SYDNEY, Jan 6: India head coach Ravi Shastri on Wednesday described legendary batsman Sunil Gavaskar as a “technician at work” during his playing days for the way he accumulated runs in an era dominated by the fearsome West Indies fast bowlers.
Shastri unveiled a portrait of Gavaskar at the SCG ahead of the third Test against Australia beginning on Thursday. He also launched ‘India’s 71-Year Test: The Journey to Triumph in Australia’, a Bradman Museum book authored by Indian R Kaushik.
“He (Gavsaker) is easily the best of the batsmen … I had the privilege to play under him. He is the master technician at work,” Shastri said in a video uploaded by the BCCI.
“Nothing fazed him, 13 hundreds against the West Indies itself, the way he played the game.”
Shastri said Gavaskar was called Mumbai Bradman during his prime.
“The way he was getting all those hundreds and in that era getting 34 hundreds and 13 against West Indies was fabulous. It is a great tribute and honour for me (to unveil his portrait).”
Gavaskar was the first batsman to score 10,000 Test runs and he struck 34 hundreds in a career spanning 16 years. He scored 10,122 runs from 125 Tests between 1971 and 1987 at an average of 51.12. (PTI)
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