While fans and colleagues from cricket and commentary pour in birthday wishes, let's have a look at some facts you didn't know about Sunil Gavaskar.
The month of July surely marks the birthdays of three of India's greatest icons. Which starts from MS Dhoni's birthday on July 7 is followed by Sourav Ganguly's a day later on July 8. Then with a day's gap, India's original 'Little Master' - Sunil Gavaskar - was born on July 10.
Celebrating his 72nd birthday, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) were one of the first to convey their wishes to the legendary former India captain.
"1983 World Cup-winner. 233 international games. 13,214 international runs. First batsman to register 10,000 runs in Tests. Here's wishing Sunil Gavaskar - former #TeamIndia captain & one of the finest batsmen to have ever graced the game - a very happy birthday," the BCCI tweeted.
1983 World Cup-winner
— BCCI (@BCCI) July 10, 2021
233 international games
13,214 international runs
First batsman to register 10,000 runs in Tests
Here's wishing Sunil Gavaskar - former #TeamIndia captain & one of the finest batsmen to have ever graced the game - a very happy birthday. pic.twitter.com/8tQeMlCbSn
While fans and colleagues from cricket and commentary alike pour in wishes for the man, let's have a look at some facts you didn't know about Gavaskar.
1. Almost switched at birth
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India would have surely missed one of the greatest Test batsmen if his uncle had not noticed the simple birthmark missing. Sunny Gavaskar, who was born with a birthmark near his ear on July 10, had revealed that he was almost switched at birth with a fisherwoman's baby.
His uncle, who had visited Sunny earlier had spotted the birthmark on him but during his next visit, saw that the baby in the crib didn't have one. Soon after a frantic search, his uncle managed to locate him in a fisherwoman's crib.
Gavaskar in his autobiography, "Sunny Days", had written, "I may never have become a cricketer and this book would certainly not have been written, if an eagle-eyed relation, Narayan Masurekar, had not come into my life the day I was born.
"It seems that Nan-Kaka (as I called him), who had come to see me in hospital on my first day in this world, noticed a little hole near the top of my left earlobe," he added.
"The next day he came again and picked up the baby lying on the crib next to my mother. To his utter horror, he discovered that the baby did not have the hole on the left earlobe. A frantic search of all the cribs in the hospital followed, and I was eventually located sleeping blissfully beside a fisherwoman, totally oblivious of the commotion I had caused! The mix-up, it appears, followed after the babies had been given their baths," he concluded.
He had narrated the same incident in Gaurav Kapur's show "Breakfast With Champions": (hear from 9:15)
2. Getting a haircut during a match
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Sunil Gavaskar had got a haircut from the umpire in the course of a match. While batting against England, the conditions were extremely windy at Old Trafford in 1974, and Gavaskar was miffed with his hair blocking his sight.
Soon after, Gavaskar asked the umpire, Dickie Bird, to trim his hair, while the match was on. Bird obliged and with a pair of scissors, he had kept to cut the threads from the seam of the cricket ball cut his hair.
Though India lost the match and the series, Gavaskar's 101 and his haircut stood out.
3. Became first batsman to score 10,000 Test runs
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What can Sunil Gavaskar not do. The Little Master on March 7, 1987, became the first batsman to score 10,000 Test runs. He achieved this feat against Pakistan, his 124th Test. As for the match, it ended in a draw and it was the 11th in a row between arch-rivals India and Pakistan.
The clash saw Pakistan score 395 runs in the first innings, with Ijaz Faqih scoring 105. He was supported by Imran Khan who scored 72 runs. Among the bowlers, Shivlal Yadav claimed 4 wickets.
India, in reply, scored 323 runs with Gavaskar (63) and Dilip Vengsarkar (109) doing the most work. Indian bowlers were seen struggling in the final innings of the match as Pakistan scored 135 runs in 99 overs.
4. Sunil Gavaskar did not celebrate a milestone
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Once on the pitch, Gavaskar never looked at the scoreboard, and this lead to him not celebrating a milestone he achieved.
According to a report published in Free Press Journal, Gavaskar was clueless after he had equalled Sir Don Bradman's record. He had scored his 29th century, a record that stood for more than three decades.
5. Sunil Gavaskar - The actor
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Sunny Gavaskar - the cricketer, the commentator, and also the actor. Gavaskar played a lead part in a Marathi film, Saavli Premachi (1974).
He was also seen with Naseeruddin Shah in the movie Malamaal.
