Tendulkar recalled his first interaction with Gavaskar. It was a handwritten letter by the former India skipper asking him not to lose heart for not having won an award.
Bandra’s Rangsharda Auditorium came alive on Thursday with Sachin Tendulkar and Amitabh Bachchan honouring Sunil Gavaskar and GR Vishwanath on their completion of 60 years.
Tendulkar recalled his first interaction with Gavaskar. It was a handwritten letter by the former India skipper asking him not to lose heart for not having won the award for the ‘Best Junior Cricketer’ in a particular year.
During the 1987 World Cup, when Sachin was a ball boy, Gavaskar took him to the dressing room and introduced him to the team. In his own words, this rare honour made Tendulkar “feel like a tiger.”
The event, aptly titled 60 Not Out, and organised by Ti Ra Ki Ta Dha, revived the fond memories of the veterans through an audio-visual montage of friends, family and contemporaries like Aunshuman Gaekwad, Sandip Patil and Syed Kirmani among others sharing anecdotes, both hilarious and inspiring. Ajit Wadekar, BS Chandrasekhar and Vasu Paranjpe too were present at the function.
Bachchan conveyed his best wishes to the two maestros and lauded their contribution to the game. “I would love to be associated with the game, this national pride. Every birthday we greet each other,” Bachchan said of Gavaskar. When asked what role he would prefer if given a chance to be reborn, Gavaskar said he would like to be a fast bowler.
Gavaskar’s uncle Madhav Mantri, who is India’s oldest living Test cricketer, also shared an anecdote with the gathering. After one of his matches, Gavaskar happened to meet Madhav. When asked about the score, Sunny said that he scored a double century and then got dismissed as he thought he could afford to do so after making 200.
Mantri told him the team requires him at every point of the game and he should be responsible enough not to lose his wicket.
A few months later, Gavaskar went on to break Vijay Merchant’s record with a triple ton. Guess what, the ‘changed’ lad showed restraint and batted responsibly by not poking at a ball just outside the off-stump in an attempt to save his wicket. The same Gavaskar went on to become one of Test cricket’s greatest batsmen ever.
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