NAGPUR: In his long and illustrious career as a player and then as commentator Sunil Gavaskar‘s life is full of achievements. He has created several records and quite a few of them were surpassed by the younger generation over a period of time.
The 68-year-old narrated quite a few interesting anecdotes during his felicitation function organized by Padmagandha Pratishthan in city on Saturday.
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The legendary opener recalled an incident that happened a few years ago when noted statistician Mohandas Menon called him to tell that one of his records was broken by Ricky Ponting. Gavaskar joked that no one could break his record of getting out on duck on the first ball of the innings. However, Menon said that record was also taken over by a Bangladesh batsman.
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The former India captain recalled about one of those ducks in Birmingham. “It was swinging prodigiously that day. I tried to move my bat away but the ball kissed my gloves on way to keeper’s gloves. I didn’t wait for umpire’s decision and walked,” Gavaskar said.
“During the lunch time, the umpire called me. I was surprised as I had walked quietly after edging the ball. He yelled at me, ‘What do you think you were doing young man?’ I said was trying to leave that ball. But he wasn’t interested in my technique.
“He said that it was his first Test and on the first ball he got a chance to raise the finger to give the batsman out. But as I walked off he was denied of the privilege of raising the finger,” Gavaskar recounted evoking a huge laughter from the audience.
Gavaskar has always been known for his composure and focus. The stage had a huge poster of the little master, playing his trademark straight drive, which captured those elements to perfection.
Prashant Vaidya, who was one of the guest, recollected how he met Gavaskar for the first time as a youngster at Ravi Bhavan in 1983 and then went on share the dressing room with him.
“I still remember when I got the chance to play for Dadar Union as an 18-year-old. But only 10 of our players turned up for the first match. Our coach Vasu (Paranjpe) sir called Gavaskar Sir and asked him to play if he wasn’t busy. To my surprise, Gavaskar Sir readily agreed. In fact, my first wicket in Mumbai was caught Gavaskar bowled Vaidya,” Vaidya told the audience.
Gavaskar said he will take mementoes with him as a token of love and affection and urged the audience to shower the same on the Indian cricket team. “Virat Kohli and his team is doing wonderfully well. They have some challenging series ahead followed by 2019 World Cup. Please keep supporting the team,” he said.
source http://hdsportsnews.com/when-sunil-gavaskar-didnt-let-umpire-raise-finger/
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