A file photograph of Sunil Gavaskar and Virender Sehwag
Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar, who was the first batsman to score 10,000 runs and 30 centuries in Tests, once played contrary to his style to script his name into the history books of cricket. On this day in 1983, it was during a Test match against West Indies when the Little Master decided to play as aggressive as Virender Sehwag played later at his home ground Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi.
In the second Test of the six-match series that West Indies later won 3-0, Gavaskar came out to open the innings along with Anshuman Gaekwad.
Riding a victory juggernaut, Clive Lloyd-led West Indies had already taken a 1-0 lead in the opening match. With the pressure of leading India's fightback, Gavaskar also had his eyes firmly set on the record of most Test centuries (29), set by legendary Sir Don Bradman.
The Maharashtra-based batsman, who once scored just 36 runs off 174 balls while chasing 336, went into the groove within just one hour in Delhi. It took him just 37 balls to hit a half-century, which he later converted into a hundred off 94 deliveries.
Even though Gavaskar eventually lost his wicket for 121 runs to Larry Gomes and the Test ended in a draw, his fearless approach made his innings worth remembering for generations to come.
After 35 years, India have taken the field against West Indies in the fourth ODI of the five-match series at Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai, today. India rode on belligerent centuries by vice-captain Rohit Sharma and No. 4 batsman Ambati Rayudu to post a mammoth 377 for five in their innings.
Rohit and Rayudu took centre stage after a rare failure by skipper Virat Kohli (16) to power India to the imposing total.
