just for me, but also for my whole family. It is hard to really describe it.
You have been pretty much identified as a loner, a man who lived in his own world as a player, even though cricket is a team game. But you do have a lot of friends...
If you meet my buddies or friends whom I hang out with, they’ll give you a different picture. Even during my playing days. It is an image... if you play serious and risk-free cricket, the image you get is different. Even when I played, guys knew how I was off the field. But due to my prankster habits, I really got into trouble with some of my seniors. That's a part which wasn't seen by anybody. There was no media explosion like it is now. I thank god for it.
But you have mentioned in your book that the Indian dressing room wasn't the best place to be in.
Yes, maybe on an occasion or in an odd Test match or a series. But 99.9% of the time it was an absolute honour to share the room with my teammates and play for the country. For all those guys who went out and gave it their best, it was a great honour to play with them. The happiest moments have been off the field when I went to Hyderabad in the 1980s and saw Shivlal Yadav's house. To see Roger [Binny] or Gundappa's [GR Vishwanath] house gave me a lot of pleasure. They gave it everything just like everyone else in the team, but they didn't get the endorsements or rewards that Kapil or I got, or to an extent Ravi [Shastri] and Dilip [Vengsarkar] got. But believe you me, their contribution is no less than ours. If they hadn't been in the Indian dressing room and on the field, then we wouldn't have been able to do half of what we have actually done.
So, when you look back at the 1970s and 1980s, some of the pangas, the old enmities, have been sand-papered and smoothened out?
Yes, they are. But to a great extent this was perception or speculation, not anything serious. People weren't that close to the scene and just got bits and pieces and jumped to their own conclusions. This doesn't happen in cricket only. We are all always waiting for a good story about something bad about others. I would look at it like that.
At one point of time you were considered to be mercenary, yet you had the great ability to completely compartmentalise your mental processes when you went out to bat. Was this difficult?
I don't accept to being a mercenary. I didn't play for people simply because they paid me money. Yes, I spoke on behalf of the players, for what the players' body or the fraternity felt. For a better deal. I expressed myself maybe because they made me the spokesperson and then when I became the captain I was automatically the spokesperson of the team. I did take up their issues. Even today you speak to cricket officials and explain to them, you will be surprised how much they will do it for you. You have to be completely articulate. The administrators were happy to listen to us. We also learnt that having told them to do something, we had to be patient about it, so I don't think there was too much of a problem.
Who would you pick as the all-time greats after your retirement whom you would have loved to play against?
Tendulkar and Lara are the first who come to mind. Then, of course, Shane Warne, Muthiah Muralitharan, and Wasim Akram are some who would also be right up there. Another one would be Anil Kumble. He is such an unassuming player, with 600-plus wickets and the records that he has. He is a fantastic cricketer.
Once you were seen as anti-establishment. Now you are on the governing council of the IPL and close to the BCCI, though out of the ICC...
Cricket is my life. It is heaven, therefore, to be a part of it or do something for the game. For the ICC, it was a huge honour and privilege. Despite all that, if I do feel something strongly, I still say it. See, here I go again with my heart leading my head.
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