Sunil Gavaskar celebrates 74th birthday: A look at 'Little Master's historic and most memorable feats

India batting legend Sunil Gavaskar ranks among the best cricketers the country has produced. The opener burst into the spotlight in his debut Test series against the mighty West Indies in the Caribbean. During the course of his stellar journey, Gavaskar went to set several records, and on his 74th birthday, which is today (July 10), we take a look at some of his historic and most memorable feats achieved by The Little Master.

First cricketer to reach 10,000 Test runs

Gavaskar is the first cricketer to accumulate 10,000 runs in Test cricket. He achieved the feat in March 1987. Gavaskar scored the runs against the likes of Michael Holding, Andy Roberts, Joel Garner, Jeff Thompson and Denis Lillee, to name a few. He gathered a total of 10,122 runs before retiring.

34 Test tons

Apart from becoming the first cricketer to gather over 10,000 Test runs, Gavaskar also held on to the record for the most number of tons in the longer format of the game. The 'Little Master' slammed 34 tons in the 125 Test appearances he made in his career.

The record looked invincible for a long period until another batting legend Sachin Tendulkar achieved it in 2005. If we look at the overall tally, Gavaskar's stands third after Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid in the list of most centuries by Indians in Tests.

Gavaskar's record against West Indies

West Indies, who failed to qualify for the ICC ODI World Cup 2023, were a major force at the time when Gavaskar used to play. They boasted of being one of the fiercest bowling attacks with the likes of Holding, Malcolm Marshall, Garner featuring in their line-up.

Despite the reputation, Gavaskar put up a supreme show against them. He mustered 774 runs in his debut series against the West Indies back in 1971 - still for the most runs by anyone in their maiden series - also playing a key role in helping India seal their first series win in the Caribbean. In fact, Gavaskar has the most number of Test centuries against West Indies, which stands at 13 from 27 matches.

Fielding accolades

While most of us are aware of Gavaskar's exploits with the willow, not many know how shrewd a fielder he was. If we exclude the wicketkeepers, Gavaskar is also the first Indian outfielder to claim a century of catches in Tests. For the record, he took 108 catches in total during his Test career.

World Cup 1983 and World C'ship of Cricket glory

Gavaskar is a distinguished member of the 1983 World Cup winning batch, which gave India its first silverware in the showpiece event. His career achieved another high a year later when as captain, Gavaskar led India to victory at the World Championship of Cricket 1984-85. Surprisingly enough, in both these series, Gavaskar's bat remained silent.